Connecticut Ave bike lanes are back!

[Anonymous]

We already have 150+ miles of bike lanes in DC. Maybe use the bike lanes you have, for once?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think everyone is losing sight of what are the two options:

1. Some bike lanes or
2. Parking 24/7 on CT Avenue with no restrictions vs. rush hour restrictions right now.

In both options, you will have the same traffic problems with delivery trucks now idling in one of the 4 lanes of traffic.

Yes, in option #2 you may have traffic issues only 80% of the time vs. Option #1...but they both stink.

BTW...both of these options are designed to make your car commute miserable so that perhaps you won't make it at all or take metro or something. That is the goal.

Option 2 provides more parking for residents. Not sure why the priority should be to inconvenience residents so that non-resident cyclists can get through their neighborhood faster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think everyone is losing sight of what are the two options:

1. Some bike lanes or
2. Parking 24/7 on CT Avenue with no restrictions vs. rush hour restrictions right now.

In both options, you will have the same traffic problems with delivery trucks now idling in one of the 4 lanes of traffic.

Yes, in option #2 you may have traffic issues only 80% of the time vs. Option #1...but they both stink.

BTW...both of these options are designed to make your car commute miserable so that perhaps you won't make it at all or take metro or something. That is the goal.

Option 2 provides more parking for residents. Not sure why the priority should be to inconvenience residents so that non-resident cyclists can get through their neighborhood faster.

The residents who live on Connecticut Avenue, you mean?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think everyone is losing sight of what are the two options:

1. Some bike lanes or
2. Parking 24/7 on CT Avenue with no restrictions vs. rush hour restrictions right now.

In both options, you will have the same traffic problems with delivery trucks now idling in one of the 4 lanes of traffic.

Yes, in option #2 you may have traffic issues only 80% of the time vs. Option #1...but they both stink.

BTW...both of these options are designed to make your car commute miserable so that perhaps you won't make it at all or take metro or something. That is the goal.

DDOT is quite explicit that the goal is indeed to reduce the number of lanes in order to curtail the speeding and other forms of dangerous driving that inevitably befall wide roadways.

A bike lane at least provides for an alternate means of throughput and thereby contributes to reducing the volume of vehicles on the road (over time, not immediately). Parking has the opposite effect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think everyone is losing sight of what are the two options:

1. Some bike lanes or
2. Parking 24/7 on CT Avenue with no restrictions vs. rush hour restrictions right now.

In both options, you will have the same traffic problems with delivery trucks now idling in one of the 4 lanes of traffic.

Yes, in option #2 you may have traffic issues only 80% of the time vs. Option #1...but they both stink.

BTW...both of these options are designed to make your car commute miserable so that perhaps you won't make it at all or take metro or something. That is the goal.

Option 2 provides more parking for residents. Not sure why the priority should be to inconvenience residents so that non-resident cyclists can get through their neighborhood faster.

Parking, especially unmetered/residential, on CT is a terrible use of space. All of the space should be used to move people. The question should be how to allocate that space between different modes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All traffic deaths are horrible and streets must be made safer for all users. That's why I find it so offensive that the bike lobby, led by Charles Allen, is seeking to include language in the budget that would deny any expenditure for safer streets that did not include bike lanes. It shows that for the bike lobby, it is about biking, not safe streets. Bike lanes are not going to happen for years because there is a cash crunch and issues to be worked out, so why not make Connecticut Avenue safer in the interim?

How would the street be made safer without consideration for cyclists? Sure, they can put in some bulbouts, but if cyclists are left competing with motorists in driving lanes, then it is unsafe for cyclists. If cyclists are left competing with pedestrians on sidewalks, then it is unsafe for pedestrians.

One solution is to shift a new north-south bike lane to Reno Rd. Maybe it won't be as convenient for some bikers to reach the Connecticut Ave bars, but a Reno bike lane would provide easy access to locations up and down Connecticut and much of Wisconsin Ave. Reno has a center turn lane that is underultized or unnecessary at all but the most busy intersections so space could be re-allocated to bike lanes on the side. Connecticut Ave. is a designated arterial and evaluation route and where the thru and commuter traffic should be encouraged to go, instead of diverting more of it to Reno.

Reno Road isn't wide enough to accommodate turn lanes, through lanes and bike lanes. DDOT already dismissed that option years ago.

In fact, it is. Eliminate the turn lane at all but the most major cross streets and the space on an entire lane could be repurposed as a dedicated bike lane, probably moved to one side or another. The bikes are likely to have to stop for the signals at the major cross streets, so having the lane become striped at those locations is quite standard and doable.

