Options for opposing Connecticut Avenue changes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

"Vision Zero" is such a perfect summation of Mayor Bowser and her administration.

This is just another push by the bike lobby to try to resuscitate something that no one but a small group of bike lobby bros wants. You can't have this and the mayor calling for the Federal Govt. to return to work. The two are diametrically opposed.

The reality is that the CT Ave bike lanes were always an uphill battle, but they died the moment a group of ANC commissioners took a photo of themselves giving the middle finger to a business that was opposed.

Yeah because most people in D.C. (a) are aware that ANCs exist, (b) know that these commissioners did this and (c) care?

That moment solidified business opposition to a proposal that always had a tenuous benefit due how low the projected utilization would be and caught the attention of key decision makers. I hate to break it to you, but there is not a single person who important decision making responsibility in this city that wants to be seen as deciding in favor of the middle finger brigade and against important figures in the business community.

Except for the Mayor, Councilmember and DDOT officials who have public safety and not the fragile sensibilities of a bunch of blue hairs, at stake.

Something else that may have hurt the bike lane cause is the shameless ageism of some of its proponents.

More than fragile sensibilities, maybe the "bunch of blue hairs" are more worried about what will happen to their fragile bones when they try to cross the bike lane after alighting from a bus and get thwacked by a fast-moving e-bike.

My nonagenarian parents and I are considerably more worried about what will happen to their fragile bones when they try to cross the road and get thwacked by a fast-moving car.

Even with bike lanes, Connecticut will still have lots of car and truck traffic -- unless the plan is to turn it into a miles-long bike and pedestrian zone.

When there are bike lanes, people will have fewer car/truck lanes to cross, and that is good for people. In fact, we've already seen the effect of turning the former service lane back into sidewalk: the small group of bike lane haters was able to stage their anti bike lane demonstration on it!

The pedestrian sidewalk would be a great thing if DC hadn't already cut sweetheart deals with streeteries that will effectively privatize much of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

"Vision Zero" is such a perfect summation of Mayor Bowser and her administration.

This is just another push by the bike lobby to try to resuscitate something that no one but a small group of bike lobby bros wants. You can't have this and the mayor calling for the Federal Govt. to return to work. The two are diametrically opposed.

The reality is that the CT Ave bike lanes were always an uphill battle, but they died the moment a group of ANC commissioners took a photo of themselves giving the middle finger to a business that was opposed.

Yeah because most people in D.C. (a) are aware that ANCs exist, (b) know that these commissioners did this and (c) care?

That moment solidified business opposition to a proposal that always had a tenuous benefit due how low the projected utilization would be and caught the attention of key decision makers. I hate to break it to you, but there is not a single person who important decision making responsibility in this city that wants to be seen as deciding in favor of the middle finger brigade and against important figures in the business community.

Except for the Mayor, Councilmember and DDOT officials who have public safety and not the fragile sensibilities of a bunch of blue hairs, at stake.

Something else that may have hurt the bike lane cause is the shameless ageism of some of its proponents.

More than fragile sensibilities, maybe the "bunch of blue hairs" are more worried about what will happen to their fragile bones when they try to cross the bike lane after alighting from a bus and get thwacked by a fast-moving e-bike.

My nonagenarian parents and I are considerably more worried about what will happen to their fragile bones when they try to cross the road and get thwacked by a fast-moving car.

Even with bike lanes, Connecticut will still have lots of car and truck traffic -- unless the plan is to turn it into a miles-long bike and pedestrian zone.

When there are bike lanes, people will have fewer car/truck lanes to cross, and that is good for people. In fact, we've already seen the effect of turning the former service lane back into sidewalk: the small group of bike lane haters was able to stage their anti bike lane demonstration on it!

That's not the case. Pedestrians in most places will still have to cross five lanes of moving traffic. Option C will have two lanes of travel each way at all times (one of which is likely to be blocked by buses that won't pull out of traffic or double-parked trucks). It will have a center turn lane along much of Connecticut Ave, which may have the perverse effect of making it easier for traffic to divert into side streets. Five lanes is what exactly what DC has had to date at rush hour: 5 vehicle lanes plus one lane of parking. However, most of the street parking goes away with the bike lanes. The number of vehicle lanes doesn't really decrease.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

"Vision Zero" is such a perfect summation of Mayor Bowser and her administration.

This is just another push by the bike lobby to try to resuscitate something that no one but a small group of bike lobby bros wants. You can't have this and the mayor calling for the Federal Govt. to return to work. The two are diametrically opposed.

The reality is that the CT Ave bike lanes were always an uphill battle, but they died the moment a group of ANC commissioners took a photo of themselves giving the middle finger to a business that was opposed.

Yeah because most people in D.C. (a) are aware that ANCs exist, (b) know that these commissioners did this and (c) care?

That moment solidified business opposition to a proposal that always had a tenuous benefit due how low the projected utilization would be and caught the attention of key decision makers. I hate to break it to you, but there is not a single person who important decision making responsibility in this city that wants to be seen as deciding in favor of the middle finger brigade and against important figures in the business community.

