Tuesday Afternoon Commute - 3 Foot in action

Good afternoon

• Regardless of how thick the concrete at the Silver Spring Transit Center, which includes a section of the Met Branch Trail, is, it doesn't sound like it will opening on time. 
• A new Triathlon themed store, Tri-360, is opening in Falls Church. I don't know if it will include bikes or accesories. 
• A Florida cyclist riding early in the morning without lights, reflective clothing or a helmet and using headphones was snagged by a protrusion on a passing garbage truck. He settled before trial, but a lawsuit followed between various parties associated with the garbage truck in which one party argued that the driver was at fault for violating the 3 foot passing law. 
• The Student Conservation Corps is hiring staff to work on the Met Branch Trail. DC Crew Leader and DC Conservation Crew Member: 
• DCist's Martin Austermuhle asks about the petition to remove the Metro rush-hour restriction. He's pretty strongly in favor of the ban, but I think this post still accurately represents my opinion. 

Comments

[Wayne Phyillaier]

As a retired structural engineer, I can believe there is truth in the Folger Pratt assertion that the Silver Spring Transit Center can safely carry the loads even at the reduced deck thickness.
But this case is headed to the courts, and Folger Pratt should lose there. They contracted to deliver a specific design at a specified deck thickness, and they failed to do so. They screwed up and should pay.
But now we will all have that unfinished project just sitting there for years while it is in the courts. What a shame.

[Crickey7]

Indeed, if they contracted to deliver a specific thickness, they had to do the job per the specs. It's a shame.

[Kathy]

One of the biggest problems with taking bikes on trains when they are even semi-crowded is grease getting on people's clothes (not an issue with luggage or strollers) and the fact that they are so long that it is hard to position a bike anywhere that either 1) doesn't get in the way of the doors, and 2) doesn't block seats.

That said, I do wish metro would allow bikes starting at 6:30 pm at the discretion of the station managers. It would also be nice if station managers had discretion to allow bikes during rush hour if there was really bad weather outside (e.g., thunderstorm).