The Trump administration is about to kill a popular D.C. bike lane

The National Park Service will soon start removing a protected bike lane that runs along 15th Street NW from Constitution Avenue down to the Tidal Basin and Jefferson Memorial, eliminating a popular cycling route just as crowds are expected to increase for the annual blooming of the cherry blossoms. 

The work is expected to start on Monday, according to NPS. Once it’s done, it will sever one of D.C.’s longest protected bike lanes, stretching virtually uninterrupted from the Tidal Basin all the way up to Columbia Heights, and additionally serving as a vital cycling connection to the 14th Street Bridge into Virginia.

According to a study conducted by the D.C. Department of Transportation, crashes and bike-related injuries along 15th Street have decreased dramatically since the bike lane was installed.  

The removal represents yet another break between D.C.’s local government and its larger federal counterpart, where there is now significantly less enthusiasm for alternatives to cars. While D.C. has been growing its network of bike lanes over the last decade — there are now 120 miles of them, and 43 miles of protected lanes — senior officials in the Trump administration are less enamored with the space they take up. 

"I do think it's a problem when we're making massive investments in bike lanes at the expense of vehicles," said Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy last year. "I do think you see more congestion when you add bike lanes and take away vehicle lanes. That's a problem."

That logic was echoed by NPS in a statement sent to The 51st on Friday morning confirming the impending removal and using the upcoming National Cherry Blossom Festival and other large-scale events later this year as justification. 

“With the upcoming National Cherry Blossom Festival and preparations underway for America’s 250th anniversary, ensuring safe access for residents, commuters, visitors, and emergency services is a shared priority. These nationally significant events draw substantial visitation and require coordinated infrastructure planning to support mobility, security, and a positive experience for all,” said the agency in its statement. 

The decision to scrap the 0.75 mile stretch — which was installed starting in 2021 — had been rumored for weeks, with local cycling advocates rallying to stop it even as D.C. and federal officials remained tight-lipped about whether it was going to happen at all. Multiple requests for comment or confirmation from NPS or the U.S. Department of Transportation went unanswered since late last month, and their D.C. counterparts — including Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office — remained similarly mum. 

That silence spurred a number of theories as to why the bike lane might eventually be removed. One of the most popular among bike advocates featured a high-ranking Trump administration official who had been annoyed by the bike lane’s presence while they were stuck in the city’s usual traffic. (We weren’t able to confirm the rumor.)

Bike advocates say the move to scrap the lane reverses past federal guidance encouraging alternatives to cars in popular parts of D.C.’s historic monumental core. In a 2021 assessment of the proposed bike lane, the National Capital Planning Commission said it supported the “intended goal of improving safety for all users and reducing vehicle, pedestrian, and bicycle conflicts in the heavily traveled corridor.”

Advocates also say that using the upcoming National Cherry Blossom Festival to justify the bike lane’s removal gets everything backwards. “It’s a horrible idea and so stupid to do it during peak cherry blossom time,” said Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen, who chairs the D.C. Council’s transportation committee. “They’re going to create a mess, plus make it less safe.” 

A source with knowledge of the situation — who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation — said that NPS’s official position on the 15th Street bike lane has shifted with the new administration. In the past, the source told us, NPS has been “thrilled we have this in place because many people bike to the cherry blossoms.”

There are three Capital Bikeshare stations located along the stretch of the bike lane that will be removed. On Friday morning, the first day of spring in D.C., there were also dozens of Veo bikes and Lime scooters available in the area. According to DDOT, those Bikeshare stations are among the most used in the entire system.

An evaluation by DDOT of incidents along 15th Street after the bike lane was installed found that roadway crashes along the corridor had decreased by 46 percent — and bicycle injury crashes dropped even more, by 91 percent. 

“[It’s] a tremendous testament to the safety impact [protected bike lanes] provide,” said a DDOT spokesman. “DDOT remains fully committed to the development of our bicycle network and has no plans for the removal of the 15th Street Protected Bike Lane north of Constitution Avenue.”

That evaluation also found that car traffic and travel times actually decreased along 15th Street after the bike lane was installed.

“We are shocked that they are doing this,” says Elizabeth Kiker, the executive director of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association. “The DDOT study shows that it is faster for cars, for pedestrians, and cyclists, and no human who has been alive during cherry blossom season ever thinks, ‘What we need is more room for cars to get around.’ It is cyclists and pedestrians that take over, and this is going to make the chaos infinitely worse.”

The removal has also triggered debate on another point: How much, if anything, could Bowser have done to stop it?

Reached on Thursday night, a spokesman for the D.C. Department of Transportation would only say that the bike lane “south of Constitution Avenue is located on federal land and is under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service.” As such, any decision to remove it would fall with NPS. Some sources within the D.C. government echoed that point, saying the city’s hands were tied. 

But others say Bowser and senior D.C. officials could have put up more of a fight, and instead opted to continue their balancing act with the Trump administration where they entertain its demands and requests on certain things in hopes of winning concessions on others. (Recall that Bowser preemptively removed Black Lives Matter Plaza soon after Trump took office. Some residents saw the move as capitulation, others as a symbolic and strategic attempt to curry favor with Trump.) 

“As D.C. we’re owed some forthrightness from this government over what are you working on with the Trump administration on, and how often are you folding?” said the source who has asked for anonymity for fear of retaliation. 

In posts on X, mayoral contender and Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George said removing the bike lane is a bad idea. “The 15th Street bike lane is a model of how DC and the federal government can work together, not just for Washingtonians, but for the tourists that support our economy too,” she wrote. 

Moving forward, Kiker says WABA is planning to sue NPS over the bike lane’s removal. “There is a process that should be followed, and NPS has not followed that process and that is illegal,” she says.

On Sunday, Hill Family Biking, a large cycling network based on Capitol Hill, is planning to rally and ride along the soon-to-be-gone bike lane. Kiker says WABA will similarly rally on Monday. In preparation for more protests, WABA staff have distributed spoke cards drawing on right-wing imagery and messages: A yellow Gadsden flag where the snake is wearing a helmet, along with the message, “Don’t tread on my bike lane.”