Except for the Mayor, Councilmember and DDOT officials who have public safety and not the fragile sensibilities of a bunch of blue hairs, at stake.

Public safety requires a tax base. The business owners have spoken. And the mayor has listened.

Then why is DDOT still working on designs? It is rather ironic, the businesses would lose more money from customers by opposing these public safety measures. Their customers are telling them daily how they are getting to their stores and what the improvements will mean.

Guessing the business owners drive there to their businesses and (incorrectly) assume everyone else does too.

Maybe after being in business for multiple decades they have a pretty good handle on who their customers are? Maybe the last people they are going to trust are people who have exactly zero business experience? Maybe they are tired of being bullied? I don’t know.

Alternatively, maybe they don't. After all, who asks their customers about mode of transportation? Every study has found that good bike lanes are good for business, not bad.

A DC government study found that the number one challenge for Cleveland Park businesses along Connecticut Avenue is parking.

Or rather, that Cleveland Park business owners identified their number one challenge as parking. But why? And parking for whom? They don't know how their customers got there.

It’s really amazing that all these bumbling business owners have managed to stay open, some for decades. And don’t even ask me how any of them could have built restaurant empires, which is regarded as one of the toughest business lines. How many successful companies have you built with your advanced level of business acumen?

That's silly, PP. Just because you're good at running a restaurant or a dry cleaner or whatever, doesn't mean you know anything about transportation or how your customers get there. When you go into a business, does the owner ask you how you got there? Do you announce to the owner that you drove there, or walked, or whatever you did?

Local business people probably hear from customers who complain that they can't find nearby parking and next time will take their business elsewhere. I'm all for more cyclists and walkers. I have less patience for those who boast of their car-free lifestyle while spending a small fortune for on-demand ride services that cruise around. (There's little "sharing" or carbon-lite about them.). But the reality is that many people -- busy parents, workers who live some distance away, local customers who are less mobile -- need to drive and park.

Exactly. They don't hear from customers who drove and could find parking. They don't hear from customers who walked, or biked, or took the bus. And then they say that the biggest problem is parking...

Fortunately for car customers, after the bike lanes on Connecticut go in, it will still be possible to drive to businesses on Connecticut Avenue and park.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

"Vision Zero" is such a perfect summation of Mayor Bowser and her administration.

This is just another push by the bike lobby to try to resuscitate something that no one but a small group of bike lobby bros wants. You can't have this and the mayor calling for the Federal Govt. to return to work. The two are diametrically opposed.

The reality is that the CT Ave bike lanes were always an uphill battle, but they died the moment a group of ANC commissioners took a photo of themselves giving the middle finger to a business that was opposed.

Yeah because most people in D.C. (a) are aware that ANCs exist, (b) know that these commissioners did this and (c) care?

That moment solidified business opposition to a proposal that always had a tenuous benefit due how low the projected utilization would be and caught the attention of key decision makers. I hate to break it to you, but there is not a single person who important decision making responsibility in this city that wants to be seen as deciding in favor of the middle finger brigade and against important figures in the business community.

Except for the Mayor, Councilmember and DDOT officials who have public safety and not the fragile sensibilities of a bunch of blue hairs, at stake.

Something else that may have hurt the bike lane cause is the shameless ageism of some of its proponents.

More than fragile sensibilities, maybe the "bunch of blue hairs" are more worried about what will happen to their fragile bones when they try to cross the bike lane after alighting from a bus and get thwacked by a fast-moving e-bike.

My nonagenarian parents and I are considerably more worried about what will happen to their fragile bones when they try to cross the road and get thwacked by a fast-moving car.

Even with bike lanes, Connecticut will still have lots of car and truck traffic -- unless the plan is to turn it into a miles-long bike and pedestrian zone.

When there are bike lanes, people will have fewer car/truck lanes to cross, and that is good for people. In fact, we've already seen the effect of turning the former service lane back into sidewalk: the small group of bike lane haters was able to stage their anti bike lane demonstration on it!

That's not the case. Pedestrians in most places will still have to cross five lanes of moving traffic. Option C will have two lanes of travel each way at all times (one of which is likely to be blocked by buses that won't pull out of traffic or double-parked trucks). It will have a center turn lane along much of Connecticut Ave, which may have the perverse effect of making it easier for traffic to divert into side streets. Five lanes is what exactly what DC has had to date at rush hour: 5 vehicle lanes plus one lane of parking. However, most of the street parking goes away with the bike lanes. The number of vehicle lanes doesn't really decrease.

Apparently the bike lanes will be magic bike lanes that don't occupy physical space!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

"Vision Zero" is such a perfect summation of Mayor Bowser and her administration.

This is just another push by the bike lobby to try to resuscitate something that no one but a small group of bike lobby bros wants. You can't have this and the mayor calling for the Federal Govt. to return to work. The two are diametrically opposed.

The reality is that the CT Ave bike lanes were always an uphill battle, but they died the moment a group of ANC commissioners took a photo of themselves giving the middle finger to a business that was opposed.

Yeah because most people in D.C. (a) are aware that ANCs exist, (b) know that these commissioners did this and (c) care?

