Options for opposing Connecticut Avenue changes?

[Anonymous]

They really had a sign that said Parking > People


Crazy.

[Anonymous]

Where they're having their demonstration - didn't that used to be parking?

[Anonymous]

White Progressives at it again smh

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where they're having their demonstration - didn't that used to be parking?

LOL, they probably opposed the conversion of the Cleveland Park service lane to a pedestrian area (as it had been before the 1950's) and are now using that same space to protest bike lanes. What a hoot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reno Rd would be a perfect spot for dedicated bike lanes. Get rid of the center turn lane and there's room to put bike lanes on the sides. Cylists can then take east-west streets to easily reach destinations in Tenleytown, Cleveland Park, Cathedral Heights, etc.

It is hillier than Conn Ave, there are no stores on it, so people trying to go shopping would still need to ride to CT Ave, and not having left turn lanes will turn Reno into a parking lot for cars.

Reno doesn't have turn lanes north of Murch or south of the Cathedral. In any case, DC needs to focus on moving vehicle traffic off of Reno. It's lined with houses and schools very close to the roadway, and is not well-suited to be an arterial road.

So is Connecticut Avenue. Homes, schools, stores, libraries, the zoo, Metro stations... Connecticut Avenue is really not well-suited to be an arterial road.

Then is it time to build an inside the Beltway interstate from 270 to downtown through Upper Northwest Washington? If traffic is pushed off Connecticut and Wisconsin Aves, what is the alternative?

Oh, I don't know.. less driving and more rail-based transit, bus, or biking?

I had someone who drove in from VA today to my downtown DC office because my company started offering free parking. After they left, they texted me what a mistake that was because they had gone like 8 blocks in 30 minutes. "I should have just taken metro" -- exactly!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Connecticut Ave bike lanes will not happen. The DC budget is getting tighter because tax revenues are declining. If the choice is between funding bike lanes on Connecticut versus funding MPD police foot and bike patrols on Connecticut, guess which one wins?

\

That's silly.

MPD has lots of budgeted and unfilled positions so shifting money from DDOT to MPD would have no impact whatsoever on MPD staffing. And LOL that you think MPD will be doing foot and bike patrols on Connecticut Avenue or anywhere else.

In fact your best bet for getting an MPD presence is to add a bike lane on Connecticut Avenue so MPD has somewhere to park their car while they stare at their phone all day.

DDOT has about a 650 million dollar annual budget, only a tiny percentage of which is spent on bike and pedestrian facilities and the Connecticut Avenue Project (which again is about a lot more than bike lanes) is only estimated to cost about $8 million.

So nice try but that's a fail.

Also that very expensive k st project is dead in the water right now. So... yes, freed up some budget flexibility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where they're having their demonstration - didn't that used to be parking?

LOL, they probably opposed the conversion of the Cleveland Park service lane to a pedestrian area (as it had been before the 1950's) and are now using that same space to protest bike lanes. What a hoot.

Totally did. Mark Rosenman was one of the authors on opeds in the post on the service lane (now a pedestrian promenade - so much better) and is quite vocal about both issues on the cp listerv and in person to anyone who will listen. Also, he would go into businesses with their survey and park his 240lb, 6ft4 butt there until someone would sign the damn thing.

[Anonymous]

Then is it time to build an inside the Beltway interstate from 270 to downtown through Upper Northwest Washington? If traffic is pushed off Connecticut and Wisconsin Aves, what is the alternative?

No.

+1. Traffic isn't being pushed off the avenues; people are choosing to be in traffic. Just like others will choose to bike, or bus, or metro

-1. This is a lie. During the construction in Cleveland Park, I, and many other cars, frequently turned off Connecticut Avenue and on to side streets like Reno and 35th. Some even made their way a few blocks through alleys. Please don’t fabricate facts to support your argument.

[Anonymous]

I’ll say one thing for the bike lobby. They have an awesome rapid response team. Every comment here and in other venues like the ChCh listserv is quickly responded to with speculation and insults, if not facts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ll say one thing for the bike lobby. They have an awesome rapid response team. Every comment here and in other venues like the ChCh listserv is quickly responded to with speculation and insults, if not facts.

Considering the chevy chase list moderator is a heavy editor and pretty openly not on the side of "the bike lobby", I don't think any "bike lobby" people are able to post even slightly aggressive language there, period.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Then is it time to build an inside the Beltway interstate from 270 to downtown through Upper Northwest Washington? If traffic is pushed off Connecticut and Wisconsin Aves, what is the alternative?

No.

+1. Traffic isn't being pushed off the avenues; people are choosing to be in traffic. Just like others will choose to bike, or bus, or metro

-1. This is a lie. During the construction in Cleveland Park, I, and many other cars, frequently turned off Connecticut Avenue and on to side streets like Reno and 35th. Some even made their way a few blocks through alleys. Please don’t fabricate facts to support your argument.

