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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I don’t care if the bike lobby raises money from its members. Bring it on. But I care a whole hell of a lot that the DC government is funnelling hard-earned taxpayer dollars to support the bike lobby so that they can turn around and agitate for something costly that will have negative consequences for many.  Think of how the WABA subsidy and the bike lane construction money otherwise could be spent, for better DC schools, more cops, more timely 911 responsiveness[/quote]

Positive consequences for many, you mean. Fewer car crashes, less noise, EMS/police resources freed up, better mobility for people not in a car, [b]economic benefits for businesses in the Connecticut Ave corridor.[/b][/quote]

The Connecticut Ave corridor where the stabbing just occurred?[/quote]

Are you saying that the planned bike lanes on Connecticut Avenue caused the stabbing?[/quote]

No, but can we vote out elected officials (ANC and council) who apparently care more about bike lanes than focusing on rising crime along Connecticut Ave?![/quote]

Empirically, the answer is that no, you (whoever "we" even is) can [u]not[/u] do this. The voters voted for elected officials who support the Connecticut Avenue bike lanes.[/quote]

You'd be surprised how a couple of daytime shootings or stabbings can make voters sour on their elected candidates. And there are recall mechanisms. Bike bros will be destroyed by soccer moms.

[/quote]

Not a bike bro here, but most of the supporters of the bike lanes I know (I live off Connecticut Ave) ARE soccer moms. The only people I know against the bike lanes are some cranky old white guys. [/quote]

The soccer moms I know on Porter and Reno are worried that the Connecticut Ave bike lanes will divert a lot more traffic to those streets, which will become less safe and cannot handle more thru traffic.[/quote]

This is a valid fear. [b]You want to keep as much of the car through traffic on Connecticut as possible. 
[/b]
The worst case scenario here is that building bike lanes on CT leads to spill-over traffic and parking on local roads, while the bike lanes are underutilized. That's a recipe for killing bike infrastructure citywide, the way the streetcar killed the idea of trams for a generation.

I'll keep beating this dead horse, but the place to put bike infrastructure is on Reno, not Connecticut. Who exactly is going to want to ride on Connecticut? People who don't mind riding next to 4+ lanes of stop-light drag racers, buses and trucks, with drivers turning through them every block, all 12 of them. No one is going to let their kids ride on these, and many parents won't even let their MS or HS kids ride there.

If you're going to build bike infrastructure, build it where its safe and pleasant to ride. If you can't picture kids riding in the lanes, then you are doing something wrong. [/quote]

No, YOU want to keep car through traffic on Connecticut. Other people think it's time to prioritize DC residents, on all transportation modes, over the convenience of Maryland car commuters.

Yes, DC is going to build bike infrastructure - no "if" about it. Yes, DC should build safe bike infrastructure, that kids can ride in. Including on Connecticut Avenue.[/quote]

Isn’t a major arterial road where through traffic, commuter traffic and truck traffic are supposed to go?  Dispersing it to lower capacity roads is nuts from a safety perspective and spreads significant cut thru traffic to more streets and neighborhoods.  Is this the intention?[/quote]

It's a road over 10,000 people live right ON it.  Nearly 20,000 live within a two block radius in either direction of it.  A highway doesn't below in the middle of that.

Also its not like its capacity goes from current state to 0.  It goes from current state to slightly less than current state.  Because there are actually some throughput improvments in the plan too (turn lanes).[/quote]

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