New bike lane on Old Georgetown Rd in Bethesda

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These lanes are racist. We know exactly who uses them. Rich white men. It’s a garage to say it has anything to do with the environment. It’s called green gentrification.

Thank you for providing the first hearty laugh of the new year. You are not just ignorant, but completely insane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These lanes are racist. We know exactly who uses them. Rich white men. It’s a garage to say it has anything to do with the environment. It’s called green gentrification.

We know exactly who had to be injured/killed to get them: a 13-year-old, a 17-year-old, and an 18-year-old.

Four bicyclists have been killed in Montgomery County this year: an immigrant woman in her 60s in Gaithersburg, an 18-year-old college student in Bethesda, a US diplomat in her 40s in Bethesda, and a 19-year-old recent high school graduate in Wheaton. So take your bigoted "rich white men" nonsense somewhere else.

I take it that you are a white guy then. Because only white guys are so insensitive yet carry such victimhood as to go around calling people “bike bigots”. You folks spend too much time talking to yourselves in an epistemically closed environment to understand how dumb you sound.

I think you need to acquaint yourself with the meaning of "bigot". No one particular group gets exclusive rights to the term.

People who spread stereotypes about cyclists are as bigoted as those who spread stereotypes about people from other groups.

While this may give you cognitive dissonance, it happens to be true.

[Anonymous]

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Sorry, but that cyclist even admitted he is a jerk! Come on...that kind of behavior is off the rails. He could have called the non emergency number or nicely told them that they weren't allowed to park there. I would have been very upset if someone did that to me. I very well could have pulled over for an emergency or whatnot. The cyclist had no idea why the people were pulled over or that they had speeding fines.

You still don't get to park in the bike lane, just like you don't get to park on the sidewalk.

I got doored once by a driver who didn't look. The driver yelled at me for damaging his car. Fortunately I wasn't injured, but dooring can kill people.

So where does a car pull over for an emergency then? I'm waiting.

In the road.

So basically the driver of a care with an emergency should stop in the middle of the road so the bike lane will be clear. Got it.

Why is it ok for you to block the bike lane or the sidewalk with your car in an emergency, but not the road?

Again, entitled attitude once again from the bike community. I found this document which might give you some clarity on how it's done. https://www.roads.maryland.gov/ohd2/bike_policy_and_design_guide.pdf

That's nice. The Old Georgetown Road bike lane is not on a shoulder. Old Georgetown Road doesn't have a shoulder, because they widened it to the full width of the right-of-way.

It may not have had a shoulder before but it has a shoulder now, your empty bike lane.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Yikes, just got a glimpse of typical cyclist entitlement when searching for a recent news article about the lanes. This happened in DC about a year ago. Unbelievable attitude and totally inappropriate behavior. Vigilante cyclists are a real thing.

The "cyclists" who have been killed on this road or seriously injured on this road in recent years are a 17-year-old boy on the sidewalk, an 18-year-old boy on the sidewalk, a 13-year-old girl on the sidewalk, and a family with children on the sidewalk. Your post is bigotry and nothing else.

Wasn't talking about them. I have encountered many an aggressive cyclist on the roads around here. One even was extending a long pole out into my traffic lane to prevent me from passing him while he was on the left side of a VERY wide shoulder riding much slower than the moving traffic. No excuse for such obnoxious behavior.

This is not a thread about mean things people have done to you while you were using the roads. It's about the new bike lanes on Old Georgetown Road.

We have to remember, though, the very people who are ramrodding this project down citizen's throats.

Wow the imagery is so hot.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Not pp, but have already sat in backups from Pike and Rose to Democracy, and more than once have sat through THREE light cycles at Tuckerman to get through that intersection.

While I agree we need bike lanes, a major thoroughfare that is already blocked with traffic, was not the place to remove one-third of the traffic lanes for cars.

They need to go, and go quickly

In other words, while you agree we need bike lanes, you think driving time is more important. So, where do you think we should have bike lanes?

