Why did they change the morning traffic pattern on 17th Street NW?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Removal on Connecticut probably proposed by the same morons who think the DC streetcar is a good idea. Ending the morning 4 lanes down will clog traffic in a major way. Anybody who lives here knows the drill. And bikers shouldn't be on Ct anyway. Take the parkway bike trail.

Reversible lanes are a safety hazard. Is being able to drive faster in DC more important than safety? I don't think so.

The five bike riders can use the parkway. It isn't as tho accidents happen daily. Once a year? That is terrible but not sure it is a reason to change the well-known and long-standing CT ave lane changes.

This is a silly argument. It's not hard to identify why nobody bikes on major commuting arteries with cars. Commuting makes people aggressive, impatient, and self-centered. In most of the jurisdictions folks are commuting from you could run over a pedestrian in a marked crosswalk and get off with a $250 traffic ticket.

FWIW I live in DC and I'm a motorist or pedestrian. I have never ridden a bike in the city and have no plans to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Removal on Connecticut probably proposed by the same morons who think the DC streetcar is a good idea. Ending the morning 4 lanes down will clog traffic in a major way. Anybody who lives here knows the drill. And bikers shouldn't be on Ct anyway. Take the parkway bike trail.

The final decision is going to be made by relevant stakeholders (DC taxpayers, DDOT, and DC council) and not MD commuters.

Street car revitalized the H St corridor. Moco is on a terrible economic trajectory compared to DC and VA, I'm not sure I trust the urban planning thoughts of anyone who lives there.

I would bet that a lot of DC commuters, who live in NW, will want to keep the reversible lanes. When the got rid of reversible lanes on Reno, it made traffic worse and move to the other major roads.

Quite funny you think DC is on some economic boom compared to MOCO. Data says otherwise.

https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/opinion/opinion-will-northern-virginia-leave-montgomery-county-in-the-dust/

[Anonymous]

I don't think having 4 lanes down CT is about driving faster, it is about traffic moving smoothly, fewer bottlenecks making commutes shorter. I live in DC and would hate this lane change proposal. Accidents whether the lanes change or not will never be zero.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think having 4 lanes down CT is about driving faster, it is about traffic moving smoothly, fewer bottlenecks making commutes shorter. I live in DC and would hate this lane change proposal. Accidents whether the lanes change or not will never be zero.

Traffic moving smoothly faster, you mean. Traffic would move smoothly just fine at 5 mph and there would be zero crashes, but you probably wouldn't like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are plans to add bike lanes, and not to mention the whole "switching direction of travel in a specific lane based on time of day" is a stupid and confusing system which is why they're getting rid of it on Connecticut Ave as well.

https://ddot.dc.gov/release/17th-street-nw-converts-247-two-way-operations-october-21

This article doesn’t mention Connecticut. Where are you getting your info on that?

I live here and go to the ANC meetings. Be a self-starter and google it if you need an article.

You have the burden of proof to back up what you babble, hon.

NP. This is a bizarrely antagonistic response.

[Anonymous]

Haha good. I live off 17th and it’s a thoroughfare in the mornings making it very dangerous for the kids I see walking to school. It’s commercial strip between R and P is already nuts because of delivery trucks and the new belligerent homeless people set up there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Removal on Connecticut probably proposed by the same morons who think the DC streetcar is a good idea. Ending the morning 4 lanes down will clog traffic in a major way. Anybody who lives here knows the drill. And bikers shouldn't be on Ct anyway. Take the parkway bike trail.

Reversible lanes are a safety hazard. Is being able to drive faster in DC more important than safety? I don't think so.

The five bike riders can use the parkway. It isn't as tho accidents happen daily. Once a year? That is terrible but not sure it is a reason to change the well-known and long-standing CT ave lane changes.

You think only 5 people want to bike down Connecticut to get to work?? There's way more demand.

If you don't like sharing the road, then feel free to use the highway where bikes aren't allowed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh no!!! They're doing the same thing on Connecticut? There goes my 15-minute morning commute.

I use 17th street every morning. Switching back to two-way doesn't seem to have impacted traffic at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Haha good. I live off 17th and it’s a thoroughfare in the mornings making it very dangerous for the kids I see walking to school. It’s commercial strip between R and P is already nuts because of delivery trucks and the new belligerent homeless people set up there.

This is not the part that's impacted. It's where 17th street hits Mass Ave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think having 4 lanes down CT is about driving faster, it is about traffic moving smoothly, fewer bottlenecks making commutes shorter. I live in DC and would hate this lane change proposal. Accidents whether the lanes change or not will never be zero.

