In her excellent piece on the challenges of encouraging walkability and bikability in the District's farther reaches, Lydia DePillis mentions a transportation innovation that's going on in our area that I wasn't even aware of:
Something as simple as letting pedestrians walk before the light turns green for cars can cut pedestrian accidents dramatically, since drivers see people in the crosswalk before turning right. DDOT has installed some 50 of these “leading pedestrian intervals." They’re also piloting what’s called a “hawk signal," for intersections that don’t have a full stoplight, at Georgia Avenue and Hemlock Street NW. A pedestrian pushes the button, and one bulb flashes yellow before another bulb starts flashing red, which means cars stop briefly and it’s safe to cross. For the least busy streets, there’s a simple flashing LED light that pedestrians can activate to notify cars at night.
This isn't an intersection that I use regularly, so I haven't seen it personally. But I'll be taking a walk up there to check it out.
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