New bike lane on Old Georgetown Rd in Bethesda

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Why do you think 88% of commuters in the area purposefully choose to drive alone in the cars despite a plethora of options if you think it is so “miserable” and “soul crushing”?

It makes about as much sense as saying that a place is so crowded no one goes there anymore.

Certainly all the drivers I encounter on the roads these days, especially during commute times, seem content, relaxed, and happy. All that honking, speeding, illegal turning, red-light-running, etc. is just an expression of their enjoyment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love the bike lanes. So much safer and they are used frequently. Stop commuting down old georgetown on your car. The J2 runs riigjt down old georgetown and runs every 8 minutes during rush hour. I take it every day so that I don’t burden the community with my car. It’s not a good commuting route — take public transit or divert to one of the many highways.
Those bike lanes are probably my favorite thing that local government has done in a decade. And I don’t even own a bike!

Nope. The J2 does not run to my office. Or my spouses. Or my son's school.
Nice try.

Do you SAH? Figures.

No— I commute by bus and metro, every day for over a decade. Too many people drive. We have great commuting options around here. If it’s too slow for you to drive through a residential neighborhood, look into carpooling, transit or moving. I have zero sympathy for the people who choose to sit in traffic every day. You have other options— you just choose your convenience over them.

Those sidewalks absolutely killed those boys. They are wildly unsafe. The bike lanes are great and where we should be moving as a community. And I’m not a bike rider!

that is great for you and the choice you have made. Not moving and don't need your sympathy I live 3 blocks off of OGR and drive it daily.

OGR is not driving through a residential neighborhood as you proclaim. It WAS a 6 lane commuter artery. Bike lanes should be additive, not a zero sum game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love the bike lanes. So much safer and they are used frequently. Stop commuting down old georgetown on your car. The J2 runs riigjt down old georgetown and runs every 8 minutes during rush hour. I take it every day so that I don’t burden the community with my car. It’s not a good commuting route — take public transit or divert to one of the many highways.
Those bike lanes are probably my favorite thing that local government has done in a decade. And I don’t even own a bike!

Nope. The J2 does not run to my office. Or my spouses. Or my son's school.
Nice try.

Do you SAH? Figures.

No— I commute by bus and metro, every day for over a decade. Too many people drive. We have great commuting options around here. If it’s too slow for you to drive through a residential neighborhood, look into carpooling, transit or moving. I have zero sympathy for the people who choose to sit in traffic every day. You have other options— you just choose your convenience over them.

Those sidewalks absolutely killed those boys. They are wildly unsafe. The bike lanes are great and where we should be moving as a community. And I’m not a bike rider!

that is great for you and the choice you have made. Not moving and don't need your sympathy I live 3 blocks off of OGR and drive it daily.

OGR is not driving through a residential neighborhood as you proclaim. It WAS a 6 lane commuter artery. Bike lanes should be additive, not a zero sum game.

And now it's a 4-lane commuter artery. You still have 4 lanes to drive on. Meanwhile people who are commuting by bicycle, bus, or walking will be safer. And so will you, when you drive. You might even find yourself walking or biking on Old Georgetown Road, which you live only 3 blocks from.

[Anonymous]

As for "zero sum", there is no space to widen Old Georgetown Road without taking property away from your neighbors on Old Georgetown Road. The current footprint of Old Georgetown Road already occupies the entire right-of-way along much of the road. So, where do you think these "additive" bike lanes should go?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Seriously, can one of our resident bike-disciples please explain this? Because it looks really, really passive aggressive.

Why would a bunch of cyclists lobby for a bike lane to be created, and then ride in the road next to it, refusing to use the bike lane they demanded be created.

Seriously - WHY???

Did you stop and ask them whether they "lobbied" for the bike lanes, or did you just assume that everyone on a bicycle belongs to the All-Powerful Bicycle Lobby?

If you're asking why they weren't riding in the bike lanes, I'm guessing the answer involves some or all of the following:

1. They don't feel comfortable in the bike lanes
2. They don't feel safe in the bike lanes
3. The bike lanes aren't configured for group rides
4. It's legal to ride in the general lanes

Sorry, chief. It’s not legal to ride in the general lanes on OGR where there are one-way bike lanes. “Where there is a bike lane paved to a smooth surface, a person operating a bicycle or a motor scooter shall use the bike lane and may not ride on the roadway, except in the following situations:” (none of which are your scenarios). The group ride complaint is a riot because there’s no practical limit on how many bikes can ride single file in a bike lane. It almost sounds like you don’t want to wait your turn or be inconvenienced by slower traffic.

You’re probably not going to get a ticket for riding in the road but if you get into an accident remember that MD is a contributory negligence jurisdiction. If you don’t care about maximizing your safety by using infrastructure created for you then I guess I don’t care about your safety either. (And I think the bike lanes are a good idea even though current usage does not justify giving them a third of the right of way.)