Maybe Reno doesn't have the same Urbanist cachet of re-visioning Connecticut Ave as a very dense high-rise, mixed-use corridor with bike lanes, but that's not the primary purpose of having the bike lane, is it?

I don't think the people who ride their bikes downtown from upper NW have any problem with putting bike lanes on Reno and changing the traffic patterns there, instead of on Connecticut. I know I don't. But DDOT doesn't seem to be into the idea.

The focus should be building a bike path thru RC Park. Faster and safer.

Many of us aren't riding downtown at all and don't "need" a path in RCP. What we want is to be able to run errands in our neighborhood, of which Connecticut Avenue is our main street.

It is also a main street for a vastly larger number of drivers who don’t need all of the drawbacks that come with adding a bike lane there.

The drawbacks of a safer street with fewer crashes that cause injuries. Horrible!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think everyone is losing sight of what are the two options:

1. Some bike lanes or
2. Parking 24/7 on CT Avenue with no restrictions vs. rush hour restrictions right now.

In both options, you will have the same traffic problems with delivery trucks now idling in one of the 4 lanes of traffic.

Yes, in option #2 you may have traffic issues only 80% of the time vs. Option #1...but they both stink.

BTW...both of these options are designed to make your car commute miserable so that perhaps you won't make it at all or take metro or something. That is the goal.

The assumptions here are that

1. driving to work by car is what everybody would choose if they had their druthers
2. all of the other transportation modes for getting to work are worse for everyone than driving to work by car
3. the only way to get people to use the other, non-car transportation modes for getting to work is to make driving miserable

All three assumptions are false.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wait!!!!! I’ve got it! How about we build a series of connected underground tunnels for cyclists?

How about we build a series of connected underground tunnels for drivers? Except instead of them driving their own cars in the tunnels (very inefficient), there are big cars for multiple people to use at the same time, with people whose job is driving them. Maybe those big cars could even be connected to each other, in a series? And if they could run on rails, that would be good too.

Few drivers are opposed to this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All traffic deaths are horrible and streets must be made safer for all users. That's why I find it so offensive that the bike lobby, led by Charles Allen, is seeking to include language in the budget that would deny any expenditure for safer streets that did not include bike lanes. It shows that for the bike lobby, it is about biking, not safe streets. Bike lanes are not going to happen for years because there is a cash crunch and issues to be worked out, so why not make Connecticut Avenue safer in the interim?

How would the street be made safer without consideration for cyclists? Sure, they can put in some bulbouts, but if cyclists are left competing with motorists in driving lanes, then it is unsafe for cyclists. If cyclists are left competing with pedestrians on sidewalks, then it is unsafe for pedestrians.

One solution is to shift a new north-south bike lane to Reno Rd. Maybe it won't be as convenient for some bikers to reach the Connecticut Ave bars, but a Reno bike lane would provide easy access to locations up and down Connecticut and much of Wisconsin Ave. Reno has a center turn lane that is underultized or unnecessary at all but the most busy intersections so space could be re-allocated to bike lanes on the side. Connecticut Ave. is a designated arterial and evaluation route and where the thru and commuter traffic should be encouraged to go, instead of diverting more of it to Reno.

Reno Road isn't wide enough to accommodate turn lanes, through lanes and bike lanes. DDOT already dismissed that option years ago.

In fact, it is. Eliminate the turn lane at all but the most major cross streets and the space on an entire lane could be repurposed as a dedicated bike lane, probably moved to one side or another. The bikes are likely to have to stop for the signals at the major cross streets, so having the lane become striped at those locations is quite standard and doable.

Maybe Reno doesn't have the same Urbanist cachet of re-visioning Connecticut Ave as a very dense high-rise, mixed-use corridor with bike lanes, but that's not the primary purpose of having the bike lane, is it?

I don't think the people who ride their bikes downtown from upper NW have any problem with putting bike lanes on Reno and changing the traffic patterns there, instead of on Connecticut. I know I don't. But DDOT doesn't seem to be into the idea.

The focus should be building a bike path thru RC Park. Faster and safer.

Many of us aren't riding downtown at all and don't "need" a path in RCP. What we want is to be able to run errands in our neighborhood, of which Connecticut Avenue is our main street.

It is also a main street for a vastly larger number of drivers who don’t need all of the drawbacks that come with adding a bike lane there.