The only way bike lanes should be handled on that road is to actually ADD a lane...not take away a lane. That means major construction. I support that. I, along with the majority of county residents, do not support the current solution and suspect those lanes will be going in a couple of months.

There is no space to add a lane without taking private property. And even if there were space to add a lane, it would take years. And the road would be even wider, which would make it even more dangerous. What actual, feasible solution do you support, that people can use now?

Well then bike traffic should be diverted to side roads or the existing bike path. I read somewhere that the SHA was completely unaware of the Capital Crescent Trail.

The CCT connects to Wisconsin Ave south of OGR. Not sure what OGR lanes have to do with the CCT, other than make the case that OGR bike lanes extend bike connectivity all the way to Georgetown (and eventuall Silver Spring)

[Anonymous]

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Setbacks are not government property, it is private property. It is not for the government to use as they wish without compensation.

It’s clear the problem here is that there are a bunch of really foolish people advocating for something without having basic understanding of how the world works. Decision making based in ignorance never leads to good outcomes.

Guess what guys and girls, the traffic is not going to magically “evaporate” without the rain evaporating the downtown Bethesda economy. Even more ridiculously, the County Council purposefully did not identify Old Georgetown Rd as a “growth corridor” in Thrive so it will not have significantly increased density to support whatever car free dream that you have for at least the next 50 years.

The practical effect here is that reduced capacity on Old Georgetown Rd will end up discouraging further urbanism in Bethesda because it now strands the downtown sector in a moat of congestion. Well done people!

If only there were ways to get to downtown Bethesda without driving yourself on Old Georgetown Road during peak weekday car travel times.

There are very few ways that involve freeway access and downtown Bethesda lacks direct freeway access which will always be a big problem for further development. Even Manhattan has a couple freeways. Downtown Bethesda is only sustainable as an urban center if it can be an activity center that can accommodate intra-suburban travel. Looks like the county has decided to purposefully shift their attention to White Flint. Watch retail in downtown Bethesda start to suffer.

Utterly silly and misinformed.

Bethesda is booming right now despite all of the ills you cite and after the Purple Line opens will be as well served by public transit as most downtown DC neighborhoods while also being much closer to the Beltway.

Montgomery County gets it and thankfully isn't listening to chest beating exurban drivers like you.

And once people decide that it’s not worth it to go there because traffic is too awful (thanks idiots), they will just go to Pike n Rose instead.

Nobody goes to Bethesda anymore, it's too crowded.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Takoma Park on both sides of the line, is easily bikeable without bike lanes, though there are lanes on Piney Branch, but there aren't 6 lane high speed roads going through Takoma in DC or MD.

Other than New Hampshire Avenue and University Boulevard...

University Blvd is not in Takoma Park. There is no bike lane along New Hampshire IN Takoma Park. But do go on.

You're right, the Takoma Park boundary is on the south side of University Boulevard, while the county boundary is on the north side of University Boulevard. New Hampshire Avenue is in Takoma Park, though, and it's not easily bikeable, although people do bike along New Hampshire Avenue on the sidewalk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Takoma Park on both sides of the line, is easily bikeable without bike lanes, though there are lanes on Piney Branch, but there aren't 6 lane high speed roads going through Takoma in DC or MD.

The bike lane on Piney Branch IN Takoma Park is one block. That’s it. That’s the only bike lane there.

As is typical in this county, it’s the hypocrite Takoma Park liberals driving the agenda that they refuse to accept for themselves.

The entirity of Takoma, both DC and MD, is bikeable already without the need for bike lanes. Why is that hypocritical?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Takoma Park on both sides of the line, is easily bikeable without bike lanes, though there are lanes on Piney Branch, but there aren't 6 lane high speed roads going through Takoma in DC or MD.

Other than New Hampshire Avenue and University Boulevard...

Sorry hon, but neither NH Ave nor University Blvd are in Takoma, either DC or MD.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Takoma Park on both sides of the line, is easily bikeable without bike lanes, though there are lanes on Piney Branch, but there aren't 6 lane high speed roads going through Takoma in DC or MD.

Other than New Hampshire Avenue and University Boulevard...

