Reply to Will DC resume commuter traffic patterns in the fall?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]CT lanes study will be out next week and we will know more.  I think it is hard to close Beach and not reopen reversible lanes on CT. [/quote]

Disagree, they are two separate decisions made by two separate entities.

In the case of Beach Drive, it is the national park service, whose mission it is to administer national parks. Having a park used as a daily commuter route with impacts on the plants and animals, and the air in the park is simply a bad idea.

For CT Ave, the residents up and down the Avenue would prefer a vibrant and walkable public space rather than a commuter highway.

There is overwhelming support for both proposals.[/quote]

"Vibrant, walkable..." sounds like a Greater Greater Washington talking point.

I love bike lanes and national parks.  But one can' just assume away traffic.  Fortunately, Washington DC wasn't sliced up by expressways the way that most U.S. cities were, but [b]major streets like Connecticut Avenue serve as the arterial routes[/b], carrying traffic from far upper Northwest and parts of Montgomery County to downtown Washington, DC.  Constrain Connecticut Ave and keep Beach Drive closed, and where exactly will the traffic go?  Cutting through a Waze maze on 0ur residential size streets?  [/quote]

Which is exactly why the bike lanes on Connecticut Avenue will be really helpful.

You're assuming that the volume of traffic will be constant, but that's a false assumption. People make different transportation decisions all the time, based on different conditions. For example, if the driving route via Connecticut Ave becomes more than you can stand, then you might choose to drive at a different time, or [b]choose to drive a different route[/b], or choose to use a different mode of transportation.[/quote]

Exactly.  But with Beach Drive closed, Connecticut Ave. potentially reduced from 4 lanes to 2 lanes at rush hour, Wisconsin Ave. constrained by lanes closed for "streeteries" and the induced traffic of a new magnet town center, including DC's only Wegman's, what will the "different route" be?  Will commuter traffic be flushed through neighborhood streets even more than before, so that you can have your "vibrant" Connecticut Avenue?  And speaking of "walkable," its not very walkable when some lycra-clad cyclist, pretending he's in the Tour de France rather than in Chevy Chase or Cleveland Park, hits a pedestrian who walks across "his" bike lane.[/quote]

Well, let's put it this way. When Beach Drive was under construction, Eveeyone complained there would be huge traffic issues. There weren't. When Oregon  Ave was and is under construction, everyone said there would be huge traffic issues. There aren't. Every time there is a new development proposal, everyone complains that traffic and parking will be impacted. They aren't.

[b]Encouraging biking gets cars off the road, making it easier for you to drive. Encouraging Metro and bus usage gets cars off the road so it is easier for you to drive. You shold be the biggest proponent of more funding for metro and bike lanes.[/b]
[/quote]

100% this. I don't understand why it is so hard for some people to grasp this. Unless they really love being stuck in traffic?[/quote]

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