Connecticut Ave bike lanes are back!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's adorable that there are people who actually believe Krucoff lost because he opposed bike lanes and not because he was a Republican running for election in Washington, DC.

You all need serious help.

That isn't the argument.

The argument is that he underperformed on his home turf as compared to the rest of the ward. It stands to reason that if people were voting on party lines, then the vote would be relatively consistent across the ward. However, Krucoff underperformed in his own neighborhood. Sure that may mean there are more progressives and liberals in the Connecticut Avenue precincts, but then it would stand to reason that being a democrat and supporting better health and better environmental outcomes would mean also supporting bike lanes, which, yes, were a core issue in the 2022 election cycle.

Very few residents, including apparently DDOT, understood that this was a bike lane project in 2022.

Every meeting was promoted on the neighborhood listservs, through public notice, through social media etc. Individual ANC Commisioners may email their constituents. It would be really hard to willfully ignore all of these messages to not know what was going on. And then COVID hit and guess what? Online platforms made it easier and more convenient for people to "attend" meetings and, they did. Instead of like 20 people at ANC meetings, now there were 70-100. And there were countless attendees to the 50-70 meetings where this issue was discussed and in the case of ANCs, voted on.

I am not sure what more you want to city to do, beyond engraved in gold invitations?

If the mayor thought there was actual grassroots support in Ward 3 she wouldn’t have supported DDOT removing bike lanes from the plan. That’s how politics works in the real world.

I’m honestly just laughing at you at this point. Keep posting!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's adorable that there are people who actually believe Krucoff lost because he opposed bike lanes and not because he was a Republican running for election in Washington, DC.

You all need serious help.

That isn't the argument.

The argument is that he underperformed on his home turf as compared to the rest of the ward. It stands to reason that if people were voting on party lines, then the vote would be relatively consistent across the ward. However, Krucoff underperformed in his own neighborhood. Sure that may mean there are more progressives and liberals in the Connecticut Avenue precincts, but then it would stand to reason that being a democrat and supporting better health and better environmental outcomes would mean also supporting bike lanes, which, yes, were a core issue in the 2022 election cycle.

Very few residents, including apparently DDOT, understood that this was a bike lane project in 2022.

The first post of the 403-page "Options for opposing Connecticut Avenue changes?" thread is from September 11, 2022. Jeff finally locked it in February 2024.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1081657.page

What do you think this proves exactly? You’re not making any sense.

[Anonymous]

This is hilarious.

Is there 14,000 cyclists in all of North America? I doubt it.

“Replacing vehicular lanes with bicycle lanes ultimately increases the maximum capacity of the overall right of way, as an average car lane moves up to around 2,000 people per hour per direction, while an average bike lane using the same space can move up to around 14,000 people per hour per direction,” the report said.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/05/15/connecticut-avenue-bike-lane-revived/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is hilarious.

Is there 14,000 cyclists in all of North America? I doubt it.

“Replacing vehicular lanes with bicycle lanes ultimately increases the maximum capacity of the overall right of way, as an average car lane moves up to around 2,000 people per hour per direction, while an average bike lane using the same space can move up to around 14,000 people per hour per direction,” the report said.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/05/15/connecticut-avenue-bike-lane-revived/

There are definitely more than 14,000 cyclists in all of North America, but that's almost certainly a typo or an error in the report.

[Anonymous]

DDOT just announced a virtual meeting on June 3 to "update the public on the current concept for the project. DDOT staff will be available to answer questions and gather comments."

They do say, also, on the subject of whether people were aware this is happening: "The Connecticut Avenue Multimodal Safety Improvement Project (originally named Connecticut Avenue NW Reversible Lane Safety and Operations Study) was initiated in December 2019. Data analysis, concept development and evaluation, traffic forecasts, and operations analysis were conducted between Spring 2020 and Fall 2020. Between March 2020 and January 2023 approximately 70 stakeholder and agency presentations/events have taken place."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is hilarious.

Is there 14,000 cyclists in all of North America? I doubt it.