That moment solidified business opposition to a proposal that always had a tenuous benefit due how low the projected utilization would be and caught the attention of key decision makers. I hate to break it to you, but there is not a single person who important decision making responsibility in this city that wants to be seen as deciding in favor of the middle finger brigade and against important figures in the business community.

Except for the Mayor, Councilmember and DDOT officials who have public safety and not the fragile sensibilities of a bunch of blue hairs, at stake.

Public safety requires a tax base. The business owners have spoken. And the mayor has listened.

Then why is DDOT still working on designs? It is rather ironic, the businesses would lose more money from customers by opposing these public safety measures. Their customers are telling them daily how they are getting to their stores and what the improvements will mean.

Guessing the business owners drive there to their businesses and (incorrectly) assume everyone else does too.

Maybe after being in business for multiple decades they have a pretty good handle on who their customers are? Maybe the last people they are going to trust are people who have exactly zero business experience? Maybe they are tired of being bullied? I don’t know.

Alternatively, maybe they don't. After all, who asks their customers about mode of transportation? Every study has found that good bike lanes are good for business, not bad.

A DC government study found that the number one challenge for Cleveland Park businesses along Connecticut Avenue is parking.

Or rather, that Cleveland Park business owners identified their number one challenge as parking. But why? And parking for whom? They don't know how their customers got there.

It’s really amazing that all these bumbling business owners have managed to stay open, some for decades. And don’t even ask me how any of them could have built restaurant empires, which is regarded as one of the toughest business lines. How many successful companies have you built with your advanced level of business acumen?

That's silly, PP. Just because you're good at running a restaurant or a dry cleaner or whatever, doesn't mean you know anything about transportation or how your customers get there. When you go into a business, does the owner ask you how you got there? Do you announce to the owner that you drove there, or walked, or whatever you did?

Local business people probably hear from customers who complain that they can't find nearby parking and next time will take their business elsewhere. I'm all for more cyclists and walkers. I have less patience for those who boast of their car-free lifestyle while spending a small fortune for on-demand ride services that cruise around. (There's little "sharing" or carbon-lite about them.). But the reality is that many people -- busy parents, workers who live some distance away, local customers who are less mobile -- need to drive and park.

Exactly. They don't hear from customers who drove and could find parking. They don't hear from customers who walked, or biked, or took the bus. And then they say that the biggest problem is parking...

Fortunately for car customers, after the bike lanes on Connecticut go in, it will still be possible to drive to businesses on Connecticut Avenue and park.

What’s going on is that DDOT and the ANC are picking winners and losers among businesses. They don’t really value a diverse business strip with a mixture of restaurants, retail, and the sort of less glamorous, less upscale stores (appliance repair, frame stiore, dry cleaners) that still serve a neighborhood. After all, it was at the repair shop that the ANC commissioners so full of themselves extended their middle finger. Such a varied business strip depends on convenient parking for customers who need to carry heavy loads or can’t walk and ride a bike. It also needs pedestrian traffic and, yes, customers who might ride a bike. Unfortunately, there’s a myopic vison that a business area of trendy bars and restaurants can draw a customer base that does not need private cars or just heavily uses Uber. That vison excludes residents, especially older ones and those on fixed incomes, who depend on the modest-sized grocery for their daily needs and patronise the less trendy businesses. They may be less mobile and need to drive to Connecticut Ave. The message to them seems to be to go shop elsewhere, even to move elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

"Vision Zero" is such a perfect summation of Mayor Bowser and her administration.

This is just another push by the bike lobby to try to resuscitate something that no one but a small group of bike lobby bros wants. You can't have this and the mayor calling for the Federal Govt. to return to work. The two are diametrically opposed.

The reality is that the CT Ave bike lanes were always an uphill battle, but they died the moment a group of ANC commissioners took a photo of themselves giving the middle finger to a business that was opposed.

Yeah because most people in D.C. (a) are aware that ANCs exist, (b) know that these commissioners did this and (c) care?

That moment solidified business opposition to a proposal that always had a tenuous benefit due how low the projected utilization would be and caught the attention of key decision makers. I hate to break it to you, but there is not a single person who important decision making responsibility in this city that wants to be seen as deciding in favor of the middle finger brigade and against important figures in the business community.

Except for the Mayor, Councilmember and DDOT officials who have public safety and not the fragile sensibilities of a bunch of blue hairs, at stake.

Public safety requires a tax base. The business owners have spoken. And the mayor has listened.

Then why is DDOT still working on designs? It is rather ironic, the businesses would lose more money from customers by opposing these public safety measures. Their customers are telling them daily how they are getting to their stores and what the improvements will mean.

Guessing the business owners drive there to their businesses and (incorrectly) assume everyone else does too.

Maybe after being in business for multiple decades they have a pretty good handle on who their customers are? Maybe the last people they are going to trust are people who have exactly zero business experience? Maybe they are tired of being bullied? I don’t know.

