For those of you who may not know, Dave Salovesh was a neighbor, friend and passionate advocate of safe biking. Dave was tragically killed on April 19, 2019. I wrote about Dave back then and are honored to have Mark Sussman, founder of Hill Family Biking sharing a tribute to Dave. Read on and join HFB in celebrating Dave’s life.– María Helena Carey
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Family (Biking) Matters: I saw that Dave Salovesh is being remembered at Hill Family Biking’s Second Birthday Ride in April. I think that’s great! Why did you decide to incorporate a memorial for Dave into your programming? Red Cup Project Alum
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Dear Red Cup Project:
Without Dave Salovesh there would be no Hill Family Biking (HFB). His decades-long trailblazing bike advocacy placed him on my Mount Rushmore of DC biking advocates. In April 2019, Dave was killed by a driver speeding at 70 mph down Florida Ave NE. Six years after his death, Dave continues to inspire me and the other HFB organizers. Dave’s tireless work helped to grow the city’s biking culture and accelerate safe streets projects–directly leading to conditions now safe enough for an organization like HFB to exist.
Early in my bike advocacy days, I looked up to Dave because of his regular use of creative tactical urbanism demonstrations. One such action involved him placing red plastic Solo cups along DC’s painted bike lanes. The cups were inevitably smashed to pieces within minutes of being placed on the bike lanes by drivers who drove over the painted lines, demonstrating that paint alone is not biking infrastructure nor is it protective.
In the wake of his death, bike advocates across DC organized to place red cups along painted bike lanes throughout the region to honor Dave. This effort quickly became an international phenomenon, the #RedCupProject. I personally participated in the Red Cup Project placing red cups all over the District and I’m proud to say that several of these locations now have protected bike lanes (PBLs) today such as the mouth of the Metro Branch Trail on M St NE and the 14th St SE PBL in front of Safeway.
But the aspect of Dave’s vision for a better DC that has stuck with me the most was his desire for his daughter to be able to safely bike on DC streets too. My experience as a bike advocate in DC up until Dave’s death had almost exclusively been as a young professional, so this family-oriented perspective was new to me and opened my eyes to how much work we had to do to make his dream a reality.
My wife became pregnant with our daughter, Hannah, several months after Dave’s death. His vision for a DC with streets safe enough for our children to ride on had a profound impact on me and is ultimately how Hill Family Biking was born in April 2023, almost 4 years to the day after his death.
In addition to the birthday bike ride on April 26th, my fellow HFB organizers thought the best tribute we could give Dave was to rank our Top Six DC bike infrastructure projects in Capitol Hill. DC has come a long way over the past 6 years and we think Dave would be proud of the progress. We also know he would continue to push boundaries to make our streets safer for everyone.
Number Six: 15th Street, NW Extension
Year Built: 2021
Length: 1.5 miles
Neighborhood(s): Downtown DC/National Mall
This project is a little far from us on the Hill, but its impact is undeniable for all our friends commuting from Northern Virginia and for millions of tourists who may experience a PBL for the first time. We especially like the continuous concrete pavers between Pennsylvania Avenue NW and Constitution Avenue NW, a previously harrowing section when trying to get from Downtown back to the Hill. We’re eager for the permanent version of this project in front of the Washington Monument in conjunction with some much-needed repaving of that section, scheduled for this year.
Number Five: 4th Street, SW & I Street, SE/SW
Year(s) Built: 2021 – 2024
Length: 2.5 miles
Neighborhood(s): SW/Navy Yard/National Mall
Did you know Navy Yard and SW DC are biking oases? 4th and I (“Eye”) Streets SW form the spine of the continually expanding PBL network in this part of the District and provide a critical and expansive east/west connection across the District and then north to connect to the Pennsylvania Ave NW bike lanes, including a picturesque crossing of the National Mall. Utility work delayed the full implementation of these bike lanes by several years, but everything is open now, so go check it out!
Number Four: 17th and 19th Streets/Potomac Avenue, NE/SE
Year Built: 2024/2025 (17th St under construction now)
Length: 3.0 miles
Neighborhood(s): Hill East/Rosedale/Carver Langston
The companion piece for the top project on our list. This huge expanse of bike lanes hugs several schools and provides Hill East and adjacent neighborhoods with sorely needed north/south PBLs– and has already significantly calmed traffic along 19th and Potomac. Connection to the Anacostia River Trail pushes this project into our top four.
Number Three: Pennsylvania Avenue, SE
Year Built: 2023
Length: 0.9 miles
Neighborhood(s): Capitol Hill/Hill East
We file this project under, “never in our wildest dreams did we think this was going to happen.” If you haven’t visited this corridor in the last few years, it would be unrecognizable with both bus lanes and PBLs now replacing a de facto highway through the heart of Capitol Hill. Importantly, this bike lane connects several commercial areas and Metro stations along Pennsylvania Ave: bike lanes are good for business! With the Pennsylvania/Potomac Avenue intersection reconstruction project now underway, we can’t wait for these bike lanes to extend from 13th Street SE to Barney Circle in the next few years.
Number Two: Florida Avenue, NE
Year Built: 2024
Length: 1.1 miles
Neighborhood(s): Old City/ NoMa/Trinidad/Hill East
We couldn’t have a list of our top bike lanes without the project that Dave directly inspired. While we don’t love how narrow the lanes are west of West Virginia Avenue, NE, next to two travel lanes in each direction (necessary??), the section east of West Virginia Avenue is pretty great and fitting given Dave’s ghost bike is on this part of the project.
Number One: C Street, NE, and North Carolina Avenue, NE
Year Built: 2023
Length: 0.8 miles
Neighborhood(s): Capitol Hill/Hill East
Arguably the best bike lane project–– not just in DC, but in the United States. The planning of this project took 10 years (Dave was heavily involved) and it was worth the wait. If you squint you might think you are in Amsterdam with travel lanes, bike lanes, and sidewalks at different grades.
Some of us may or may not have cried the first time we rode these lanes and if you haven’t ridden them, you need to do yourself the favor. You have the perfect opportunity on April 26th, as the Hill Family Biking Birthday Party Ride ends at Lincoln Park, one of the terminus points for the project. Come celebrate Dave and all the work he did, as well as all the work bike advocates like YOU continue to do, to create safer streets for all ages in DC.