Upper Beach Drive to Remain Closed to Cars Year Round

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the next step is to begin discussion on closing all of beach drive.....all the way down to the Kennedy Center.
The Park should be a park. Get rid of the whole highway

Even better, replace the parkway with a trolley.

I think you are trying to be clever but Beach Drive is already parallel to something much better than a trolley in the Red Line along the most heavily used portion of Metrorail.

Not trying to be clever and you need to look at a map.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about widening Reno Rd to handle the overflow?

Upper Beach drive has been closed for 2 years now and Reno Road is just fine. Beach was closed pre-covid and Reno was fine then too.

-a regular Reno Road user who lives less than a block from the road

When lower beach was closed for repairs it was Connecticut that got all the traffic. Upper beach used to only be closed on weekends which was a good compromise.


I do not believe that DCs current WFH rate will continue

The configuration that exists right now and that will be going forward are the same thing.

The work from home situation that exists right now is not going to be the same going forward.

[Anonymous]

It's great for UMC people who work from home, in predominantly white neighborhoods, sucks for all those of us who *gasp* have to work for a living. And what a giant waste of money rehabbing Beach Drive just before the pandemic. At least that gave us all lots of experience with alternate routes through those same mostly UMC white neighborhoods.

But I'll also go into the office less often, especially if they go forward with the Conn Ave bike lanes. More of my money will be spent in MD rather than DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the next step is to begin discussion on closing all of beach drive.....all the way down to the Kennedy Center.
The Park should be a park. Get rid of the whole highway

What a dream! That would be so fantastic.

Your dream is to cripple the D.C. economy? To make life miserable for hundreds of thousands of people?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This sucks. When I bought my home, I looked at road options for commuting, and that was a major draw
Now, if there's a blockage of Military Rd after 14th st to StJohns, what do emergency vehicles do? Where's the workaround?
Very shortsighted decision

Well, hopefully cars get out of the way of the ambulance. Not entirely sure ambulances would have used Beach drive anyway

That's the issue, there's NO PLACE for cars to go. It's 2 lanes each way with walls on either side. Take a look at a map of the area

[Anonymous]

They need to dig up the road and let it be a gravel/dirt/mud path. If it’s going to be closed permanently to vehicles, then it shouldn’t have a pavement/non-permeable surface.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They need to dig up the road and let it be a gravel/dirt/mud path. If it’s going to be closed permanently to vehicles, then it shouldn’t have a pavement/non-permeable surface.

Agree. Give it back to nature completely.

They should also reduce the annual budget for the park thanks to the cost’s savings from no longer needing to maintain the road.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the next step is to begin discussion on closing all of beach drive.....all the way down to the Kennedy Center.
The Park should be a park. Get rid of the whole highway

I think this is both important as an environmental matter but also equitable. It’s real interesting that most access for DC residents remains to use it as a highway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's great for UMC people who work from home, in predominantly white neighborhoods, sucks for all those of us who *gasp* have to work for a living. And what a giant waste of money rehabbing Beach Drive just before the pandemic. At least that gave us all lots of experience with alternate routes through those same mostly UMC white neighborhoods.

But I'll also go into the office less often, especially if they go forward with the Conn Ave bike lanes. More of my money will be spent in MD rather than DC.

Sucks for people who aren't wealthy enough to live so close to where they can work that they can bike.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's great for UMC people who work from home, in predominantly white neighborhoods, sucks for all those of us who *gasp* have to work for a living. And what a giant waste of money rehabbing Beach Drive just before the pandemic. At least that gave us all lots of experience with alternate routes through those same mostly UMC white neighborhoods.

But I'll also go into the office less often, especially if they go forward with the Conn Ave bike lanes. More of my money will be spent in MD rather than DC.

Sucks for people who aren't wealthy enough to live so close to where they can work that they can bike.

Drivers in D.C. are disproportionately black; bicyclists are almost entirely white. We can see whose favored form of transportation is getting priority here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about widening Reno Rd to handle the overflow?

Upper Beach drive has been closed for 2 years now and Reno Road is just fine. Beach was closed pre-covid and Reno was fine then too.

-a regular Reno Road user who lives less than a block from the road

When lower beach was closed for repairs it was Connecticut that got all the traffic. Upper beach used to only be closed on weekends which was a good compromise.