Funny, I was in a store recently on CT Ave where there were about 10 customers. I know the owner and have been a customer for years. We talked about the changes and the owner said he was opposed to them. I asked him to ask the customers currently in the store, who had parked on CT Ave. He did. Not a single one had. In fact, not a single customer in the store at that moment had even driven. 8 walked, the rest biked. The store owner was actually very surprised. I suggest to him he ask on occasion just to get a better read. It has changed his mind completely.

There was no bullying involved. The store owner honestly had no idea.

So about 80-90% we’re not bike riders? Nice job with the own goal.

I love when smug people like PP completely miss the point.

It's classic what-aboutism at its finest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

"Vision Zero" is such a perfect summation of Mayor Bowser and her administration.

This is just another push by the bike lobby to try to resuscitate something that no one but a small group of bike lobby bros wants. You can't have this and the mayor calling for the Federal Govt. to return to work. The two are diametrically opposed.

The reality is that the CT Ave bike lanes were always an uphill battle, but they died the moment a group of ANC commissioners took a photo of themselves giving the middle finger to a business that was opposed.

Yeah because most people in D.C. (a) are aware that ANCs exist, (b) know that these commissioners did this and (c) care?

That moment solidified business opposition to a proposal that always had a tenuous benefit due how low the projected utilization would be and caught the attention of key decision makers. I hate to break it to you, but there is not a single person who important decision making responsibility in this city that wants to be seen as deciding in favor of the middle finger brigade and against important figures in the business community.

Except for the Mayor, Councilmember and DDOT officials who have public safety and not the fragile sensibilities of a bunch of blue hairs, at stake.

Public safety requires a tax base. The business owners have spoken. And the mayor has listened.

Then why is DDOT still working on designs? It is rather ironic, the businesses would lose more money from customers by opposing these public safety measures. Their customers are telling them daily how they are getting to their stores and what the improvements will mean.

Guessing the business owners drive there to their businesses and (incorrectly) assume everyone else does too.

Maybe after being in business for multiple decades they have a pretty good handle on who their customers are? Maybe the last people they are going to trust are people who have exactly zero business experience? Maybe they are tired of being bullied? I don’t know.

Alternatively, maybe they don't. After all, who asks their customers about mode of transportation? Every study has found that good bike lanes are good for business, not bad.

A DC government study found that the number one challenge for Cleveland Park businesses along Connecticut Avenue is parking.

Or rather, that Cleveland Park business owners identified their number one challenge as parking. But why? And parking for whom? They don't know how their customers got there.

It’s really amazing that all these bumbling business owners have managed to stay open, some for decades. And don’t even ask me how any of them could have built restaurant empires, which is regarded as one of the toughest business lines. How many successful companies have you built with your advanced level of business acumen?

That's silly, PP. Just because you're good at running a restaurant or a dry cleaner or whatever, doesn't mean you know anything about transportation or how your customers get there. When you go into a business, does the owner ask you how you got there? Do you announce to the owner that you drove there, or walked, or whatever you did?

Local business people probably hear from customers who complain that they can't find nearby parking and next time will take their business elsewhere. I'm all for more cyclists and walkers. I have less patience for those who boast of their car-free lifestyle while spending a small fortune for on-demand ride services that cruise around. (There's little "sharing" or carbon-lite about them.). But the reality is that many people -- busy parents, workers who live some distance away, local customers who are less mobile -- need to drive and park.

Exactly. They don't hear from customers who drove and could find parking. They don't hear from customers who walked, or biked, or took the bus. And then they say that the biggest problem is parking...

Fortunately for car customers, after the bike lanes on Connecticut go in, it will still be possible to drive to businesses on Connecticut Avenue and park.

What’s going on is that DDOT and the ANC are picking winners and losers among businesses. They don’t really value a diverse business strip with a mixture of restaurants, retail, and the sort of less glamorous, less upscale stores (appliance repair, frame stiore, dry cleaners) that still serve a neighborhood. After all, it was at the repair shop that the ANC commissioners so full of themselves extended their middle finger. Such a varied business strip depends on convenient parking for customers who need to carry heavy loads or can’t walk and ride a bike. It also needs pedestrian traffic and, yes, customers who might ride a bike. Unfortunately, there’s a myopic vison that a business area of trendy bars and restaurants can draw a customer base that does not need private cars or just heavily uses Uber. That vison excludes residents, especially older ones and those on fixed incomes, who depend on the modest-sized grocery for their daily needs and patronise the less trendy businesses. They may be less mobile and need to drive to Connecticut Ave. The message to them seems to be to go shop elsewhere, even to move elsewhere.

I have good news for you. There are literally hundreds of parking spaces all around those businesses within a block or two. There are also alleys behind them that can be used for temporary loading/unloading. The 5-10 parking spaces that will be cut out of the 10-20 parking spaces out in front of their business on Conn Ave simply DO NOT MATTER in the scheme of things.

Hopefully DC DDOT makes those remaining parking spaces on Conn Ave all ADA-priority. That way lazy bones business owner/chef who gets there early in the day and leaves his black jeep parked in front can't do it anymore and someone who actually needs to park there because they have a difficult time walking a few blocks can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

"Vision Zero" is such a perfect summation of Mayor Bowser and her administration.

