Charles Allen pushing for no parking for Union Station overhaul
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Anonymous
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/criticism-mounts-over-proposed-parking-in-union-stations-8-billion-overhaul/2020/01/18/f466eefa-363e-11ea-bf30-ad313e4ec754_story.html
"That something special doesn’t have to be a magnet for drivers, D.C. Council member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6) said in a letter to the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC), which held its first review of the proposal on Jan. 9. The project as proposed, Allen said, overbuilds parking. “While I appreciate that the preferred alternative does contemplate fewer parking spaces than in the current garage, I believe parking must be even further reduced at this dense, urban transit hub,” he said." Who in their right mind wants NO parking at Union Station??? |
Anonymous
| Absolutely disgusting that they are pushing this idea of no cars. When will this war on cars end? |
Anonymous
| Seems counterintuitive to make it harder to take the train. Not all train passengers live on metro lines. |
Anonymous
Where did it say that no cars were allowed? You must mean parking. |
Anonymous
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Good - I hope he succeeds.
There are myriad ways to get to Union Station and valuable space that has multiple other better uses should not be wasted to store cars. FWIW very few of the current spaces are even being used by people taking the train so based on current uses it appears that the parking spaces are a solution in search of a problem. |
Anonymous
| He doesn't care. He has DC Council tags on his car. He can (and does) park anywhere he wants. |
Anonymous
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The parking deck at Union Station is one of the biggest waste of space and resources. Just take an Uber, it will be significantly cheaper than paying for parking.
Oh, and the station sits on top of a metro, so there is that too. |
Anonymous
He actually bikes and buses most of the time. Nice try, though. |
Anonymous
Not to my ANC meeting he doesn't. |
Anonymous
+1 And not all train passengers live where they can easily get Uber etc. to come to them. People on DCUM think "just get an Uber" is the solution to everything; it isn't. Union Station doesn't need the current massive garage but does need some parking. An option would be to have fewer spaces and strictly limit them to Amtrak passengers (with short and long-term parking options) and people who can confirm somehow that they are picking up or dropping off Amtrak passengers. Currently a LOT of that garage is used by commuters who have nothing to do with Amtrak use but who drive into DC to work and park at Union Station all day. They use it like they'd use any DC commercial garage. Those are the drivers who should be denied spaces and who should be told to find other parking or preferably use Metro. Having no parking at all, even for Amtrak users, only makes the train more of a pain to take for some potential passengers. |
Anonymous
Right? To take the train you have to get to the station on time! If it takes hours to get to the station because you have to travel by car to bus to metro, etc. etc. Why bother? |
Anonymous
An uber. From the outer 'burbs. Not cheaper and not always available. Especially for early morning and late night. |
Anonymous
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I agree with Allen. We shouldn’t be encouraging car use. People should think twice (Or thrice!) before driving. Why dedicate precious downtown space to parking?
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Anonymous
Uh, the plan is to put the parking underground. I don't know that they need as much parking capacity as the existing large garage contains, but there needs to be some. |
Anonymous
Not to mention that the plan for the overall development will include office, retail and housing. Obviously parking will be needed for those uses. |