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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]90% of the year this argument is pointless because there are simply not that many people at the park. If you walk, you don't deal with many cars and they mostly go slow. And most of the people who drive are simply doing it to reach the more far flung areas of the park and are respectful of low speed limits and look out for pedestrians and bikes.

It's just that in the spring, you get lots of people who visit the park infrequently (including tourists) showing up to see the most crowded part of the park and not observing any of the unspoken rules of the arboretum, like minimizing driving. If you go there a lot, you know that you can park at the visitors center and walk to almost everywhere you want to go on accessible trails. The only real exception are the Asian gardens which are a bit of a hike if you have mobility issues, children, or limited time, so many people will drive over there if that's the focus of your visit.

[b]But no one drives, parks to look an "an azalea" then drives to look at a dogwood, etc., as a PP mentioned. That kind of behavior, and accompanying entitlement, only happens during azaleas and to a lesser extent on summer weekends. For those of us who have been visiting the Arboretum for years, especially if you live in NE where it is more accessible than the mall or waterfront areas, this really isn't an issue most of the time.[/b] Like everything in DC, you just have to learn to work around the tourists and crowds in the high season. It's one of the costs of living in this lovely city with so many free amenities.[/quote]

It seems to be working out fine for most of us, present OP excluded. [/quote]

It's not working out fine for me. I've been in the area 20 years, and I've never been to the Arboretum, because the transit/walking/biking access is lousy.[/quote]

Well now you are talking about two different things. I was talking about transit within the arboretum, where I do not feel (as someone who visits 10-20x per year) that car access in the park is an issue except during the handful of times during the year when it is very crowded.

But I agree access TO the arboretum by pedestrians, cyclists, and mass transit could be much better. We live very close but usually drive because we don’t feel comfortable with our DD biking on Bladensburg. I don’t love it either, to be honest. I’d love if there were bus access to the park and i really look forward to them reopening the MD Ave entrance because that will enable us to simply walk there most of the time.

But that’s not OP’s lament.[/quote]

OP here. You honestly don’t think it would be better if cars were restricted to traveling between 2-3 parking lots on the northern road? [/quote]

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