The drawbacks of a safer street with fewer crashes that cause injuries. Horrible!

If that’s the only thing you can comprehend about why the vast majority of commuters don’t like bike lanes, you will never succeed in getting the bike lines you want. If you can’t even understand the other side’s argument, you will fail.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think everyone is losing sight of what are the two options:

1. Some bike lanes or
2. Parking 24/7 on CT Avenue with no restrictions vs. rush hour restrictions right now.

In both options, you will have the same traffic problems with delivery trucks now idling in one of the 4 lanes of traffic.

Yes, in option #2 you may have traffic issues only 80% of the time vs. Option #1...but they both stink.

BTW...both of these options are designed to make your car commute miserable so that perhaps you won't make it at all or take metro or something. That is the goal.

The assumptions here are that

1. driving to work by car is what everybody would choose if they had their druthers
2. all of the other transportation modes for getting to work are worse for everyone than driving to work by car
3. the only way to get people to use the other, non-car transportation modes for getting to work is to make driving miserable

All three assumptions are false.

They may not be 100% true. But they are mostly true, especially 1 and 3.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think everyone is losing sight of what are the two options:

1. Some bike lanes or
2. Parking 24/7 on CT Avenue with no restrictions vs. rush hour restrictions right now.

In both options, you will have the same traffic problems with delivery trucks now idling in one of the 4 lanes of traffic.

Yes, in option #2 you may have traffic issues only 80% of the time vs. Option #1...but they both stink.

BTW...both of these options are designed to make your car commute miserable so that perhaps you won't make it at all or take metro or something. That is the goal.

The assumptions here are that

1. driving to work by car is what everybody would choose if they had their druthers
2. all of the other transportation modes for getting to work are worse for everyone than driving to work by car
3. the only way to get people to use the other, non-car transportation modes for getting to work is to make driving miserable

All three assumptions are false.

They may not be 100% true. But they are mostly true, especially 1 and 3.

No. They may be true FOR YOU. But as general assumptions? No.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All traffic deaths are horrible and streets must be made safer for all users. That's why I find it so offensive that the bike lobby, led by Charles Allen, is seeking to include language in the budget that would deny any expenditure for safer streets that did not include bike lanes. It shows that for the bike lobby, it is about biking, not safe streets. Bike lanes are not going to happen for years because there is a cash crunch and issues to be worked out, so why not make Connecticut Avenue safer in the interim?

How would the street be made safer without consideration for cyclists? Sure, they can put in some bulbouts, but if cyclists are left competing with motorists in driving lanes, then it is unsafe for cyclists. If cyclists are left competing with pedestrians on sidewalks, then it is unsafe for pedestrians.

One solution is to shift a new north-south bike lane to Reno Rd. Maybe it won't be as convenient for some bikers to reach the Connecticut Ave bars, but a Reno bike lane would provide easy access to locations up and down Connecticut and much of Wisconsin Ave. Reno has a center turn lane that is underultized or unnecessary at all but the most busy intersections so space could be re-allocated to bike lanes on the side. Connecticut Ave. is a designated arterial and evaluation route and where the thru and commuter traffic should be encouraged to go, instead of diverting more of it to Reno.

Reno Road isn't wide enough to accommodate turn lanes, through lanes and bike lanes. DDOT already dismissed that option years ago.

In fact, it is. Eliminate the turn lane at all but the most major cross streets and the space on an entire lane could be repurposed as a dedicated bike lane, probably moved to one side or another. The bikes are likely to have to stop for the signals at the major cross streets, so having the lane become striped at those locations is quite standard and doable.

Maybe Reno doesn't have the same Urbanist cachet of re-visioning Connecticut Ave as a very dense high-rise, mixed-use corridor with bike lanes, but that's not the primary purpose of having the bike lane, is it?

I don't think the people who ride their bikes downtown from upper NW have any problem with putting bike lanes on Reno and changing the traffic patterns there, instead of on Connecticut. I know I don't. But DDOT doesn't seem to be into the idea.

The focus should be building a bike path thru RC Park. Faster and safer.

Many of us aren't riding downtown at all and don't "need" a path in RCP. What we want is to be able to run errands in our neighborhood, of which Connecticut Avenue is our main street.

It is also a main street for a vastly larger number of drivers who don’t need all of the drawbacks that come with adding a bike lane there.

The drawbacks of a safer street with fewer crashes that cause injuries. Horrible!