“Replacing vehicular lanes with bicycle lanes ultimately increases the maximum capacity of the overall right of way, as an average car lane moves up to around 2,000 people per hour per direction, while an average bike lane using the same space can move up to around 14,000 people per hour per direction,” the report said.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/05/15/connecticut-avenue-bike-lane-revived/

There are definitely more than 14,000 cyclists in all of North America, but that's almost certainly a typo or an error in the report.

More likely, they were just lying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is hilarious.

Is there 14,000 cyclists in all of North America? I doubt it.

“Replacing vehicular lanes with bicycle lanes ultimately increases the maximum capacity of the overall right of way, as an average car lane moves up to around 2,000 people per hour per direction, while an average bike lane using the same space can move up to around 14,000 people per hour per direction,” the report said.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/05/15/connecticut-avenue-bike-lane-revived/

There are 15-20 MILLION bikes sold in the US each year. I don't think that only 14,000 people are buying them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is hilarious.

Is there 14,000 cyclists in all of North America? I doubt it.

“Replacing vehicular lanes with bicycle lanes ultimately increases the maximum capacity of the overall right of way, as an average car lane moves up to around 2,000 people per hour per direction, while an average bike lane using the same space can move up to around 14,000 people per hour per direction,” the report said.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/05/15/connecticut-avenue-bike-lane-revived/

It's one of those meaningless statistics because one could also say that 28,000 Segways (half the size of a bike but the same speed) per hour or even more smart cars (smaller length, larger width but faster speed).

There is one simple fact that matters. Right now, 30,000 cars per day use Connecticut while bicycle use per day is in the low double digits. The demand is simply not there.

As usual, the bicyclists overreached. If they had waited until at least 500 people on average per day over a calendar year were using it then they might have had a point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's adorable that there are people who actually believe Krucoff lost because he opposed bike lanes and not because he was a Republican running for election in Washington, DC.

You all need serious help.

That isn't the argument.

The argument is that he underperformed on his home turf as compared to the rest of the ward. It stands to reason that if people were voting on party lines, then the vote would be relatively consistent across the ward. However, Krucoff underperformed in his own neighborhood. Sure that may mean there are more progressives and liberals in the Connecticut Avenue precincts, but then it would stand to reason that being a democrat and supporting better health and better environmental outcomes would mean also supporting bike lanes, which, yes, were a core issue in the 2022 election cycle.

Very few residents, including apparently DDOT, understood that this was a bike lane project in 2022.

Every meeting was promoted on the neighborhood listservs, through public notice, through social media etc. Individual ANC Commisioners may email their constituents. It would be really hard to willfully ignore all of these messages to not know what was going on. And then COVID hit and guess what? Online platforms made it easier and more convenient for people to "attend" meetings and, they did. Instead of like 20 people at ANC meetings, now there were 70-100. And there were countless attendees to the 50-70 meetings where this issue was discussed and in the case of ANCs, voted on.

I am not sure what more you want to city to do, beyond engraved in gold invitations?

If the mayor thought there was actual grassroots support in Ward 3 she wouldn’t have supported DDOT removing bike lanes from the plan. That’s how politics works in the real world.

I’m honestly just laughing at you at this point. Keep posting!

She forced DDOT to remove the lanes. DDOT was working to that conclusion.

Councilmembers and ANC support the lanes, which is why the budget legislation is written as it is. That is how politics work in the real world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is hilarious.

Is there 14,000 cyclists in all of North America? I doubt it.

“Replacing vehicular lanes with bicycle lanes ultimately increases the maximum capacity of the overall right of way, as an average car lane moves up to around 2,000 people per hour per direction, while an average bike lane using the same space can move up to around 14,000 people per hour per direction,” the report said.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/05/15/connecticut-avenue-bike-lane-revived/

It's one of those meaningless statistics because one could also say that 28,000 Segways (half the size of a bike but the same speed) per hour or even more smart cars (smaller length, larger width but faster speed).

There is one simple fact that matters. Right now, 30,000 cars per day use Connecticut while bicycle use per day is in the low double digits. The demand is simply not there.

As usual, the bicyclists overreached. If they had waited until at least 500 people on average per day over a calendar year were using it then they might have had a point.

People not wanting to risk their lives riding a bike on Connecticut Avenue is not indicative of a lack of demand. Count me and three additional members of my family who would replace countless car trips if it were safe to do so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's adorable that there are people who actually believe Krucoff lost because he opposed bike lanes and not because he was a Republican running for election in Washington, DC.

