6081432 Transportation, District Department of - Notice of Emergency and Proposed Rulemaking - Extending Rush Hour Restrictions for WMATA SafeTrack and Similar Events  

  • DISTRICT DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

     

    NOTICE OF EMERGENCY AND PROPOSED 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(3)(A), 50-921.05(b) and 50-921.06 (2014 Repl. & 2016 Supp.)), Sections 6(a)(1), 6(a)(6) and 6(b) of the District of Columbia Traffic Act, approved March 3, 1925 (43 Stat. 1121; D.C. Official Code § 50-2201.03(a)(l), (a)(6) and (b) (2014 Repl. & 2016 Supp.)), and Mayor’s Order 77-127, dated August 3, 1977, hereby gives notice of the intent to amend Chapter 40 (Traffic Signs and Restrictions at Specific Locations) of Title 18 (Vehicles and Traffic) of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (DCMR).   

     

    The proposed rulemaking would add a provision to Section 4020, “No Standing” Restrictions, allowing the Director to post signs on streets restricting parking due to a special event or project, provided the signs are posted at least twenty-four (24) hours before the signs take effect.

     

    This emergency rulemaking is necessitated by the immediate need to address the threat to the public welfare posed by additional traffic travelling through the District during special events or while special projects are being completed.  Specifically, the WMATA SafeTrack Project, which will begin Saturday, June 4, 2016, will cause congestion and increase safety concerns as more commuters will drive into and out of the District. The emergency rulemaking will allow DDOT to better maintain – through signage notifying the public of new parking restrictions – safe travel on affected roads in the District.

     

    This emergency rule was adopted on June 3, 2016, and became effective immediately. This emergency rule will remain in effect until October 1, 2016, one hundred twenty (120) days from the date it was adopted, unless earlier superseded by a notice of final rulemaking.

     

    Final rulemaking action shall not be taken in less than thirty (30) days after the date of publication of this notice in the D.C. Register

     

    Chapter 40, TRAFFIC SIGNS AND RESTRICTIONS AT SPECIFIC LOCATIONS, of Title 18 DCMR, VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC, is amended as follows:

     

    Section 4020, “NO STANDING” RESTRICTIONS, is amended by adding three new Subsections 4020.2, 4020.3 and 4020.4 to read as follows:

     

    4020.2             The Director may have signs erected that restrict standing and parking on specified streets or portions of streets during an event or project if the Director determines, in writing, that:

     

    (a)                The event or project will have a significant impact on the flow of traffic in the District; and

     

    (b)               Restricting standing and parking on those streets or portions of streets is necessary to mitigate that significant impact on the flow of traffic.

     

    4020.3             If the Director has signs erected pursuant to Subsection 4020.2, there shall be no standing or parking on any of the streets or portions of streets at the times established and indicated on the signs erected.

     

    4020.4             Any signs erected pursuant to Subsection 4020.2 must be erected at least twenty-four (24) hours before the restrictions on those signs will apply.

     

     

    All persons interested in commenting on the subject matter in this proposed rulemaking may file comments in writing, not later than thirty (30) days after the publication of this notice in the D.C. Register, with Alice Kelly, Manager, Office of Policy and Governmental Affairs, Office of the Director, District Department of Transportation, 55 M Street, S.E., 7th Floor, Washington D.C. 20003.An interested person may also send comments electronically to publicspace.policy@dc.gov. 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.

     

Document Information

Rules:
18-4020