That's a choice you're making to speed up your commute. Another way to speed up your commute could be biking, bus or metro.

Or if I read your message incorrectly, you are claiming you couldn't stay on a road during the actual construction, to which I have no comment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ll say one thing for the bike lobby. They have an awesome rapid response team. Every comment here and in other venues like the ChCh listserv is quickly responded to with speculation and insults, if not facts.

The car lobby's rapid response team is not so awesome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ll say one thing for the bike lobby. They have an awesome rapid response team. Every comment here and in other venues like the ChCh listserv is quickly responded to with speculation and insults, if not facts.

I love how you call regular people "the bike lobby" - it is really asinine.

And oh, hey, yes, there are things called texts and social media, so when the people who support the unsafe status quo decide to go public, you bet others will see it and respond.

nd what insults and lies has "the bike lobby" propagated on the heavily moderated neighborhood email groups?

[Anonymous]

https://wtop.com/dc/2023/09/bike-lane-plans-draw-protestors-to-connecticut-avenue/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://wtop.com/dc/2023/09/bike-lane-plans-draw-protestors-to-connecticut-avenue/

This is why local journalism is important, but where our media have failed with Trump and failed with stories like this.


A small band of protesters turned out during the Tuesday evening commute on Connecticut Avenue in Cleveland Park. The demonstrators are opposing the D.C. Department of Transportation’s plan to install protected bike lanes on each side of the street from Woodley Park to Chevy Chase.

Wearing bright yellow T-shirts, the demonstrators gathered across the street from the Uptown Theater, trying to rally support from drivers passing by.

“Save our businesses! They need customer parking,” a demonstrator shouted into a bull horn as others held up signs toward the passing traffic.

Studies in Cleveland Park specifically show that a very small number of customers actually drive to support these businesses

“If you take two of the lanes out, dedicated for bike lanes, you’re going to cause more of a traffic problem, a safety problem, all kinds of problems and we’re against that,” said Ronald Kahn, a resident of Chevy Chase. Two lanes are not being removed, just one.

The protest was organized by a group calling itself Save Connecticut Avenue.

“What happens is that if you put in curbside protected bike lanes on each side, that means no vehicle can pull up to a curb. So, what does that mean? Buses will stop in one of the two lanes going north or south and bus passengers will have to load onto the buses crossing the bike lanes. It’s going to be a mess,” said Lee Mayer, president of Save Connecticut Avenue. there is dedicated parking 24/7 per the plans and people cross streets and bike lanes all the time without issue

Mayer pointed to the line of cars heading northbound with the afternoon commute just getting underway.

“If you look at two lanes and it’s bumper to bumper and it’s only 4:15, can you imagine if there was only one through lane? And where are the service vehicles going to park? There’s no accommodation. They’ve reduced the number of loading zones and the loading zones will be on one side of the street only. So if you own a business on the wrong side of the street, what’s going to happen?” said Mayer. so its 4:15 on a Tuesday and traffic is already bumper to bumper, so the change in traffic configuration is not going to make it worse, in fact it will make it better by 1) having turn lanes 2) having 2 through lanes and 3) adding bike lanes so people will be encouraged to mix their transportation share to including biking as well
People in yellow T-shirts protest the proposed bike lanes for Connecticut Avue in Cleveland Park. One woman holds a sign that reads “No Bike Lanes on Conn Ave.”

But some bicyclists watched the protest and disagreed with its goals.

“I think that a bike lane on Connecticut Avenue is an incredibly important asset that improves safety for all people on the road. And so that includes pedestrians, that includes people who are on bicycles like myself, that includes people who are in cars and it improves the safety of the road,” said Robin Watkins, a resident of Northwest D.C. who stopped her e-bike to speak out.

Watkins went on, “It’s an incredibly important way for people to get to work, school, shops and businesses, places that they need to get to in their everyday lives.”

Ezra Deutsch-Feldman, a D.C. resident and bicyclist, said he thinks the bike lanes would make navigating streets easier for drivers, too.

“They’re a good idea because they’ll make the street safer for everyone and they’ll make it nicer for everyone, not only the bicyclists who use the lanes, but it will be better for the drivers because they don’t have to worry about dodging around the cyclists that are there. … By giving everybody their own space, it makes it safer for everyone,” said Deutsch-Feldman.

The D.C. Department of Transportation said Mayor Muriel Bowser has selected the plan to install bike lines on each side of Connecticut Avenue from Calvert Street to Legation Street. It would also add other features intended to improve safety, including curb extensions and pedestrian refuge stands.

However, the project has not yet been scheduled for construction.

Bicyclists say the lanes are extremely necessary to boost safety. Their opponents argue that the city’s plan will remove about 470 parking spaces and reduce safety for pedestrians, who, for example, will be required to cross active bike lanes with vehicles in order to board buses that can no longer stop at the curb.

there is no metric that supports the assertion that the changes will reduce safety for pedestrians