Photo provided by author.
Saturday morning, sometime between 10:30 and 11:00 a.m. two cars collided at the corner of Independence Avenue and 17th Street SE, sending one car careening into the yard of a house that occupies that corner. The car came to rest against the house. Bystanders and witnesses reported one car speeding and potentially running the traffic light at that intersection, hitting the second car before jumping the curb.
Witnesses state at least one driver was taken to the hospital. The status of both drivers is currently not known.
11:30 a.m.: Independence Avenue is currently closed from 16th to 18th Streets SE.
Accident at Independence Ave. and 17th St. SE. Photo provided by author.
WOW!! Thanks for the Coverage.
Was house Damaged too?
Agressive Drivers not only endanger themselves, but also endager livelyhood of Neighborhood Residents, their cars and now, their homes.
MPD NEVER EVER performs any Traffic Speed Enforcement on Independence, 17th St NE/SE, Potomac Ave, 19th St SE. MPD more or less enables this dangerous condition to prevail.
ddot will be holding a few public meetings, in the next few months seeking community input on how to improve safety and quality-life of 17thSt NE/SE. Here is our chance as a whole community, it’s a long street that covers a lot of the Hill, to really invoke a bit of substantial change for the neigborhood.
17th St. SE (especially from Independence to Potomac Ave) is in great need of traffic calming. Speed bumps, two way traffic, stop signs, speed enforcement – any/all are needed. Beyond the incredible noise, safety is obviously a far more important issue. As a local resident, I have seen multiple animals killed by speeders on 17th in the past few month. I hope the city takes some responsibility for this huge safety issue before people are hurt.
jps- assuming you live btwn independence and potomac, you probably didn’t witness the 3 accidents in the past 5 weeks that took place btwn East Capital and A ST SE (a 1 block stretch). The last accident took place at 9:30 pm last Tuesday night and involved two cars and a utility pole that left the 1700 block of A ST SE without power for 6+ hrs. Regardless of where on 17th the accidents happen, the District seems to be more concerned with the flow of traffic then with protecting its citizens. To prove that point even further, everyone on the 1700 block of A ST SE signed a petition to have stops signs placed at 17th & A SE, but it seems to have fallen on deaf ears…shocking
Motorists on Independence Avenue are also an issue. During rush hour the traffic is fairly slow so pedestrian safety is not as much of a concern as it is in the late evening and at night when folks speed down Independence. We have no stop sign at 16th and Independence either, so crossing as a pedestrian is often tough. Making the right onto Independence is often dangerous as you cannot see clearly down the street to make a safe turn.
Maybe Mr. Wells could do something about this? Fear of personal injury while walking on a neighborhood street is not a characteristic of a “livable, walkable community”.
A short term fix would be STOP signs down the duration of 17th St. from East Cap to Potomac. This would slow down the traffic, and possibly force commuters using our neighborhood street as a thoroughfare/speedway to consider using 295 on the other side of the river. The long term need is obviously more than stop signs. In any event, it would be fantastic if an elected official would do something about his problem. There is obviously community support, so perhaps home made stop signs would suffice for the time being. Ha. At least they might make a point. For now, I ask that everyone do as I do and drive slowly and courteously on 17th.
Echoing Jon’s comment, I’ve struggled to turn left onto Independence while driving south on 16th. If the street parking on either side is ever full, turning onto Independence is always a risk.
I always refer to Independence Ave as Independence Highway. It is a very dangerous street any time of the day. Even with the addition of some new stops signs the traffic is still dangerous. The powers that be are more concerned about commuters getting out of the city than local residents. Walkable community?…..at your own risk.