Tuesday Morning Commute - Big 10 won't be happy until it has 100 teams

Good morning

• WABA's take on the Broad Branch Road alternatives. "Alt 4 is the only candidate that really achieves their first goal of creating a safe facility for all modes. Given that widening the road requires numerous retaining walls and that they want to minimize using parkland, however, it looks like the 4th alternative would be very expensive. Jim Sebastian mentioned that if the full bike lane were not possible, it may be possible to widen the northbound lane by a few feet to give cyclists some space. This was merely an offhand suggestion, though, so certainly not part of any existing plans." Participants at the meeting had other ideas for meeting goal 1. "Steve Dryden, a member of the Rock Creek Conservancy, brought up the possibility of making that stretch one way during rush hour and allow cyclists and pedestrians use the other lane. I talked to Bob about lowering the speed limit to 15 miles an hour, enforced by speed cameras, so bikes and cars could more safely share the road." But, unfortunately some local ANC representatives don't think that creating a safe mode for cyclists and pedestrians is important. ANC 3G-04 Commissioner Allen Beach wrote "I prefer #1 [No Build] . Both my ANC (ANC 3/4G) and ANC 3F fought against making this a highway!" and ANC 4A08 Commissioner Gale Black added "instead of effectively maintaining this road, [DDOT] is wasting time and money studying alternative uses....the other "alternative" options are likely not feasible, because the city only has 30 feet within which to work. There is not enough room for adding on-road amenities."
• WABA's annual Member Holiday Party is on the schedule for Dec 12, 7-11pm at Smith Commons. 
• Arlington is going to update Rosslyn's Sector Plan. 

Comments

[Crikey7]

Not quite sure why the local groups are opposed, other than because of construction concerns (both interruption and impact on the creek/valley). One should not that putting the road in initially had a far greater impact than what is contemplated, which if anything might correct some current runoff issues.

People often are fooled by the outward appearance of an area like this. It looks pristine, but in fact the creek has for decades had issues with excess peak runoff and water quality, not to mention the entire ecology of the lower Rock Creek Valley is out of whack. That's not to say we should make things worse (and these changes would not), but it's also not true that any roadwork at all is a some kind of sacrilege against untouched wilderness. That stopped being true when they channelized the storm drainage that dumps out into the Creek right near Linnean and built a road to carry commuter traffic through this part of the Park.

[SJE]

Making it 15mph, or adding a bike lane, makes it a highway? If so, MORE HIGHWAYS

[ken]

I do not think quoting Alan Beach's non-sequitor is overly relevant. None of the other ANC folks who were there (including mine) are quoted at all and I did not get the sense of 'opposition'

In fact, given that the road starts with two lanes and ends with two lanes means there is no real argument from drivers about losing parking or driving lanes. The only caveats I heard were worries about the length of road closure although there was little explicitly stated about how the alternatives differ in road closure time (if at all different).

Clearly the biggest issue might simply be cost BUT remember this is also a FHA project not just DDOT.

Crikey7 & SJE (both of whom I respect greatly): did you both fill out and send in (you can do it electronically) a Comment sheet?

[Purple Eagle]

@Crikey, I think you can make an even stronger case - not only will construction "not hard an untouched wilderness", but it has the potential to reduce stormwater impacts and thereby improve the water quality of the stream. I noticed what looked like bioretention structures in some of the drawings.

[SJE]

ken: I am not a resident of DC, so I think I have no say in it.

[ken]

@SJE - I'm definitely unsure about that at all - if you use that section of Broad Branch and have informed opinion (that you do) then I think your comments are as valid as mine (probably more so).

[Ken]

a waste of time, effort and money.

let it go bicyclists, you have more important issues: one would be an on-road route to get through NW DC!!!!

[Crikey7]

I actually like riding along Connecticut Ave and Wisconsin Ave. It's the east side of the Park that has cycling issues. I still have nightmares from commuting on 16th Street. You have to get all the way to the MBT till it gets good again.

[Crikey7]

That still doesn't mean we can't upgrade a road into the Park to make recreational access better.

[Jack Cochrane]

I like the Big 10. U of Md. was treated poorly by the ACC. In any case, collegiate cycling teams are arranged in cycling conferences, not Big 10 or ACC.