Has Mary Cheh commented on a potential street closure?

Anonymous wrote:No criticism of GDS, but concerned how they are going to manage 1000 students in confined periods of pick-ups and drop offs during confined periods of the day, particularly if, as rumored, they propose closing 42nd Street.

GDS will manage the traffic and will make the expanded site very safe and secure. This is likely a top priority. The reason the Obamas didn't go to GDS in the end was concern about traffic backup at the Palisades site. The expanded Wisconsin campus, especially if 42nd St is figured out, will make GDS fully competitive in recruiting students who are VIP protectees.

No criticism of GDS, but concerned how they are going to manage 1000 students in confined periods of pick-ups and drop offs during confined periods of the day, particularly if, as rumored, they propose closing 42nd Street.

Yes, why all the hating? I have been reading this thread as it has developed and while agree that traffic considerations are important, especially to those directly impacted, I'm puzzled by the special criticism toward the school about what seems like a reasonable business decision.

Why all the hating on GDS?

Anonymous wrote:Except that aggressive traffic calming and limited access pushes all of the cars on to Wisconsin, Connecticut and Western at all times of the day. Yet the residents of those enclaves have no issues using all of the streets across the line to their hearts content.

And +1 to 16:04. we don't need more of a Cluster %&$^ on Wisconsin Avenue to benefit a bunch of private school families at the expense of everyone else.

This wouldn't be an issue, if DC adopted the Bethesda/Chevy Chase model of traffic calming.

Except that aggressive traffic calming and limited access pushes all of the cars on to Wisconsin, Connecticut and Western at all times of the day. Yet the residents of those enclaves have no issues using all of the streets across the line to their hearts content.

And +1 to 16:04. we don't need more of a Cluster %&$^ on Wisconsin Avenue to benefit a bunch of private school families at the expense of everyone else.

Anonymous wrote:Right. And I can't think of anyone who has said that Wisconsin Ave. needs more traffic in the AM.

No one says Wisconsin needs more traffic but residential streets certainly need less. Aggressive traffic calming like they do in Chevy Chase, Edgemoor, Kenwood, Lyon Village and the DC streets behind Friendship Heights is the way to go.

Right. And I can't think of anyone who has said that Wisconsin Ave. needs more traffic in the AM.

I would think that the AU/Tenleytown community would be quite supportive of closing off 42nd Street at Wisconsin or making it a dedicated access to the Safeway/GDS site. Right now, 42nd St functions as an unwelcome cut-through route in a residential neighborhood, which drivers use to bypass Wisconsin Ave. and Tenley Circle to/from Nebraska. It carries a lot of traffic -- hence the pylon circles that DDOT installed north of Van Ness and makes the Albermarle/42nd intersection a busy crossing for Janney students. Making it more difficult for SB drivers on Wisconsin to peel off and cut south through the neighborhood at 42nd should reduce this traffic at least somewhat."

Well, as an AU Park resident, let me tell you that you would be incorrect. First, there is no need for "traffic calming" on that portion of 42nd street. There is not a lot of traffic cutting through there. Second, diverting all the traffic to Wisconsin would make it as much of a cluster-F(*& nightmare to drive on as it has become in Glover Park. And, if I couldn't use 42nd street, I'd use Ellicott or Chesapeake to get around the neighborhood, or any other route I'd need to use to avoid Wisconsin, which would just increase traffic on those streets. All to the betterment of whom? A private school with probably takes half of its students from outside of D.C.? No thank you.

If suburbanites don't have an option, they will drive in to the city. If the city closes all the roads, it makes it worse for the city.

Anonymous wrote:Ok, so lets do that for Wisconsin Ave, Conn Ave, Bladensburg Road, Kennilworth ave, South Capitol, North Capitol, Minnesota Ave, Georgia Avenue, Bradley Boulevard, Rover Road, Mass Avenue, Reno Road, MacArthur Blvd and every other main road in the region.

It's coming. There's already more traffic calming appearing in AU Park, and McLean Gardens, Cleveland Park, Palisades and Chevy Chase DC are likely to step it up as well. But the smart growth advocates say that people are giving up their cars for transit and biking anyway

Ok, so lets do that for Wisconsin Ave, Conn Ave, Bladensburg Road, Kennilworth ave, South Capitol, North Capitol, Minnesota Ave, Georgia Avenue, Bradley Boulevard, Rover Road, Mass Avenue, Reno Road, MacArthur Blvd and every other main road in the region.

Anonymous wrote:Wheeeeeee for traffic sewers on our main streets!

I visited a friend who lives in Kenwood the other days. Each street it seems has several speed humps and there are turn restrictions, so that the neighborhood doesn't serve as such a cut through with drivers trying to avoid the long light at River and Little Falls Parkway. I think this is a good template for neighborhoods adjacent to the main roads on both sides of Western Ave. I would much rather, if a road is going to be a "traffic sewer." that t be an arterial road designed for traffic rather than someone's neighborhood street where their kids walk and ride their bikes. I don't mind waiting a few minutes longer on a main road if it means safer neighborhoods. If GDS helps to bring about a calmer 42nd St and the result is less traffic using it as a Wisconsin bypass, then I say bravo!

I guess you weren't subject to the weekend fiasco with the lines being closed downtown, or this mornings Orange Line meltdown, or the virtually daily occurrences that take place?