You all need serious help.

That isn't the argument.

The argument is that he underperformed on his home turf as compared to the rest of the ward. It stands to reason that if people were voting on party lines, then the vote would be relatively consistent across the ward. However, Krucoff underperformed in his own neighborhood. Sure that may mean there are more progressives and liberals in the Connecticut Avenue precincts, but then it would stand to reason that being a democrat and supporting better health and better environmental outcomes would mean also supporting bike lanes, which, yes, were a core issue in the 2022 election cycle.

Very few residents, including apparently DDOT, understood that this was a bike lane project in 2022.

Every meeting was promoted on the neighborhood listservs, through public notice, through social media etc. Individual ANC Commisioners may email their constituents. It would be really hard to willfully ignore all of these messages to not know what was going on. And then COVID hit and guess what? Online platforms made it easier and more convenient for people to "attend" meetings and, they did. Instead of like 20 people at ANC meetings, now there were 70-100. And there were countless attendees to the 50-70 meetings where this issue was discussed and in the case of ANCs, voted on.

I am not sure what more you want to city to do, beyond engraved in gold invitations?

If the mayor thought there was actual grassroots support in Ward 3 she wouldn’t have supported DDOT removing bike lanes from the plan. That’s how politics works in the real world.

I’m honestly just laughing at you at this point. Keep posting!

She forced DDOT to remove the lanes. DDOT was working to that conclusion.

Councilmembers and ANC support the lanes, which is why the budget legislation is written as it is. That is how politics work in the real world.

How deep does the conspiracy go?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is hilarious.

Is there 14,000 cyclists in all of North America? I doubt it.

“Replacing vehicular lanes with bicycle lanes ultimately increases the maximum capacity of the overall right of way, as an average car lane moves up to around 2,000 people per hour per direction, while an average bike lane using the same space can move up to around 14,000 people per hour per direction,” the report said.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/05/15/connecticut-avenue-bike-lane-revived/

It's one of those meaningless statistics because one could also say that 28,000 Segways (half the size of a bike but the same speed) per hour or even more smart cars (smaller length, larger width but faster speed).

There is one simple fact that matters. Right now, 30,000 cars per day use Connecticut while bicycle use per day is in the low double digits. The demand is simply not there.

As usual, the bicyclists overreached. If they had waited until at least 500 people on average per day over a calendar year were using it then they might have had a point.

People not wanting to risk their lives riding a bike on Connecticut Avenue is not indicative of a lack of demand. Count me and three additional members of my family who would replace countless car trips if it were safe to do so.

A protected gutter lane on a major avenue will never induce usage from anyone who is concerned about safety.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, I'm at least as pro-bike lane as the next person who bikes downtown a lot, but it's silly to pretend the elections (at any level, ANC through ward Council member) were referenda on bike lanes. No one specifically campaigned against them in any race I can remember, so the fact that the people who won supported them doesn't exactly prove that everyone who voted for them also wanted the project.

Not true.

David Krucoff campaigned against them and in the Connecticut Avenue precincts, he did worse against Frumin than he did elsewhere across the Ward.
There were several ANC races in Ward 3 where the bike lanes were THE defining issue, and in each case, the pro-bile lane candidate won.

Krucoff had an "R" next to his name, which means he had no chance of winning no matter his stance on anything.

Good lord, you can't possibly be so stupid to use that argument.

And, in the precincts where bike lanes were the main issue, Frumin outperformed Krucoff as compared to the rest of the ward. Maybe you aren't getting it, so I will explain.

If Frumin generally beat Krucoff 75-25 in Palisades and Spring Valley, in Woodley Park, Cleveland Park and Forest Hills, he beat Krucoff 80-20. Get it?

DP, but nothing you’ve written excludes party affiliation as an explanation for voter preference. Maybe Woodley Park, Cleveland Park, Forest Hills voters have stronger partisan biases.

Which would mean more people in those areas support progressive issues like...bike lanes.

Not all progressives think bike lanes on Connecticut Avenue are a good idea, but even if they did, you still haven’t excluded partisan identification as the primary driver of voter preference. The only information on the ballot were the candidates’ names and party affiliation. You would have a stronger case if bike lane positions were on the ballot or if party identification had a weaker relationship with candidate preference in recent elections.