Here's one of the situations: "(iii) When reasonably necessary to leave the bike lane to avoid debris or other hazardous condition; or"

Practically speaking, bicyclists maximize their safety by riding in groups and taking the lane.

If your argument is that bike lanes are inherently more dangerous than shared lanes, then we should get rid of bike lanes. But that argument is preposterous.

As for your group rides, if you create hazard in the bike lanes by riding in a group, your conduct is reckless. And once the group leaves the bike lanes, there’s no longer a hazard so they have to return.

The arguments against using bike lanes are all silly. But I like the idea about taking the entire lane for safety. I’m going to start taking the entire path on shared use paths because I’m sick of cyclists overtaking without warning, passing too closely, and going too fast. If you’re behind me I’m not going to move because I know better than you do how to walk safely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry, but those bike lanes are making Old Georgetown a complete cluster f***. Doubled the length of my commute this morning.

They need to do bike lanes that do not take away lanes for cars. It's not a zero-sum game, they need to add without taking away something

I drive "against" the rush hour flow each day and it is bumper to bumper the rush hour direction, even with work at home and hybrid work. So backed up. (I get on the beltway, and spouse goes up 270, so no we are not swapping out bikes)

Today there was an ambulance with its lights and sirens blaring en route to Suburban Hospital...stuck behind so many cars with nowhere to pull over.

Guess what, with 2 packed lanes southbound, and two pack lanes northbound, there was no where to move out of the way. Without a doubt there will be delays getting to the hospital. Are the cars supposed to ride over the posts into the bike lane? Or the ambulance? This is not a scenic bike route, but a commuter artery and emergency vehicle artery (e.g., fire stations and the B-CC rescue squad) hours each day.
I wonder how long until one needs to study the life and death impact of those two clogged lanes, on emergencies.

I just drove down the entirety of OGR. There was not one bike on OGR using those lanes, not surprising due to heavy rain today. The traffic was not good and I think that these types of changes to transportation that impact so many people should be up to a vote on how people would like to utilize tax payer funded roads. Off of this road are 2 merges onto interstate highways, NIH and a major thoroughfare to downtown Bethesda with delivery and semi trucks and as a previous poster stated, a hospital. With 2 lanes now gone, 33% of OGR is unusable for cars. We now have 33% of a major road underutilized. I'm sorry but let's look at the people who need to use these roads who arent in the "special" bike category. Older people and people with mobility issues, families, people commuting to work who have no access to a locker room or a shower, people running errands with multiple bags, people who don't have bikes, and every other person out there who needs to use a car for whatever reason for which a bike will not suffice.

It is a tragedy to lose people to bike accidents or to any kind of accidents. It does not mean that society has to overhaul everything to prevent it from ever happening again. In 2021 there were 597,000 bicycle related brain injuries from people falling off of bikes, not exclusive to car accidents. Maybe we should ban bikes - sounds like we'd save a lot of pain and suffering and visits to the ER.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

If your argument is that bike lanes are inherently more dangerous than shared lanes, then we should get rid of bike lanes. But that argument is preposterous.

As for your group rides, if you create hazard in the bike lanes by riding in a group, your conduct is reckless. And once the group leaves the bike lanes, there’s no longer a hazard so they have to return.

The arguments against using bike lanes are all silly. But I like the idea about taking the entire lane for safety. I’m going to start taking the entire path on shared use paths because I’m sick of cyclists overtaking without warning, passing too closely, and going too fast. If you’re behind me I’m not going to move because I know better than you do how to walk safely.

It sounds to me like you're very angry because a group of people out for a recreational bike ride inconvenienced you while you're driving. I'm sorry, that must be frustrating. Driving is very stressful. I'm glad that the county is moving towards alternatives, so that fewer people will be forced to drive everywhere for everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I just drove down the entirety of OGR. There was not one bike on OGR using those lanes, not surprising due to heavy rain today. The traffic was not good and I think that these types of changes to transportation that impact so many people should be up to a vote on how people would like to utilize tax payer funded roads. Off of this road are 2 merges onto interstate highways, NIH and a major thoroughfare to downtown Bethesda with delivery and semi trucks and as a previous poster stated, a hospital. With 2 lanes now gone, 33% of OGR is unusable for cars. We now have 33% of a major road underutilized. I'm sorry but let's look at the people who need to use these roads who arent in the "special" bike category. Older people and people with mobility issues, families, people commuting to work who have no access to a locker room or a shower, people running errands with multiple bags, people who don't have bikes, and every other person out there who needs to use a car for whatever reason for which a bike will not suffice.

It is a tragedy to lose people to bike accidents or to any kind of accidents. It does not mean that society has to overhaul everything to prevent it from ever happening again. In 2021 there were 597,000 bicycle related brain injuries from people falling off of bikes, not exclusive to car accidents. Maybe we should ban bikes - sounds like we'd save a lot of pain and suffering and visits to the ER.