This is just another push by the bike lobby to try to resuscitate something that no one but a small group of bike lobby bros wants. You can't have this and the mayor calling for the Federal Govt. to return to work. The two are diametrically opposed.

The reality is that the CT Ave bike lanes were always an uphill battle, but they died the moment a group of ANC commissioners took a photo of themselves giving the middle finger to a business that was opposed.

Yeah because most people in D.C. (a) are aware that ANCs exist, (b) know that these commissioners did this and (c) care?

That moment solidified business opposition to a proposal that always had a tenuous benefit due how low the projected utilization would be and caught the attention of key decision makers. I hate to break it to you, but there is not a single person who important decision making responsibility in this city that wants to be seen as deciding in favor of the middle finger brigade and against important figures in the business community.

Except for the Mayor, Councilmember and DDOT officials who have public safety and not the fragile sensibilities of a bunch of blue hairs, at stake.

Something else that may have hurt the bike lane cause is the shameless ageism of some of its proponents.

More than fragile sensibilities, maybe the "bunch of blue hairs" are more worried about what will happen to their fragile bones when they try to cross the bike lane after alighting from a bus and get thwacked by a fast-moving e-bike.

My nonagenarian parents and I are considerably more worried about what will happen to their fragile bones when they try to cross the road and get thwacked by a fast-moving car.

Even with bike lanes, Connecticut will still have lots of car and truck traffic -- unless the plan is to turn it into a miles-long bike and pedestrian zone.

When there are bike lanes, people will have fewer car/truck lanes to cross, and that is good for people. In fact, we've already seen the effect of turning the former service lane back into sidewalk: the small group of bike lane haters was able to stage their anti bike lane demonstration on it!

That's not the case. Pedestrians in most places will still have to cross five lanes of moving traffic. Option C will have two lanes of travel each way at all times (one of which is likely to be blocked by buses that won't pull out of traffic or double-parked trucks). It will have a center turn lane along much of Connecticut Ave, which may have the perverse effect of making it easier for traffic to divert into side streets. Five lanes is what exactly what DC has had to date at rush hour: 5 vehicle lanes plus one lane of parking. However, most of the street parking goes away with the bike lanes. The number of vehicle lanes doesn't really decrease.

There has never been 5 lanes of traffic with one lane of parking. There have always been rush-hour restrictions for parking. Please stop lying. The new plan has 24/7 parking on once side of the street, something that has never existed on Conn Ave going back to the streetcar days.

Also, the center turn lanes are at the intersections, not "all along" the Avenue. Please look at the plan and stop spreading misinformaton.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

"Vision Zero" is such a perfect summation of Mayor Bowser and her administration.

This is just another push by the bike lobby to try to resuscitate something that no one but a small group of bike lobby bros wants. You can't have this and the mayor calling for the Federal Govt. to return to work. The two are diametrically opposed.

The reality is that the CT Ave bike lanes were always an uphill battle, but they died the moment a group of ANC commissioners took a photo of themselves giving the middle finger to a business that was opposed.

Yeah because most people in D.C. (a) are aware that ANCs exist, (b) know that these commissioners did this and (c) care?

That moment solidified business opposition to a proposal that always had a tenuous benefit due how low the projected utilization would be and caught the attention of key decision makers. I hate to break it to you, but there is not a single person who important decision making responsibility in this city that wants to be seen as deciding in favor of the middle finger brigade and against important figures in the business community.

Except for the Mayor, Councilmember and DDOT officials who have public safety and not the fragile sensibilities of a bunch of blue hairs, at stake.

Public safety requires a tax base. The business owners have spoken. And the mayor has listened.

Then why is DDOT still working on designs? It is rather ironic, the businesses would lose more money from customers by opposing these public safety measures. Their customers are telling them daily how they are getting to their stores and what the improvements will mean.

Guessing the business owners drive there to their businesses and (incorrectly) assume everyone else does too.

Maybe after being in business for multiple decades they have a pretty good handle on who their customers are? Maybe the last people they are going to trust are people who have exactly zero business experience? Maybe they are tired of being bullied? I don’t know.

Alternatively, maybe they don't. After all, who asks their customers about mode of transportation? Every study has found that good bike lanes are good for business, not bad.

A DC government study found that the number one challenge for Cleveland Park businesses along Connecticut Avenue is parking.

Or rather, that Cleveland Park business owners identified their number one challenge as parking. But why? And parking for whom? They don't know how their customers got there.

It’s really amazing that all these bumbling business owners have managed to stay open, some for decades. And don’t even ask me how any of them could have built restaurant empires, which is regarded as one of the toughest business lines. How many successful companies have you built with your advanced level of business acumen?

That's silly, PP. Just because you're good at running a restaurant or a dry cleaner or whatever, doesn't mean you know anything about transportation or how your customers get there. When you go into a business, does the owner ask you how you got there? Do you announce to the owner that you drove there, or walked, or whatever you did?