Anyone engaged with the Council race, particularly in the Connecticut Avenue corridor, had a lot of exposure to this issue, as other than party affiliation, was the only real difference between the candidates. The republican, in fact LIVES in Cleveland Park so it was his home turf, and he still underperformed. It is clear you don't live on the Conn Ave corridor and missed all of the signs, wheatpaste stickers, Nextdoor and Listserv posts on the race, which were solely focused on this one issue.

Hypothetical: if you flip it around, and the R supported bike lanes and the D opposed them, who do you think would have won? If you think the R would have won, then you have won the argument.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, I'm at least as pro-bike lane as the next person who bikes downtown a lot, but it's silly to pretend the elections (at any level, ANC through ward Council member) were referenda on bike lanes. No one specifically campaigned against them in any race I can remember, so the fact that the people who won supported them doesn't exactly prove that everyone who voted for them also wanted the project.

Not true.

David Krucoff campaigned against them and in the Connecticut Avenue precincts, he did worse against Frumin than he did elsewhere across the Ward.
There were several ANC races in Ward 3 where the bike lanes were THE defining issue, and in each case, the pro-bile lane candidate won.

Krucoff had an "R" next to his name, which means he had no chance of winning no matter his stance on anything.

Good lord, you can't possibly be so stupid to use that argument.

And, in the precincts where bike lanes were the main issue, Frumin outperformed Krucoff as compared to the rest of the ward. Maybe you aren't getting it, so I will explain.

If Frumin generally beat Krucoff 75-25 in Palisades and Spring Valley, in Woodley Park, Cleveland Park and Forest Hills, he beat Krucoff 80-20. Get it?

DP, but nothing you’ve written excludes party affiliation as an explanation for voter preference. Maybe Woodley Park, Cleveland Park, Forest Hills voters have stronger partisan biases.

Which would mean more people in those areas support progressive issues like...bike lanes.

Not all progressives think bike lanes on Connecticut Avenue are a good idea, but even if they did, you still haven’t excluded partisan identification as the primary driver of voter preference. The only information on the ballot were the candidates’ names and party affiliation. You would have a stronger case if bike lane positions were on the ballot or if party identification had a weaker relationship with candidate preference in recent elections.

Anyone engaged with the Council race, particularly in the Connecticut Avenue corridor, had a lot of exposure to this issue, as other than party affiliation, was the only real difference between the candidates. The republican, in fact LIVES in Cleveland Park so it was his home turf, and he still underperformed. It is clear you don't live on the Conn Ave corridor and missed all of the signs, wheatpaste stickers, Nextdoor and Listserv posts on the race, which were solely focused on this one issue.

Hypothetical: if you flip it around, and the R supported bike lanes and the D opposed them, who do you think would have won? If you think the R would have won, then you have won the argument.

If an R were running and supported the bike lanes, then the southern strategy and follow on political shift between the parties never would have happened, so, sure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is hilarious.

Is there 14,000 cyclists in all of North America? I doubt it.

“Replacing vehicular lanes with bicycle lanes ultimately increases the maximum capacity of the overall right of way, as an average car lane moves up to around 2,000 people per hour per direction, while an average bike lane using the same space can move up to around 14,000 people per hour per direction,” the report said.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/05/15/connecticut-avenue-bike-lane-revived/

It's one of those meaningless statistics because one could also say that 28,000 Segways (half the size of a bike but the same speed) per hour or even more smart cars (smaller length, larger width but faster speed).

There is one simple fact that matters. Right now, 30,000 cars per day use Connecticut while bicycle use per day is in the low double digits. The demand is simply not there.

As usual, the bicyclists overreached. If they had waited until at least 500 people on average per day over a calendar year were using it then they might have had a point.

People not wanting to risk their lives riding a bike on Connecticut Avenue is not indicative of a lack of demand. Count me and three additional members of my family who would replace countless car trips if it were safe to do so.

DC already has more than 150 miles of bike lanes, many of them protected, and the number of cyclists in this city is going down. If cyclists were a stock, you'd sell. It's already topped out.