Constrained walkways in Potomac Park, DC

Constrained walkways in Potomac Park, DC, originally uploaded by rllayman.

Richard Layman writes "This is one of the images from the presentation by Cy Paumier at the National Building Museum, last fall.

It definitely communicates the priorities here in terms of adequate roadways for cars, and inadequate space for pedestrians and bicyclists."

Comments

[Purple Eagle]

This section of sidewalk is absolutely packed during Cherry Blossom time. Not really a problem for cyclists who are comfortable with the road, but when running in that area I have actually resorted to hopping into a travel lane to get by the congestion on the sidewalk.

There is also poor bike/ped access to this area from the mall. If you are coming from the museum section of the mall, the most direct route involves a stretch with no sidewalks or crosswalks.

[Max]

Actually, my experience has been that the roads around there were just as bad, if not worse, to navigate at those most popular Cherry Blossom times as the sidewalks. Filtering was not very doable due to tour buses and standard issue distracted drivers. So then your left to crawl along like a car and suck tail pipe or walk it. Definitely a situation and environment in which the bicycle could shine, provided it was actually recognized as viable means of transport.

And if it's difficult on a standard bike, forget the oversized kid-carrying cycles like trailers and cargo bikes, which we really need to be encouraging use of to these types of areas and events.