NPS: Ban Cars Now in DC Urban Parks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sidewalks. People belong on sidewalks. Cars belong in the road.

No, drivers need to operate their cars safely. Pedestrians can be wherever they want, especially in a park.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love the people that think public goods should only be available to them and people like them but no one else, except under onerous conditions.

When onerous = polluting the air everyone breathes and has the potential to kill, then yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Closing off Beach Drive is only viable because most people are still working from home due to the pandemic. As offices reopen in the fall and schools are back full-time, keeping Beach Drive closed will just force more commuter traffic into neighborhoods. Waze worked beautifully when Beach Drive was under construction. Prioritizing the leisure class who can strap on their lycra during normal business hours over people who actually have to work for a living isn't an argument for equity or better living standards for most Washingtonians - it's creating a personal park for those who can afford to live within walking distance of a major thoroughfare.

meh, Beach Drive was closed for three years to be rebuilt and it really didn't impact anything anywhere else.

Leave Blagdon and Broadbranch open and the upper part of Beach closed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Uh, 60 is a senior citizen, gramps.

65 technically, and in modern medicine terms, more like 70+

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Actually, it is a park designed to be driven to and then parked within. Are you the same poster who wrote about the Arboretum? Your lack of understanding that various people who use parks have different needs is oddly myopic. You will never win on this.

Time to change the design.

And yet design changes that are actually viable like splitting the road for half cars/half bike and peds or closing the Potomac River side road to cars and making the channel side road 2 way aren't good enough? If you really wanted change you would be in favor of these kinds of compromises. Your all or nothing approach makes me think you just really like wearing spandex and riding your bike really fast.

Splitting the road in half would mean no more parking. Ergo, it simply makes sense to limit vehicles to Park Service/Park Police.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are already sidewalks, why can't they just repair those so people can actually use them?

because they are underwater most of the time, and always after storms or high tide.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can we ban bicyclists from DC streets?

no, because without cyclists, streets would have been made out of dirt until the 1920's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can we ban bicyclists from DC streets?

+1

Bicylists downtown are more dangerous to pedestrains than cars.

cite?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can we ban bicyclists from DC streets?

+1

Bicylists downtown are more dangerous to pedestrains than cars.

cite?

Lived experience.

Drivers look for and try and avoid pedestrians in crosswalks. Bicyclists do not. They're as bad as joggers that refuse to stop at intersections.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can we ban bicyclists from DC streets?

no, because without cyclists, streets would have been made out of dirt until the 1920's.

Do you have an argument that’s LESS than a century old?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can we ban bicyclists from DC streets?

+1

Bicylists downtown are more dangerous to pedestrains than cars.

cite?

Lived experience.

Drivers look for and try and avoid pedestrians in crosswalks. Bicyclists do not. They're as bad as joggers that refuse to stop at intersections.

Did you know that this thread was prompted by a crash in Hains Point a few weeks ago where a driver killed two pedestrians? How many pedestrians in DC have bicyclists killed, in the last 5 years? How many drivers in DC have joggers killed, in the last 5 years? How many pedestrians and bicyclists in DC have drivers killed in just the last few weeks?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can we ban bicyclists from DC streets?

+1

Bicylists downtown are more dangerous to pedestrains than cars.

cite?

Lived experience.

Drivers look for and try and avoid pedestrians in crosswalks. Bicyclists do not. They're as bad as joggers that refuse to stop at intersections.

NP and I don’t even own a bike. Wow, you are completely pathetic and your reasoning is laughable. Buddy, the statistics on injuries and deaths are RIGHT THERE on the google. I know the internet is hard for you boomers but you gotta get in the habit of googling before making a damn fool of yourself

[Anonymous]

I walk/cycle most places and have been part of the advocacy to close Upper Beach Drive to cars, and generally support the idea of creating more car-free public spaces and better infrastructure to enable safe biking and walking in the city. And, I also think car access and bike/pedestrian access on Hain's Point needs to be addressed to avoid more tragedy's like last week's accident.

But, the situation on Hain's Point is immensely complicated by the golf course. It is a huge money maker and I would guess that at least 50% of the Hain's Point traffic is related to it. It is near-impossible to run a golf course without car access. (I used to ride my bike to Hain's Point with my clubs, so it is technically possible to golf without a car, but most people will not/cannot do it.) So, any plan will, at the very least, need to include car access to the golf course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Actually, it is a park designed to be driven to and then parked within. Are you the same poster who wrote about the Arboretum? Your lack of understanding that various people who use parks have different needs is oddly myopic. You will never win on this.

Time to change the design.

And yet design changes that are actually viable like splitting the road for half cars/half bike and peds or closing the Potomac River side road to cars and making the channel side road 2 way aren't good enough? If you really wanted change you would be in favor of these kinds of compromises. Your all or nothing approach makes me think you just really like wearing spandex and riding your bike really fast.

Splitting the road in half would mean no more parking. Ergo, it simply makes sense to limit vehicles to Park Service/Park Police.

There’s a parking lot at the point. Also the parking spots on the left side of the roads by the golf course could be kept, there are 2 traffic lanes plus parking right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can we ban bicyclists from DC streets?

+1

Bicylists downtown are more dangerous to pedestrains than cars.

cite?

Lived experience.

Drivers look for and try and avoid pedestrians in crosswalks. Bicyclists do not. They're as bad as joggers that refuse to stop at intersections.

NP and I don’t even own a bike. Wow, you are completely pathetic and your reasoning is laughable. Buddy, the statistics on injuries and deaths are RIGHT THERE on the google. I know the internet is hard for you boomers but you gotta get in the habit of googling before making a damn fool of yourself

I'm not a boomer oh self-righteous millennial. Maybe you should stop texting while you walk, the insta can wait. I've lived downtown for half your life. Don't be a Portlandia sketch. There is a subset of bicyclists that refuse to follow traffic rules and consider pedestrians beneath them. Sure a car will cause more damage but the odds of a pedestrian being injured downtown by a bicyclist are far greater than being injured by a car. Here's a fun fact for you. Pedestrians are way more carbon neutral than bicyclists.