Reply to why are cars allowed in the National Arbortetum? Why? Why? WHYYYY?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Went to the arboretum today. We drove there (it's the only way to get there for us). Parked by the R Street entrance. Walked to a picnic spot, enjoyed a nice lunch we brought in. Had a bit of time left, but we'd seen the azaleas recently, so we hopped back in the car and drove to the Asian collection, parked, and had a nice time walking all the way down to the Anacostia and exploring all the paths. Wonderful visit. We spent maybe 8 minutes in the car within the park, versus almost 2 hours walking around and enjoying the park.

That's why cars are permitted in the park. The vast majority of people use them solely to get to different parts of the park. If you go during peak season and peak hours (so basically, the weekend between April and June), you might see more cars driving around and it might be less pleasant. But that's so rare. We have a tree near the bonsai gardens we've been picnicking under for years. It's far from any of the roads in the park and we can sit there for hours and not hear or even see vehicles. The only places I ever encounter cars in an unpleasant way is walking around the big open area around the Capitol Columns -- there is very little traffic elsewhere in the park.

Now, banning vehicles from the mall, which is well served by public transportation and can be really badly impacted by traffic congestion? That I'd probably get on board with. Heck, I'd get on board with it at the arboretum if it was well served by metro or bus, and there was a well-maintained shuttle that would take you to the more distant parts of the park. Maybe OP should work on developing a program like that if this is important to them. I would support it! But without infrastructure, I'm going to keep taking my car to the arboretum so that I can actually enjoy the arboretum.[/quote]

+1  This is how I feel exactly. Until they develop a better system of shuttles and transportation, the place is too big to keep completely car-free. The Mall I definitely think could be a pedestrian/bike/scooter only zone, maybe with shuttles running to the various museums. Wouldn't that be great? [/quote]

OP here. Cars should be confined to the minimal amount of road necessary to get between the 3 main parking lots, along an exterior ring route. “car touring” the arboretum shouldn’t be a thing. [/quote]

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