If that’s the only thing you can comprehend about why the vast majority of commuters don’t like bike lanes, you will never succeed in getting the bike lines you want. If you can’t even understand the other side’s argument, you will fail.

Please stop using commuter as a synonym for driver. Lots of commuters aren't driving. Lots of drivers aren't commuting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think everyone is losing sight of what are the two options:

1. Some bike lanes or
2. Parking 24/7 on CT Avenue with no restrictions vs. rush hour restrictions right now.

In both options, you will have the same traffic problems with delivery trucks now idling in one of the 4 lanes of traffic.

Yes, in option #2 you may have traffic issues only 80% of the time vs. Option #1...but they both stink.

BTW...both of these options are designed to make your car commute miserable so that perhaps you won't make it at all or take metro or something. That is the goal.

The assumptions here are that

1. driving to work by car is what everybody would choose if they had their druthers
2. all of the other transportation modes for getting to work are worse for everyone than driving to work by car
3. the only way to get people to use the other, non-car transportation modes for getting to work is to make driving miserable

All three assumptions are false.

They may not be 100% true. But they are mostly true, especially 1 and 3.

No. They may be true FOR YOU. But as general assumptions? No.

Yeah, you’re right. That’s why a large majority drive, driving is up, and metro and bus rides are down. And also why you so rarely hear anyone talk about how happy they are to take the metro and bus or how great of an experience it is.

Yep, you got me. Everyone is just itching to hop on those other modes daily if given the opportunity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think everyone is losing sight of what are the two options:

1. Some bike lanes or
2. Parking 24/7 on CT Avenue with no restrictions vs. rush hour restrictions right now.

In both options, you will have the same traffic problems with delivery trucks now idling in one of the 4 lanes of traffic.

Yes, in option #2 you may have traffic issues only 80% of the time vs. Option #1...but they both stink.

BTW...both of these options are designed to make your car commute miserable so that perhaps you won't make it at all or take metro or something. That is the goal.

The assumptions here are that

1. driving to work by car is what everybody would choose if they had their druthers
2. all of the other transportation modes for getting to work are worse for everyone than driving to work by car
3. the only way to get people to use the other, non-car transportation modes for getting to work is to make driving miserable

All three assumptions are false.

They may not be 100% true. But they are mostly true, especially 1 and 3.

No. They may be true FOR YOU. But as general assumptions? No.

Yeah, you’re right. That’s why a large majority drive, driving is up, and metro and bus rides are down. And also why you so rarely hear anyone talk about how happy they are to take the metro and bus or how great of an experience it is.

Yep, you got me. Everyone is just itching to hop on those other modes daily if given the opportunity.

I never hear anyone talk about how happy they are to drive and how great an experience it is. Also when I'm driving during commuting hours and look around at my fellow drivers, nobody looks particularly happy. There's also a lot of aggressive driving and road rage. Study after study shows that driving commuters are the most stressed commuters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think everyone is losing sight of what are the two options:

1. Some bike lanes or
2. Parking 24/7 on CT Avenue with no restrictions vs. rush hour restrictions right now.

In both options, you will have the same traffic problems with delivery trucks now idling in one of the 4 lanes of traffic.

Yes, in option #2 you may have traffic issues only 80% of the time vs. Option #1...but they both stink.

BTW...both of these options are designed to make your car commute miserable so that perhaps you won't make it at all or take metro or something. That is the goal.

The assumptions here are that

1. driving to work by car is what everybody would choose if they had their druthers
2. all of the other transportation modes for getting to work are worse for everyone than driving to work by car
3. the only way to get people to use the other, non-car transportation modes for getting to work is to make driving miserable

All three assumptions are false.

They may not be 100% true. But they are mostly true, especially 1 and 3.

No. They may be true FOR YOU. But as general assumptions? No.

Yeah, you’re right. That’s why a large majority drive, driving is up, and metro and bus rides are down. And also why you so rarely hear anyone talk about how happy they are to take the metro and bus or how great of an experience it is.

Yep, you got me. Everyone is just itching to hop on those other modes daily if given the opportunity.

I never hear anyone talk about how happy they are to drive and how great an experience it is. Also when I'm driving during commuting hours and look around at my fellow drivers, nobody looks particularly happy. There's also a lot of aggressive driving and road rage. Study after study shows that driving commuters are the most stressed commuters.

Yet it’s up, not down. And this was my point. They only way to force people out of their cars is to make it more miserable (your “false” assumption #3) and that left to their own devices, people would choose to drive (your “false” assumption #1).