Sorry hon, but neither NH Ave nor University Blvd are in Takoma, either DC or MD.

Look at a map, please. New Hampshire Avenue is within the boundaries of the City of Takoma Park, Maryland, between Ethan Allen Avenue/East West Highway (including the intersection) and University Boulevard East (not including the intersection).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Takoma Park on both sides of the line, is easily bikeable without bike lanes, though there are lanes on Piney Branch, but there aren't 6 lane high speed roads going through Takoma in DC or MD.

The bike lane on Piney Branch IN Takoma Park is one block. That’s it. That’s the only bike lane there.

As is typical in this county, it’s the hypocrite Takoma Park liberals driving the agenda that they refuse to accept for themselves.

The entirity of Takoma, both DC and MD, is bikeable already without the need for bike lanes. Why is that hypocritical?

Yes, it's bikeable, in the sense that people do bike there, but there is a lot that could be done to make it more safely and comfortably bikeable. Which is why the City of Takoma Park has a bikeways program! https://takomaparkmd.gov/government/housing-and-community-development/planning-and-community-development/bikeways-program/

[Anonymous]

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if the promoters of the Purple Line are correct, that it’s about equity, then the intended users will not be people paying $8 for a croissant at Paul. Not sure how that helps Bethesda businesses.

The promoters of the Purple Line are correct that it's about transportation.

But yes, I think downtown Bethesda will do fine without people who insist that if they can't drive on 6 lanes of Old Georgetown Road without traffic back-ups at 7:30 am on a weekday, they just won't go to downtown Bethesda.

Narrator: It won’t.

Remember how that Target in downtown Bethesda was going to close within 3 months because it was too hard for people to drive there and park, and they would just go to the one in North Bethesda? How did that turn out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Takoma Park on both sides of the line, is easily bikeable without bike lanes, though there are lanes on Piney Branch, but there aren't 6 lane high speed roads going through Takoma in DC or MD.

The bike lane on Piney Branch IN Takoma Park is one block. That’s it. That’s the only bike lane there.

As is typical in this county, it’s the hypocrite Takoma Park liberals driving the agenda that they refuse to accept for themselves.

The entirity of Takoma, both DC and MD, is bikeable already without the need for bike lanes. Why is that hypocritical?

Then why does Takoma DC have protected bike lanes and Takoma Park MD doesn’t!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Takoma Park on both sides of the line, is easily bikeable without bike lanes, though there are lanes on Piney Branch, but there aren't 6 lane high speed roads going through Takoma in DC or MD.

The bike lane on Piney Branch IN Takoma Park is one block. That’s it. That’s the only bike lane there.

As is typical in this county, it’s the hypocrite Takoma Park liberals driving the agenda that they refuse to accept for themselves.

The entirity of Takoma, both DC and MD, is bikeable already without the need for bike lanes. Why is that hypocritical?

Yes, it's bikeable, in the sense that people do bike there, but there is a lot that could be done to make it more safely and comfortably bikeable. Which is why the City of Takoma Park has a bikeways program! https://takomaparkmd.gov/government/housing-and-community-development/planning-and-community-development/bikeways-program/

Those are just another name for sharrows! How awful and totally inadequate to keep cyclists safe. Need protected bike lanes on Piney Branch, Philadelphia and Carroll.

[Anonymous]

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if the promoters of the Purple Line are correct, that it’s about equity, then the intended users will not be people paying $8 for a croissant at Paul. Not sure how that helps Bethesda businesses.

The promoters of the Purple Line are correct that it's about transportation.

But yes, I think downtown Bethesda will do fine without people who insist that if they can't drive on 6 lanes of Old Georgetown Road without traffic back-ups at 7:30 am on a weekday, they just won't go to downtown Bethesda.

Narrator: It won’t.

Remember how that Target in downtown Bethesda was going to close within 3 months because it was too hard for people to drive there and park, and they would just go to the one in North Bethesda? How did that turn out?

I’m not sure the point? Trader Joe’s has opened a new location with more parking and will probably abandon that location as soon as their lease is up.