Monday Morning Commute - Success is not an option

I might be out for awhile, as I'm having some minor surgery done, and I really don't think I should blog on Vicadin.

• "Many of the mechanics in the shop just off Four Mile Run aren't old enough to drive. Some are performing community service after scrapes with the law. Others are simply looking for something to do."
• Though a new grant will help plan for a WB&A Trail bridge over the Patuxent, it does not appear that Anne Arundel County will support the trail on the rail ROW. "Using the railroad path is not an option since it would cut through the Meyer Station Nature Center, said Rick Anthony, the director of Anne Arundel County’s Recreation and Parks....“That railroad bed is not something we’re willing to resurrect,” Anthony said. “It’s not an issue. We’re going to go around it.”" Because, you can't have a bike trail through a Nature Center - that's crazy. "Anthony said the county government got a “verbal commitment” from New Jersey-based developer Two Rivers LLC to help pay for a part of the trail that takes a detour around the original railroad alignment. Two Rivers LLC is developing The Preserve at Two Rivers, a community for residents ages 55 and older that includes a golf course." Meanwhile, on the PG side of the river. "Eileen Nivera, a planner coordinator for Prince George’s County Parks and Recreation, said Prince George’s planners are currently designing a link to a railroad spur that would fit in line with Anne Arundel County’s proposed detour. She said the sooner the work on the preliminary designs for the bridge begins the better, but said an undetermined amount of grant money is necessary to move forward.“We’ll need more money to do the final design and permitting, then we’ll need money for construction,” Nivera said."
• With kids going back to school today, AAA has some advice for drivers and parents including "Watch for bicycles. Children on bikes are often inexperienced, unsteady and unpredictable. Slow down and allow at least three feet of passing distance between your vehicle and the bicycle. If your child rides a bicycle to school, require that they wear a properly-fitted bicycle helmet on every ride."
• Details on the Easton Rail Trail on the Eastern Shore.
• Floating bicyclists.

Comments

[antibozo]

I wish you a rapid and painless recovery.

[T]

I was excited when I clicked the floating bicyclist. For some insane reason, I pictured those stupid duck boats as a bike and I was thinking of how this could help a commute.

The Phoenix Bike folks are good people, just the hours are tough to get to unless you have lunchtime free on a Saturday. Down the road Velocity (I think) in Del Ray are also great and it's all about teaching you to fix your own bike there with a little expert guidance and tools to borrow.

[Bitsybrain]

Unfortunately, AA County is being disingenuous about the motives of the Two Rivers development. It is no longer a 55+ community. In fact, they are holding community meetings to persuade the locals to accept a new elementary school to make the development rights more appealing.

It seems that if the development terms are back on the table, the trail agreement should be as well.

Now is the time to negotiate -- not after the developers get the variances they want.

Creating more congestion (as a school will certainly do) more than justifies having a direct bicycle route for transportation rather than one designed to accommodate a few well placed property owners.