Wednesday Afternoon Commute - Apex

Good afternoon

• More on yesterday's plea bargain. 
  • Wilder will not be pressing a civil suit against Diehl after settling with the former cop's insurance company. In an email, he writes that while he is glad to see Diehl face some punishment, "he is getting off too easily."
  • "While we wish the charges addressed the intentional and successful attempt to harm a person rather than simply the leaving of the scene afterward and the harm to the bicycle, we are glad to see that some charges were brought," [Farthing] tells DCist. Farthing is glad the Council adopted last year's bill, but adds that there is still a gulf between charging a driver who hits a cyclist with property damage and not actual assault.
• More CaBi stations - at 11th and M NW;6th and Indiana NW and 18th and Wyoming, NW. 
• More on the Custis Trail armed robbery and attempt. And the Post has the basics.
• The old Post Office building along the Capital Crescent Trail is now gone. A new 5-story mixed-use facility will replace it. The article notes that "residents will have their own access" to the trail. I hope that doesn't mean "exclusive" access as you see at some gates along the trail. Move-in is estimated to be August 2014.
• The Montgomery County Planning Department might amend the master plan to stimulate construction at the Apex building - where the Purple Line, Capital Crescent Trail and Red Line intersect. "Krasnow said a plan for that area is one that the planning department thinks would have tremendous public benefit. “We are recommending that this one not only be put on the schedule but that we start on it right away,” she said." If the buildings over the tunnel were to be torn down, that might make it possible to keep the trail in the tunnel. 
• Work begins soon on new bike path along MacArthur Boulevard. "The work on the eight-foot-wide, shared use path is expected to launch in mid-April and will last about a year." "This project encompasses the construction of approximately 2.61 miles of eight-foot wide shared use bike path along the south side of MacArthur Boulevard between I-495 and Oberlin Avenue. This project also includes roadway resurfacing, the installation of retaining walls, driveways, underpass lighting and landscaping." This project has been planned for over 10 years. 
• A charity ride along the Indian Head Rail Trail. 

Comments

[Jacob]

Re: MacArthur Blvd bike path
Why build a substandard bike path? 12 feet is the recommended width for shared-use paths, and 10 feet is the bare minimum. This is coming from AASHTO, which is not exactly pushing the envelope on high-quality bike design. If you fail to meet AASHTO minimum standards, you're doing something very very wrong.