Local business people probably hear from customers who complain that they can't find nearby parking and next time will take their business elsewhere. I'm all for more cyclists and walkers. I have less patience for those who boast of their car-free lifestyle while spending a small fortune for on-demand ride services that cruise around. (There's little "sharing" or carbon-lite about them.). But the reality is that many people -- busy parents, workers who live some distance away, local customers who are less mobile -- need to drive and park.

Exactly. They don't hear from customers who drove and could find parking. They don't hear from customers who walked, or biked, or took the bus. And then they say that the biggest problem is parking...

Fortunately for car customers, after the bike lanes on Connecticut go in, it will still be possible to drive to businesses on Connecticut Avenue and park.

What’s going on is that DDOT and the ANC are picking winners and losers among businesses. They don’t really value a diverse business strip with a mixture of restaurants, retail, and the sort of less glamorous, less upscale stores (appliance repair, frame stiore, dry cleaners) that still serve a neighborhood. After all, it was at the repair shop that the ANC commissioners so full of themselves extended their middle finger. Such a varied business strip depends on convenient parking for customers who need to carry heavy loads or can’t walk and ride a bike. It also needs pedestrian traffic and, yes, customers who might ride a bike. Unfortunately, there’s a myopic vison that a business area of trendy bars and restaurants can draw a customer base that does not need private cars or just heavily uses Uber. That vison excludes residents, especially older ones and those on fixed incomes, who depend on the modest-sized grocery for their daily needs and patronise the less trendy businesses. They may be less mobile and need to drive to Connecticut Ave. The message to them seems to be to go shop elsewhere, even to move elsewhere.

The "less glamorous" stores can also adapt. Establish pick up and delivery or use the back alley for drop off. There are all sorts of ways these issues can be addressed. Certainly retailers in other cities have figured it out.

[Anonymous]

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"Vision Zero" is such a perfect summation of Mayor Bowser and her administration.

This is just another push by the bike lobby to try to resuscitate something that no one but a small group of bike lobby bros wants. You can't have this and the mayor calling for the Federal Govt. to return to work. The two are diametrically opposed.

The reality is that the CT Ave bike lanes were always an uphill battle, but they died the moment a group of ANC commissioners took a photo of themselves giving the middle finger to a business that was opposed.

Yeah because most people in D.C. (a) are aware that ANCs exist, (b) know that these commissioners did this and (c) care?

That moment solidified business opposition to a proposal that always had a tenuous benefit due how low the projected utilization would be and caught the attention of key decision makers. I hate to break it to you, but there is not a single person who important decision making responsibility in this city that wants to be seen as deciding in favor of the middle finger brigade and against important figures in the business community.

Except for the Mayor, Councilmember and DDOT officials who have public safety and not the fragile sensibilities of a bunch of blue hairs, at stake.

Public safety requires a tax base. The business owners have spoken. And the mayor has listened.

Then why is DDOT still working on designs? It is rather ironic, the businesses would lose more money from customers by opposing these public safety measures. Their customers are telling them daily how they are getting to their stores and what the improvements will mean.

Guessing the business owners drive there to their businesses and (incorrectly) assume everyone else does too.

Maybe after being in business for multiple decades they have a pretty good handle on who their customers are? Maybe the last people they are going to trust are people who have exactly zero business experience? Maybe they are tired of being bullied? I don’t know.

Alternatively, maybe they don't. After all, who asks their customers about mode of transportation? Every study has found that good bike lanes are good for business, not bad.

A DC government study found that the number one challenge for Cleveland Park businesses along Connecticut Avenue is parking.

Or rather, that Cleveland Park business owners identified their number one challenge as parking. But why? And parking for whom? They don't know how their customers got there.

It’s really amazing that all these bumbling business owners have managed to stay open, some for decades. And don’t even ask me how any of them could have built restaurant empires, which is regarded as one of the toughest business lines. How many successful companies have you built with your advanced level of business acumen?

That's silly, PP. Just because you're good at running a restaurant or a dry cleaner or whatever, doesn't mean you know anything about transportation or how your customers get there. When you go into a business, does the owner ask you how you got there? Do you announce to the owner that you drove there, or walked, or whatever you did?

Local business people probably hear from customers who complain that they can't find nearby parking and next time will take their business elsewhere. I'm all for more cyclists and walkers. I have less patience for those who boast of their car-free lifestyle while spending a small fortune for on-demand ride services that cruise around. (There's little "sharing" or carbon-lite about them.). But the reality is that many people -- busy parents, workers who live some distance away, local customers who are less mobile -- need to drive and park.

Exactly. They don't hear from customers who drove and could find parking. They don't hear from customers who walked, or biked, or took the bus. And then they say that the biggest problem is parking...

Fortunately for car customers, after the bike lanes on Connecticut go in, it will still be possible to drive to businesses on Connecticut Avenue and park.