The reversible lanes ARE dangerous, and I say that as someone who relies on them. But you don't have to get rid of them to make it safer: just provide MUCH better signage and lighting to clarify the traffic pattern, and enforce penalties for those who ride in the wrong lane. I've been doing this commute for 15 years, and a small but sizeable proportion of the people who are riding in the "wrong" lane actually know what they're doing and are just trying to get a jump on traffic. I doubt DC residents are going to be much happier with the chaos that would emerge if the 3/3 split was maintained 24/7 - drivers will find alternative routes through neighborhoods as well as Beach Drive/Rock Creek Parkway. Not exactly good for bikers either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think having 4 lanes down CT is about driving faster, it is about traffic moving smoothly, fewer bottlenecks making commutes shorter. I live in DC and would hate this lane change proposal. Accidents whether the lanes change or not will never be zero.

The reversible lanes ARE dangerous, and I say that as someone who relies on them. But you don't have to get rid of them to make it safer: just provide MUCH better signage and lighting to clarify the traffic pattern, and enforce penalties for those who ride in the wrong lane. I've been doing this commute for 15 years, and a small but sizeable proportion of the people who are riding in the "wrong" lane actually know what they're doing and are just trying to get a jump on traffic. I doubt DC residents are going to be much happier with the chaos that would emerge if the 3/3 split was maintained 24/7 - drivers will find alternative routes through neighborhoods as well as Beach Drive/Rock Creek Parkway. Not exactly good for bikers either.

Connecticut really doesn't need 4 lanes - even in Montgomery County which is where almost all of traffic is coming from it is only 3 lanes.

And there is so much illegal parking in the curbside lane and illegal left hand turns during rush hour that most of the time you only have 2 continuous lanes of traffic flowing.

But DC should not be making decisions about roadway design to accommodate Maryland commuters.

If reducing lanes on Connecticut pushes more cars to residential side streets (which I doubt will happen because commuters long ago discovered the parallel roads that actually work) then DC residents will rightfully get DDOT to clamp down on the traffic flow on the side streets though most are already barely wide enough for 2 way traffic and have stop signs on every corner.

It would be great if CT Ave were a grand avenue with bus and bike lanes rather than a traffic sewer for aggressive suburbanites.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think having 4 lanes down CT is about driving faster, it is about traffic moving smoothly, fewer bottlenecks making commutes shorter. I live in DC and would hate this lane change proposal. Accidents whether the lanes change or not will never be zero.

The reversible lanes ARE dangerous, and I say that as someone who relies on them. But you don't have to get rid of them to make it safer: just provide MUCH better signage and lighting to clarify the traffic pattern, and enforce penalties for those who ride in the wrong lane. I've been doing this commute for 15 years, and a small but sizeable proportion of the people who are riding in the "wrong" lane actually know what they're doing and are just trying to get a jump on traffic. I doubt DC residents are going to be much happier with the chaos that would emerge if the 3/3 split was maintained 24/7 - drivers will find alternative routes through neighborhoods as well as Beach Drive/Rock Creek Parkway. Not exactly good for bikers either.

Connecticut really doesn't need 4 lanes - even in Montgomery County which is where almost all of traffic is coming from it is only 3 lanes.

And there is so much illegal parking in the curbside lane and illegal left hand turns during rush hour that most of the time you only have 2 continuous lanes of traffic flowing.

But DC should not be making decisions about roadway design to accommodate Maryland commuters.

If reducing lanes on Connecticut pushes more cars to residential side streets (which I doubt will happen because commuters long ago discovered the parallel roads that actually work) then DC residents will rightfully get DDOT to clamp down on the traffic flow on the side streets though most are already barely wide enough for 2 way traffic and have stop signs on every corner.

It would be great if CT Ave were a grand avenue with bus and bike lanes rather than a traffic sewer for aggressive suburbanites.

OK, so no one who lives outside DC is permitted to drive through DC streets? Good luck with that. Like it or not, DDOT has to accommodate traffic patterns irrespective of the origin of the drivers, as do the relevant authorities in MoCo, PG, and NoVa.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

OK, so no one who lives outside DC is permitted to drive through DC streets? Good luck with that. Like it or not, DDOT has to accommodate traffic patterns irrespective of the origin of the drivers, as do the relevant authorities in MoCo, PG, and NoVa.

People who live outside DC are permitted to drive through DC streets, IF they understand that DDOT is operating the streets for the benefit of the people who live in DC, not for the benefit of the people from elsewhere who want to drive fast on DC streets to get to work.

The same goes for Montgomery County, or at least it would go for Montgomery County if MCDOT would stop prioritizing people who want to drive through there fast on their way to somewhere else over people who live there.