I do not believe that DCs current WFH rate will continue

The configuration that exists right now and that will be going forward are the same thing.

The work from home situation that exists right now is not going to be the same going forward.

Speak for yourself.

My spouse and I are on permanent remote work. Having the park available for lunch time runs and walks is a lifesaver.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This sucks. When I bought my home, I looked at road options for commuting, and that was a major draw
Now, if there's a blockage of Military Rd after 14th st to StJohns, what do emergency vehicles do? Where's the workaround?
Very shortsighted decision

Well, hopefully cars get out of the way of the ambulance. Not entirely sure ambulances would have used Beach drive anyway

That's the issue, there's NO PLACE for cars to go. It's 2 lanes each way with walls on either side. Take a look at a map of the area

and turn lanes at many intersections, so, plenty of places for cars to get out of the way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's great for UMC people who work from home, in predominantly white neighborhoods, sucks for all those of us who *gasp* have to work for a living. And what a giant waste of money rehabbing Beach Drive just before the pandemic. At least that gave us all lots of experience with alternate routes through those same mostly UMC white neighborhoods.

But I'll also go into the office less often, especially if they go forward with the Conn Ave bike lanes. More of my money will be spent in MD rather than DC.

Sucks for people who aren't wealthy enough to live so close to where they can work that they can bike.

Drivers in D.C. are disproportionately black; bicyclists are almost entirely white. We can see whose favored form of transportation is getting priority here.

You clearly haven't been paying to all of the blue collar workers who are Afrtican-American and Latino who ride bikes all.over.the.place.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's great for UMC people who work from home, in predominantly white neighborhoods, sucks for all those of us who *gasp* have to work for a living. And what a giant waste of money rehabbing Beach Drive just before the pandemic. At least that gave us all lots of experience with alternate routes through those same mostly UMC white neighborhoods.

But I'll also go into the office less often, especially if they go forward with the Conn Ave bike lanes. More of my money will be spent in MD rather than DC.

Sucks for people who aren't wealthy enough to live so close to where they can work that they can bike.

Drivers in D.C. are disproportionately black; bicyclists are almost entirely white. We can see whose favored form of transportation is getting priority here.

Beach Drive was mostly used by white Maryland drivers. Those who walk, run, and bike on Beach Drive include all races but probably a plurality of Black walkers and runners. Remember that the neighborhoods on the east side of the northern section of the Park are predominately Black.

You are mistaken to look at this as primarily as a transportation issue as bike commuting is only one use of the closed section of Beach Drive. I use the road almost daily for exercise and during the time that I am there it is predominately used for recreational purposes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there spillover traffic now? Because I haven't noticed any. As such, there would be no reason to make any other changes.

Yes, there is spillover traffic, and there has been for quite some time, with Beach Drive closed, Oregon Avenue under construction, and the elimination of the E6 bus line. The traffic on Rittenhouse, Western, Nevada and Broad Branch near where I live has increased significantly such that we have had to have speed bumps installed on many streets to slow folks down. Streams of cars go up and down these once-quiet streets, from morning to evening, as drivers seek alternative ways to communte to schools and work. I dread what will happen once construction begins on Connecticut Avenue.

All of us do not enjoy a 5-day-a-week WFH situation, and my employer, at least, is starting to make noises about having everyone return in-person. So, as other employers move to make the same decision, it's inevitable that there will be more spillover traffic. Not everyone lives close to public transportation, and expecting them to find new jobs that are closer to their workplace is utterly ridiculous. I know that I would not be in a position to buy a new house in this current market or find a new job at my age. Just the facts.

For me, the bus service across town to Friendship Heights via the E4 line is unpredictable with buses arriving back-to-back and off-schedule, with long waits in between. There is no bus service up Western east of the Circle, and in the morning, there are long lines of cars on Western from Chevy Chase Circle to Pinehurst Circle. I have a 25-minute walk to the Metro from my house. Luckily, I can do this; however, I recognize that others cannot and have made the choice to drive. I wish I could afford to do so, as it would cut an hour-long commute from just A to B to 20 minutes; however, parking is too expensive. Also expensive is the Metrorail, and price hikes for this service are on the table for discussion.

Beach Drive should not have been closed until folks are not expected to report in-person to offices downtown AND public transportation options are more affordable and robust.