What’s going on is that DDOT and the ANC are picking winners and losers among businesses. They don’t really value a diverse business strip with a mixture of restaurants, retail, and the sort of less glamorous, less upscale stores (appliance repair, frame stiore, dry cleaners) that still serve a neighborhood. After all, it was at the repair shop that the ANC commissioners so full of themselves extended their middle finger. Such a varied business strip depends on convenient parking for customers who need to carry heavy loads or can’t walk and ride a bike. It also needs pedestrian traffic and, yes, customers who might ride a bike. Unfortunately, there’s a myopic vison that a business area of trendy bars and restaurants can draw a customer base that does not need private cars or just heavily uses Uber. That vison excludes residents, especially older ones and those on fixed incomes, who depend on the modest-sized grocery for their daily needs and patronise the less trendy businesses. They may be less mobile and need to drive to Connecticut Ave. The message to them seems to be to go shop elsewhere, even to move elsewhere.

The "less glamorous" stores can also adapt. Establish pick up and delivery or use the back alley for drop off. There are all sorts of ways these issues can be addressed. Certainly retailers in other cities have figured it out.

People on Macomb & in Ordway Gardens are already pretty worked up about all of the trucks using the alley and those streets to torn around, etc. It will be a real treat for all when the Connecticut block is redeveloped to eight or nine stories high, which apparently is the plan.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Connecticut Ave has wide sidewalks. Just paint bike lanes on the outer edges like in Europe and keep road capacity for busses and other vehicles. Win-win.

You mean right over/into all those street trees? And take away the sidewalks from pedestrians rather than remove a single lane of 6 from a stroad? No thanks.

Plant better trees, than paint 3-4-foot wide bike lanes on either side. The rest for pedestrian sidewalks. Maybe the streeteries will have to shrink but many cities are restricting them now anyway.

Now you're thinking! A Connecticut Avenue with better trees, bike lanes on either side, bus lanes in the middle, and the rest for pedestrians. That sounds lovely. Streetcars on rails in the middle would be even better, but we can't have everything.

Connecticut Avenue is a major arterial road from downtown to the District line (and beyond). Because there are no expressways through Northwest DC (a good thing IMO), Connecticut has to carry significant traffic, unless the plan is to flush most of it, trucks included, through the narrower side streets. Are the bike lobby and DDOT ok with that?[/quote

Yes they are fine with it because the second phase of the plan is to push out single family homes which they believe should be torn down and replaced with higher density housing so pushing more traffic onto the side streets would accelerate that phase.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Connecticut Ave has wide sidewalks. Just paint bike lanes on the outer edges like in Europe and keep road capacity for busses and other vehicles. Win-win.

You mean right over/into all those street trees? And take away the sidewalks from pedestrians rather than remove a single lane of 6 from a stroad? No thanks.

Plant better trees, than paint 3-4-foot wide bike lanes on either side. The rest for pedestrian sidewalks. Maybe the streeteries will have to shrink but many cities are restricting them now anyway.

Now you're thinking! A Connecticut Avenue with better trees, bike lanes on either side, bus lanes in the middle, and the rest for pedestrians. That sounds lovely. Streetcars on rails in the middle would be even better, but we can't have everything.

Connecticut Avenue is a major arterial road from downtown to the District line (and beyond). Because there are no expressways through Northwest DC (a good thing IMO), Connecticut has to carry significant traffic, unless the plan is to flush most of it, trucks included, through the narrower side streets. Are the bike lobby and DDOT ok with that?[/quote

Yes they are fine with it because the second phase of the plan is to push out single family homes which they believe should be torn down and replaced with higher density housing so pushing more traffic onto the side streets would accelerate that phase.

Probably tongue in cheek but there’s also an element of truth in it… considering that the development industry lobby is promoting the Conn Ave bike lanes proposal.

[Anonymous]

Great news everyone, the NDD led coalition against DDOT bike plans and Save Conn Ave people have finally seen the errs of their way and are joining forces.



Also, looks like the "x" renaming broke the twitter plugin linker for this site?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

"Vision Zero" is such a perfect summation of Mayor Bowser and her administration.

This is just another push by the bike lobby to try to resuscitate something that no one but a small group of bike lobby bros wants. You can't have this and the mayor calling for the Federal Govt. to return to work. The two are diametrically opposed.

The reality is that the CT Ave bike lanes were always an uphill battle, but they died the moment a group of ANC commissioners took a photo of themselves giving the middle finger to a business that was opposed.

Yeah because most people in D.C. (a) are aware that ANCs exist, (b) know that these commissioners did this and (c) care?

That moment solidified business opposition to a proposal that always had a tenuous benefit due how low the projected utilization would be and caught the attention of key decision makers. I hate to break it to you, but there is not a single person who important decision making responsibility in this city that wants to be seen as deciding in favor of the middle finger brigade and against important figures in the business community.

Except for the Mayor, Councilmember and DDOT officials who have public safety and not the fragile sensibilities of a bunch of blue hairs, at stake.

Something else that may have hurt the bike lane cause is the shameless ageism of some of its proponents.

More than fragile sensibilities, maybe the "bunch of blue hairs" are more worried about what will happen to their fragile bones when they try to cross the bike lane after alighting from a bus and get thwacked by a fast-moving e-bike.

My nonagenarian parents and I are considerably more worried about what will happen to their fragile bones when they try to cross the road and get thwacked by a fast-moving car.

