4778916 Transportation, District Department of - Notice of Emergency and Proposed Rulemaking - Parking on DC Streetcar Tracks

District Department of Transportation

 

Notice Of EMERGENCY AND Proposed Rulemaking

 

The Director of the District Department of Transportation (“Department”), pursuant to the authority set forth in Sections 5(2)(N), 5(3)(D) 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(2)(N), (3)(D) (2012 Repl. & 2013 Supp.)); and Section 11r of the District Department of Transportation DC Streetcar Amendment Act of 2012, effective April 20, 2013 (D.C. Law 19-268; § 50-921.76), and Mayor’s Order 2013-198 (October 24, 2013), hereby gives notice of the adoption, on an emergency basis, of the following rulemaking to add a new Chapter 16 (DC Streetcar) to, and amend Chapter 24 (Stopping, Standing, Parking, and Other Non-Moving)  and Chapter 26 (Civil Fines for Moving and Non-Moving Infractions) of, Title 18 (Vehicles and Traffic) of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (DCMR). 

 

The purpose of this rulemaking is to prohibit parking vehicles in a way that impedes the operation of the DC Streetcar system.

 

This emergency rulemaking is necessitated by the immediate and continuing need to address the threat to the traveling public of vehicles blocking passage of the streetcar.  Without these regulations, it will be difficult for the streetcar to begin safe operations.  The emergency rulemaking will allow the Department to begin testing the functionality of the streetcar in the public right of way and begin preparations to accommodate passengers in the coming months.

 

This emergency rulemaking was adopted on December 6, 2013, and became effective immediately on that date. The emergency rulemaking will expire one hundred and twenty (120) days after that date, on April 5, 2014, or upon publication of a Notice of Final Rulemaking in the D.C. Register, whichever occurs first.

 

The Director also gives notice of his intent to take final rulemaking action to adopt these regulations in not less than thirty (30) days after the date of publication of this notice in the D.C. Register.

 

Title 18, VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC, of the DCMR is amended as follows:

 

A new Chapter 16, DC STREETCAR, is added to read as follows:

 

CHAPTER 16   DC STREETCAR

 

1600                GENERAL PROVISIONS

 

1600.1             This chapter establishes regulations related to the operation of the DC Streetcar system, a passenger light rail transit service within the District of Columbia.

 

1601                IMPEDING THE STREETCAR SYSTEM

 

1601.1             It shall be unlawful to park, stop, or stand a vehicle:

 

(a)        on a streetcar guideway; or

 

(b)        adjacent to a streetcar platform.

 

1601.2             A vehicle in violation of this section shall be subject to removal or impoundment at the vehicle owner’s expense, pursuant to Section 2421 of this title.

 

1699                DEFINITIONS

 

1699.1             When used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meaning ascribed:

 

DDOT – District Department of Transportation

 

Streetcar – a car other than a railroad train that is operated on rails for the purposes of transporting persons.

 

Streetcar platform – the public right of way designated for public use as an embarkation/disembarkation or waiting area for the streetcar; the stairways, ramps, and sidewalks that provide direct access to the embarkation/ disembarkation or waiting area; and all equipment and fixtures, including streetcar shelters, in the embarkation/disembarkation or waiting area.

 

Streetcar guideway – the area where streetcars operate, including the streetcar track, overhead wiring, and the airspace between, above, and surrounding the streetcar tracks through which the streetcar or its appurtenances will pass while operating on the streetcar track.  A streetcar guideway includes the concrete slab the tracks are resting on.

 

Chapter 24, STOPPING, STANDING, PARKING, AND OTHER NON-MOVING, is amended as follows:

 

Section 2405, STOPPING, STANDING, OR PARKING PROHIBITED: NO SIGN REQUIRED, is amended as follows:

 

Subsection 2405.1 is amended to read as follows:

 

2405.1             Notwithstanding any other parking regulations, no person shall stop, stand, or park a motor vehicle or trailer in any of the following places, except when necessary to avoid conflict with other traffic, or at the direction of a police officer or traffic control device:

 

(a)        Within an intersection;

 

(b)        On a crosswalk;

 

(c)        Alongside or opposite any street excavation or obstruction when stopping, standing, or parking would obstruct traffic;

 

(d)       Upon any bridge, viaduct, or other elevated structure, freeway, highway tunnel, or ramps leading to or from such structures, or within a highway tunnel;

 

(e)        On any median, channelizing island, or safety zone, whether made of concrete, grass, or other material and with curbs or otherwise delineated by solid yellow or white lines;

 

(f)        In any driveway, alley entrance, or other way when stopping, standing or parking would obstruct the flow of pedestrians or other lawful traffic upon any sidewalk;

 

(g)        In a bicycle lane;

 

(h)        On the sidewalk; provided, that a motor-driven cycle may be parked on the sidewalk if it:

 

(1)        Is outside of the Central Business District, as defined by Subsection 9901.1 of Title 18 of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (18 DCMR § 9901.1);

 

(2)        Is not attached to any tree, tree box, or planting area; and

 

(3)        Does not block the path of pedestrians and maintains an ADA compliant clearance from any other obstruction, as defined in Section 4.3 of the ADA Accessibility Guidelines; or

 

(i)         On the streetcar guideway or adjacent to a streetcar platform, as defined by Subsection 1699.1 of Title 18 of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (18 DCMR § 1699.1).

 

 

Chapter 26, CIVIL FINES FOR MOVING AND NON-MOVING INFRACTIONS, is amended as follows:

 

Section 2601, PARKING AND OTHER NON-MOVING INFRACTIONS, is amended as follows:

 

Subsection 2601.1 is amended by adding the following infraction after the infraction “Stop sign, within 25 feet of [§ 2405.2(d)]”:

 

INFRACTION (DCMR Citation)		FINE
Streetcar – parking, stopping or standing a vehicle in the streetcar guideway or adjacent to a streetcar platform. [§§ 1601.1, 2405.1(i)]		$ 100.00

 

All persons interested in commenting on the subject matter of this proposed rulemaking should file comments in writing, not later than thirty (30) days after the publication of this notice in the D.C. Register, with Samuel Zimbabwe,  District of Columbia Department of Transportation, 55 M Street, S.E., 5^th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20003.  You may also send comments electronically to [e-mail].  Copies of this proposed rulemaking are available, at cost, by writing to the above address, and are also available electronically, at no cost, on the District Department of Transportation’s website at www.ddot.dc.gov.