You're making an equity argument in favor of keeping the roads exclusively for cars? I'm sorry, but no. Cars are expensive, driving is expensive, young people can't drive, many disabled and older people can't drive, and roads like Old Georgetown Road disproportionately kill poor people, people of color, and disabled people. And people who are driving, for whatever reason, will still have four lanes.

"It is a tragedy to lose people to bike accidents or to any kind of accidents" should be followed by "so let's do what we can to prevent it," not "but I don't want to suffer inconvenience when I'm driving."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

It is a tragedy to lose people to bike accidents or to any kind of accidents. It does not mean that society has to overhaul everything to prevent it from ever happening again. In 2021 there were 597,000 bicycle related brain injuries from people falling off of bikes, not exclusive to car accidents. Maybe we should ban bikes - sounds like we'd save a lot of pain and suffering and visits to the ER.

In 2021, cars killed an estimated 42,915 people in the US.

https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/early-estimate-2021-traffic-fatalities

[Anonymous]

Stop clinging to your cars.

[Anonymous]

The bike lanes are obviously a joke because they merge with the turn lane at Tuckermam but not at 495. Absolute performative nonsense that is intended to create congestion, except I guess if your coming from the mall and want to get to the Strathmore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry, but those bike lanes are making Old Georgetown a complete cluster f***. Doubled the length of my commute this morning.

They need to do bike lanes that do not take away lanes for cars. It's not a zero-sum game, they need to add without taking away something

I drive "against" the rush hour flow each day and it is bumper to bumper the rush hour direction, even with work at home and hybrid work. So backed up. (I get on the beltway, and spouse goes up 270, so no we are not swapping out bikes)

Today there was an ambulance with its lights and sirens blaring en route to Suburban Hospital...stuck behind so many cars with nowhere to pull over.

Guess what, with 2 packed lanes southbound, and two pack lanes northbound, there was no where to move out of the way. Without a doubt there will be delays getting to the hospital. Are the cars supposed to ride over the posts into the bike lane? Or the ambulance? This is not a scenic bike route, but a commuter artery and emergency vehicle artery (e.g., fire stations and the B-CC rescue squad) hours each day.
I wonder how long until one needs to study the life and death impact of those two clogged lanes, on emergencies.

I just drove down the entirety of OGR. There was not one bike on OGR using those lanes, not surprising due to heavy rain today. The traffic was not good and I think that these types of changes to transportation that impact so many people should be up to a vote on how people would like to utilize tax payer funded roads. Off of this road are 2 merges onto interstate highways, NIH and a major thoroughfare to downtown Bethesda with delivery and semi trucks and as a previous poster stated, a hospital. With 2 lanes now gone, 33% of OGR is unusable for cars. We now have 33% of a major road underutilized. I'm sorry but let's look at the people who need to use these roads who arent in the "special" bike category. Older people and people with mobility issues, families, people commuting to work who have no access to a locker room or a shower, people running errands with multiple bags, people who don't have bikes, and every other person out there who needs to use a car for whatever reason for which a bike will not suffice.

It is a tragedy to lose people to bike accidents or to any kind of accidents. It does not mean that society has to overhaul everything to prevent it from ever happening again. In 2021 there were 597,000 bicycle related brain injuries from people falling off of bikes, not exclusive to car accidents. Maybe we should ban bikes - sounds like we'd save a lot of pain and suffering and visits to the ER.

Totally agree. No one wants anyone to get hurt but we have to face reality. Bikes and cars are not a good mix. Does it really matter whose fault that is? This is a case of caving to the minority at the expense of the majority. Especially since cyclists cannot start and stop the way cars can. Riding on the right side of large vehicles expecting to go straight when those vehicles may turn right is silly and to fault drivers for not having swivel heads because you cannot manage what is directly in front of you (at your personal choice) is truly ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Less than 1% of Montgomery County commuters use a bicycle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

It sounds to me like you're very angry because a group of people out for a recreational bike ride inconvenienced you while you're driving. I'm sorry, that must be frustrating. Driving is very stressful. I'm glad that the county is moving towards alternatives, so that fewer people will be forced to drive everywhere for everything.

It seems like you’re having trouble making a coherent argument for not using the bike lanes. The OGR lanes are really nice. They’re wider than most and separated from traffic by pylons.

Sounds like you’re very angry because a pedestrian made you slow down on your bike and lose your momentum. I suggest squats or deadlifts to build up some more leg strength. For all of cyclists’ talk about how it’s relaxing they seem to be the tightest wound people on this board.

[Anonymous]

Oh I am so excited about the bike lanes and plan to bike to work when the weather is nicer. I didn’t notice any impact on traffic Wednesday - certainly better than the construction. When I first saw them, it was such an exciting surprise. It will be great with the new Josiah Henson High School going in too. Sorry to learn about the lives that were lost to get here.