Even with bike lanes, Connecticut will still have lots of car and truck traffic -- unless the plan is to turn it into a miles-long bike and pedestrian zone.

When there are bike lanes, people will have fewer car/truck lanes to cross, and that is good for people. In fact, we've already seen the effect of turning the former service lane back into sidewalk: the small group of bike lane haters was able to stage their anti bike lane demonstration on it!

The pedestrian sidewalk would be a great thing if DC hadn't already cut sweetheart deals with streeteries that will effectively privatize much of it.

Speaking of the privatization of public space (and the dumping of municipal responsibilities on the private sector), we have far too many BIDs in this city

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

"Vision Zero" is such a perfect summation of Mayor Bowser and her administration.

This is just another push by the bike lobby to try to resuscitate something that no one but a small group of bike lobby bros wants. You can't have this and the mayor calling for the Federal Govt. to return to work. The two are diametrically opposed.

The reality is that the CT Ave bike lanes were always an uphill battle, but they died the moment a group of ANC commissioners took a photo of themselves giving the middle finger to a business that was opposed.

Yeah because most people in D.C. (a) are aware that ANCs exist, (b) know that these commissioners did this and (c) care?

That moment solidified business opposition to a proposal that always had a tenuous benefit due how low the projected utilization would be and caught the attention of key decision makers. I hate to break it to you, but there is not a single person who important decision making responsibility in this city that wants to be seen as deciding in favor of the middle finger brigade and against important figures in the business community.

Except for the Mayor, Councilmember and DDOT officials who have public safety and not the fragile sensibilities of a bunch of blue hairs, at stake.

Public safety requires a tax base. The business owners have spoken. And the mayor has listened.

Then why is DDOT still working on designs? It is rather ironic, the businesses would lose more money from customers by opposing these public safety measures. Their customers are telling them daily how they are getting to their stores and what the improvements will mean.

Guessing the business owners drive there to their businesses and (incorrectly) assume everyone else does too.

Maybe after being in business for multiple decades they have a pretty good handle on who their customers are? Maybe the last people they are going to trust are people who have exactly zero business experience? Maybe they are tired of being bullied? I don’t know.

Alternatively, maybe they don't. After all, who asks their customers about mode of transportation? Every study has found that good bike lanes are good for business, not bad.

A DC government study found that the number one challenge for Cleveland Park businesses along Connecticut Avenue is parking.

Or rather, that Cleveland Park business owners identified their number one challenge as parking. But why? And parking for whom? They don't know how their customers got there.

It’s really amazing that all these bumbling business owners have managed to stay open, some for decades. And don’t even ask me how any of them could have built restaurant empires, which is regarded as one of the toughest business lines. How many successful companies have you built with your advanced level of business acumen?

That's silly, PP. Just because you're good at running a restaurant or a dry cleaner or whatever, doesn't mean you know anything about transportation or how your customers get there. When you go into a business, does the owner ask you how you got there? Do you announce to the owner that you drove there, or walked, or whatever you did?

Local business people probably hear from customers who complain that they can't find nearby parking and next time will take their business elsewhere. I'm all for more cyclists and walkers. I have less patience for those who boast of their car-free lifestyle while spending a small fortune for on-demand ride services that cruise around. (There's little "sharing" or carbon-lite about them.). But the reality is that many people -- busy parents, workers who live some distance away, local customers who are less mobile -- need to drive and park.

Exactly. They don't hear from customers who drove and could find parking. They don't hear from customers who walked, or biked, or took the bus. And then they say that the biggest problem is parking...

Fortunately for car customers, after the bike lanes on Connecticut go in, it will still be possible to drive to businesses on Connecticut Avenue and park.

What’s going on is that DDOT and the ANC are picking winners and losers among businesses. They don’t really value a diverse business strip with a mixture of restaurants, retail, and the sort of less glamorous, less upscale stores (appliance repair, frame stiore, dry cleaners) that still serve a neighborhood. After all, it was at the repair shop that the ANC commissioners so full of themselves extended their middle finger. Such a varied business strip depends on convenient parking for customers who need to carry heavy loads or can’t walk and ride a bike. It also needs pedestrian traffic and, yes, customers who might ride a bike. Unfortunately, there’s a myopic vison that a business area of trendy bars and restaurants can draw a customer base that does not need private cars or just heavily uses Uber. That vison excludes residents, especially older ones and those on fixed incomes, who depend on the modest-sized grocery for their daily needs and patronise the less trendy businesses. They may be less mobile and need to drive to Connecticut Ave. The message to them seems to be to go shop elsewhere, even to move elsewhere.

The "less glamorous" stores can also adapt. Establish pick up and delivery or use the back alley for drop off. There are all sorts of ways these issues can be addressed. Certainly retailers in other cities have figured it out.

People on Macomb & in Ordway Gardens are already pretty worked up about all of the trucks using the alley and those streets to torn around, etc. It will be a real treat for all when the Connecticut block is redeveloped to eight or nine stories high, which apparently is the plan.

The plan is up to six or seven if the developer wants it AND it is compatible with the neighborhood, at least in Cleveland Park.