Wednesday Evening Commute- Unhappy Grover

Good evening

• A woman in NE DC was sexually assaulted by a man riding a bicycle. 
• Brian McEntee of Tales from the Sharrows writes the definitive argument for why the Near SE section of the ART though the Navy Yard and Yards Park should be open to biking. In the interim, I say just ignore the rules and ride it when you want to. No one enforces it because no one really cares. 
• Virginia Senate votes to raise the gas tax and tie it to inflation. In addition "The plan would impose a statewide 1 percent sales tax on wholesale fuel and allow the state to raise that sales tax by 1 percent if Congress fails to pass legislation allowing Virginia to collect sales taxes on Internet sales....the Senate bill would increase the vehicle registration fee by $15." Not only would the plan make driving more expensive, but it would also provide more money for transportation. 

Comments

[DaveS]

(Brian's blog is "Tales From the Sharrows", and he spells his last name "McEntee".)

The interim solution is selfish.

There is no all-ages, all-skills connection between RFK and Nats Park, and I'm not aware of plans to create one.

Improved bridge connections across the Anacostia at 11th St. and at S. Capitol will increase demand for such a connection. The 11th Street Bridge Park needs to be a destination that can be easily reached from all directions, not an island or a jetty that only connects on one side.

The sensible place to put a recreational path just happens to run through Yards Park and the Navy Yard. While nobody there cares enough to regularly enforce the bicycle prohibition, the Navy Yard in particular doesn't even operate their section as a full-time, reliable pedestrian connection. It took a lot of effort to convince them to allow public access in the first place, and even more effort for them to agree to have the gates default to open, though the actual availability remains sporadic and poorly communicated.

Riding through now works against the goal of convincing the powers that be that cyclists will be members in good standing of the ART community. Cyclists do belong on the ART, and the ART needs to be brought along to become a full time, full use destination, but using it as a bandit trail now will be a setback against that.

The marketing for the ART touts it as multi-use, and DC points to the SE/SW waterfront as the next big development area for improving our One City. Short of evicting DC Water, the Washington Navy Yard, and the Army Corps of Engineers, we're going to have to do our best to get along - while we work with them to change their stupid rules.

[washcycle]

I knew both those things, but I guess I'm just tired.

[washcycle]

Selfish, no. Just realistic. That no one bothers to enforce these rules and that the punishment is a warning merely underlines the fact that even the rulemakers don't really care about compliance. It's like wearing a facemask in Virginia or being an airbnb landlord in DC. It's prohibited, but you should just do it anyway because no one actually cares about you doing it.

[5555624]

Perhaps someone just needs to convince the "powers that be" at the Navy yard that a mixed use path is not a sidewalk? The ART along the Navy Yard looks like a sidewalk. Riding bikes on the sidewalk inside the Navy Yard is prohibited (and has been enforced). If they see the ART as a sidewalk, that might be part of their reasoning for banning bikes.

[ACyclistInTheSuburbs]

wearing a face mask isnt going to "blow up in our faces" until some cyclist walks into a bank wearing a facemask, and robs it.

Riding on a mixed use trail there will inevitably be accidents with pedestrians (and thats true even if CYCLISTS ride perfectly - peds are notorious for not being predictable and alert at all times) When that happens in a place where bikes are NOMINALLY banned, it will not reflect well (and I don't want to be the cyclist in that instance)

[washcycle]

ACitS, this is the old "We should follow rules/laws that don't make sense for PR reasons argument" and I don't buy. I run stop signs and red lights - which are actually laws, not rules - in disregard of this argument, so I don't think I'm going to stop doing this for the same reason.

I'm unconvinced that this will blow up in our faces. Perhaps you can find an example somewhere where something like what you've described has happened?