Isn't it Time We Made Some Space for Cars?

Poor drivers have almost no road space left to driver their cars on, so it looks like DC is going to take a bit away from the greedy cyclists and give it to the desperate motorists. 

One of the potential tweaks coming to the bike lanes could give a lane of traffic back to drivers.

"We still want to minimize the impact on traffic. We're looking for a way to make more room for the cars," says Jim Sebastian, DDOT's bicycle program manager.

Which AAA loves, because it helps to meet their goal of protecting cyclists. 

AAA Mid-Atlantic tells WTOP that the bike lanes between 15th and 3rd Streets on Pennsylvania Avenue, NW need to be done correctly.

"We have said that all along. In terms of their impact on the safety of cyclists, pedestrians and motorists, and in terms of their impact on congestion," says John Townsend II, AAA Mid-Atlantic's manager of public and government affairs.

"We love bike lanes, but we say they have to be done in the right way," says Townsend. "In a way that protects every user of the transportation system in Washington."

But others do not

"That floors me. Those words (about returning space to cars) should never come out of the mouth of a bike coordinator," said one city bicycle official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to WTOP.

Comments

[SJE]

Coz all the traffic in DC is due to cyclists

[Micah]

I thought I was reading the Onion for a second there!

this is nuts.

[Eric_W.]

Checked the calendar: it's not April 1; checked the URL: it's no the Onion.

Unreal!

[JeffB]

"I have some concerns actually about certain blocks," Klein told WTOP last week. "Overall, it is great, but there are certain blocks where the lanes are very wide, and I have seen cars actually enter the lanes because it looks like a car lane."

Well then! Let's just make it a car lane and get those silly bikers out of there for their own protection.

AAA: 1
21st Century Transit Alternatives: 0

[O2]

I know this sounds crazy, but maybe there are actual VALID reasons to tweak the bike lanes, given that DDOT's own bicycle program manager is behind it.

[Chris]

Can't we all just get along?