5685381 Transportation, District Department of - Notice of Emergency Rulemaking - For U-turns at Pennsylvania and 15th St. NW

DISTRICT DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

 

NOTICE OF EMERGENCY RULEMAKING

 

The Director of the District Department of Transportation (DDOT), pursuant to the authority set forth in Sections 5(3)(A) (providing for a safe transportation system),  6(b) (transferring to the Department the traffic management function previously delegated to the Department of Public Works (DPW) under Section III (H) of Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1983), and 7 (making Director of DDOT the successor to transportation related authority delegated to the Director of DPW) of the Department of Transportation Establishment Act of 2002, effective May 21, 2002 (D.C. Law 14-137; D.C. Official Code §§ 50-921.04(a)(3)(A), 50-921.05(b) and 50-921.06 (2014 Repl.)), and Mayor’s Order 77-127, dated August 3, 1977, hereby gives notice of the intent to amend Chapter 22 (Moving Violations) of Title 18 (Vehicles and Traffic) of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (18 CMR).   

 

The emergency rulemaking will allow U-turns at the signalized intersections located at Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, and 15th Street, NW, going westbound.

 

This emergency rulemaking supersedes a previous emergency rulemaking dated August 7, 2015 that allowed U-turns at the signalized intersections located at Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, and 13th Street, NW, going eastbound, Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, and 13th ½ Street, NW, going westbound, and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, and 15th Street, NW, going westbound.  That rulemaking was not published in the D.C. Register.

 

This emergency rulemaking is necessitated by the immediate need to address the threat to the public welfare posed by vehicles making U-turns at signalized intersections.  While the practice is currently prohibited, DDOT officials have identified specific intersections where, frequently, vehicles make U-turns anyway.  Short of around-the-clock enforcement, vehicles will continue to make U-turns at these intersections.  After studying those intersections, DDOT officials have concluded that it would be safer to permit U-turns in some locations in a limited and controlled manner than continue to prohibit the practice.  The emergency rulemaking will create a safer alternative for vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians by allowing U-turns at these intersections in the District. By publishing these rules as emergency, DDOT and the Metropolitan Police Department will – through signage and enforcement of the new U-turns – be able to immediately ensure safer travel.

 

This emergency rule was adopted on September 4, 2015, and became effective immediately. This emergency rule will remain in effect until January 2, 2016, one hundred twenty (120) days from the date it became effective, unless earlier superseded by a notice of final rulemaking.

 

Chapter 22, MOVING VIOLATIONS, of Title 18 DCMR, VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC, is amended as follows:

 

Section 2203, TURNING AT INTERSECTIONS, is amended as follows:

 

Subsection 2203.1 is amended by striking the phrase, “buttons, markers, or signs” and inserting the phrase, “signs, signals or markings” in its place.

 

Subsection 2203.2 is amended by striking the phrase, “buttons, markers, or signs” and inserting the phrase, “signs, signals or markings” in its place.

 

Section 2204, TURNING REQUIREMENTS AND RESTRICTIONS, is amended as follows:

 

Subsection 2204.7 is amended to read as follows:

 

2204.7             No vehicle shall make a U-turn so as to proceed in the opposite direction at any intersection controlled by traffic lights or police officers, or on a crosswalk adjacent to such an intersection, provided that U-turns are allowed at the intersection of Westbound at Pennsylvania Avenue, NW and 15th Street, NW.