Tuesday Morning Commute - Supposed to be

Good morning

• WABA calls on DDOT and MCDOT to finish the Metropolitan Branch Trail. "In the District, no one has provided a solid reason why work cannot begin immediately on the northern segment of the trail from Riggs Rd. to the Montgomery County line. It needs to be done.  Idleness is unacceptable.  It is no more acceptable in Montgomery County, where WABA fought to have funding for the trail restored to the budget after it was removed from County Executive Ike Leggett’s original proposal.  The restoration of funding has come with no commensurate sense of urgency to put it to use, however.  Despite the existence of funding and the inclusion of the trail in approved master plans, the Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) has not even begun the design of the critical crossing of Georgia Avenue, much less initiated any form of construction.  Instead, they continue to tiptoe around and negotiate with owners of the historic Silver Spring B&O Train Station, who do not want bicyclists able to travel along the master planned route, which includes an area the group currently rents as event space." Follow the above link to send them a message. 
• CaBi station at Prince & Union St. in Alexandria. 
• The Washington Examiner, among other things, thinks that increasing transportation spending over 1 year by 130% should reduce your commute time by 130%. Which would mean you would arrive, before you leave*. In addition to being bad at math and science, they say that
  
  • "In 2009, the highway trust fund spent $52.7 billion, but only 62 percent of that went to general purpose roads and safety programs. The rest was diverted into pet liberal causes like trolleys, bicycles, buses, scenic byways, historic covered bridges and "community preservation." Yes. Pet projects that help move 15% of commuters in the DC area. Also, even Reason puts that number at 75% of money goes to highways.
  • "And those are the dollars that are supposed to be going to highways." The bipartison transportation bill differs with you - as it has for a very long time. 
  • "Not only would Romney and Ryan stop wasting your transportation dollars on bike paths and high-speed trains to nowhere..." Yes wasting. You do know what the "Blank" to nowhere refers to, right? (Hint: not bike or train infrastructure).
• "The Frederick Board of Aldermen unanimously approved a Maryland Department of Transportation grant Aug. 16 that provides $12,000 to study the feasibility of a bike-sharing program in the city. The city will provide a $3,000 match in the form of in-kind services, according to Tim Davis, a transportation and airport planner for the city."
• Bike the Vote. 
• I've mentioned this before, but still a good story. "[Muhammad] Ali took up boxing at age 12, when his bike was stolen and he wanted to find and whip the culprit." Relatedly, Lance Armstrong took up cycling when he got beat up by a kid and then stole his bike as retribution.

*OK. They don't really say that your commute time would be reduced by 130%, rather that your commute would be 130% faster. So if you average 30mph on the way to work, you'll now average 69mph. Which is still ridiculous, but not as funny.

Comments

[SJE]

I love how the WashTimes blames wasteful spending on "liberal" pet projects, when the "bridge to nowhere" was a GOP thing.

[T]

Suggestion for the Bike The Vote folks. Their section about "Show Me" is incomplete. Politicians will go to openings of anything: races, rides, stores, transportation initiatives, graduations or whatever. Folks should be encouraged to offer the official the chance to participate in the ride to any extent possible (especially opening one) and you should ALWAYS have a bike, helmet, etc that they can borrow. If you make it easy, they will come. More importantly, as they ride, go alongside them explaining the value of say a sign or a cycletrack and talking only about your issue, if you segway into other issues then you run the gammit of finding disagreement. And maybe, I lied, most importantly, don't only pick folks you agree with to invite--invite them all and make them an ally. The more, the merrier.

[Mike]

WABA is upset? Who and what leads that organizationi?..

the Met Branch Trail will not happen in my lifetime.

we cant even get nps to fix the trail that already exists:

"Thanks for you inquiries regarding the Rock Creek Park Multi-Use Trail Rehabilitation Project. At this point, DDOT, working with NPS and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), plans to resurface, widen the trail where environmentally feasible; modify some trail alignments and road crossings; install directional and interpretive signage; and install connections to and from the trails to other pedestrian and bicycle facilities.

FHWA, NPS, and DDOT released the Environmental Assessment (EA) in November 2011. We are currently working to address all of the comments we received on the EA and complete a 30% design. At this time, we do not have a timeframe for construction because we have to complete the EA and full design before we can proceed to construction.

Rock Creek Park Multi-Use Trail is owned by NPS, who is responsible for maintenance. I am not aware of the last time NPS repaved the entire trail; however, I am aware that they have conducted spot repair/maintenance throughout the years. As part of the rehabilitation project, we, DDOT, will perform the necessary construction work as is outlined in the EA. Our standard procedure for trail construction follows American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities.

Thanks again for you comment. It will be part of the Administrative Record for the project EA

Best regards,
Austina Casey

Environmental Policy Analyst

[Crikey7]

I like riding the multi-use route in Rock Creek Park called "Beach Drive." The little path on the side is fine for joggers, dog walkers and strollers.

[Bossi]

::sigh::

...There was a time when infrastructure wasn't so partisan. Well, for what it's worth: this here conservative supports those fanatical extreme far-left liberal socialist transportation modes that give us all choice and freedom.

Something I threw together back when the transpobill was in debate, but still relevant: http://farmoderate.blogspot.com/2012/02/conservatives-argument-for-transit.html

[Read Scott Martin]

re The Examiner, I am looking forward to a followup story about the other psychosis, evil dog parks, so my head can just get on with it and explode

[dynaryder]

The new CaBi station helps take some of the sting out of the loss of Olsson's.

[SJE]

Bossi: They fight about infrastructure because they can. I just completed an extended cross country trip with my kids, and the eldest two found any reason to fight. Of course, they are 7 and 4.5, not our supposed elected leaders, but you get the idea.

[Bossi]

@SJE-

Absolutely- logic & rationality has long-since left politics behind. I just try and remain one small voice amongst the cacophony.