DDOT does not have to make it easy for you to drive in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think having 4 lanes down CT is about driving faster, it is about traffic moving smoothly, fewer bottlenecks making commutes shorter. I live in DC and would hate this lane change proposal. Accidents whether the lanes change or not will never be zero.

The reversible lanes ARE dangerous, and I say that as someone who relies on them. But you don't have to get rid of them to make it safer: just provide MUCH better signage and lighting to clarify the traffic pattern, and enforce penalties for those who ride in the wrong lane. I've been doing this commute for 15 years, and a small but sizeable proportion of the people who are riding in the "wrong" lane actually know what they're doing and are just trying to get a jump on traffic. I doubt DC residents are going to be much happier with the chaos that would emerge if the 3/3 split was maintained 24/7 - drivers will find alternative routes through neighborhoods as well as Beach Drive/Rock Creek Parkway. Not exactly good for bikers either.

Connecticut really doesn't need 4 lanes - even in Montgomery County which is where almost all of traffic is coming from it is only 3 lanes.

And there is so much illegal parking in the curbside lane and illegal left hand turns during rush hour that most of the time you only have 2 continuous lanes of traffic flowing.

But DC should not be making decisions about roadway design to accommodate Maryland commuters.

If reducing lanes on Connecticut pushes more cars to residential side streets (which I doubt will happen because commuters long ago discovered the parallel roads that actually work) then DC residents will rightfully get DDOT to clamp down on the traffic flow on the side streets though most are already barely wide enough for 2 way traffic and have stop signs on every corner.

It would be great if CT Ave were a grand avenue with bus and bike lanes rather than a traffic sewer for aggressive suburbanites.

OK, so no one who lives outside DC is permitted to drive through DC streets? Good luck with that. Like it or not, DDOT has to accommodate traffic patterns irrespective of the origin of the drivers, as do the relevant authorities in MoCo, PG, and NoVa.

By that logic, we should raze neighborhoods to accommodate new highways for you to drive into our city. Good luck with that. In the meantime, we’ll make roadway decisions that best suit us. You’re welcome to collaborate with us on improving metro but you will need to pay your share.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think having 4 lanes down CT is about driving faster, it is about traffic moving smoothly, fewer bottlenecks making commutes shorter. I live in DC and would hate this lane change proposal. Accidents whether the lanes change or not will never be zero.

The reversible lanes ARE dangerous, and I say that as someone who relies on them. But you don't have to get rid of them to make it safer: just provide MUCH better signage and lighting to clarify the traffic pattern, and enforce penalties for those who ride in the wrong lane. I've been doing this commute for 15 years, and a small but sizeable proportion of the people who are riding in the "wrong" lane actually know what they're doing and are just trying to get a jump on traffic. I doubt DC residents are going to be much happier with the chaos that would emerge if the 3/3 split was maintained 24/7 - drivers will find alternative routes through neighborhoods as well as Beach Drive/Rock Creek Parkway. Not exactly good for bikers either.

Connecticut really doesn't need 4 lanes - even in Montgomery County which is where almost all of traffic is coming from it is only 3 lanes.

And there is so much illegal parking in the curbside lane and illegal left hand turns during rush hour that most of the time you only have 2 continuous lanes of traffic flowing.

But DC should not be making decisions about roadway design to accommodate Maryland commuters.

If reducing lanes on Connecticut pushes more cars to residential side streets (which I doubt will happen because commuters long ago discovered the parallel roads that actually work) then DC residents will rightfully get DDOT to clamp down on the traffic flow on the side streets though most are already barely wide enough for 2 way traffic and have stop signs on every corner.

It would be great if CT Ave were a grand avenue with bus and bike lanes rather than a traffic sewer for aggressive suburbanites.

OK, so no one who lives outside DC is permitted to drive through DC streets? Good luck with that. Like it or not, DDOT has to accommodate traffic patterns irrespective of the origin of the drivers, as do the relevant authorities in MoCo, PG, and NoVa.

DDOT absolutely does not have to accommodate traffic patterns of drivers from outside DC (or from within DC for that matter). If MoCo doesn’t even cater to its own drivers by doin the reversible lanes then why are they necessary in DC? The extra lane is a waste of resources and space that encourages people to drive to work instead of taking a bus or biking which contributes to pollution in the city and danger towards pedestrians trying to cross Connecticut. DDOT is free to implement traffic policy that benefits those beyond drivers who are commuting through.

A much better use of a few of the six lanes on Connecticut would be bikes and bus lanes. Get the cars down to one lane each and start jetting buses down- you can fit, what, 60 people in the space of three cars?