Arlington National Cemetery Banning Bikes

[mstone]

@chris_s 147607 wrote:

They rely on the help and goodwill of Arlington County in many ways as well – for instance without Arlington’s transportation infrastructure none of their employees would be able to get to work.

Let’s be realistic with the rhetoric–ArlCo doesn’t do that out of goodwill, it does it because (like any community) it doesn’t bite the hand that feeds it.

[Steve O]

@mstone 147608 wrote:

Let’s be realistic with the rhetoric–ArlCo doesn’t do that out of goodwill, it does it because (like any community) it doesn’t bite the hand that feeds it.

If I’m not mistaken, every single person who works in the fort or the cemetery is paid through the taxes that you and I pay. In fact, the very existence of those facilities is paid for by you and me. Their showing a bit of accommodation to the many hands that feed them hardly seems to be unreasonable. I am in total agreement with Chris. There is no “good” reason why these institutions cannot sit down in a collaborative way and work with the community within which they exist–and have for more than a century–to establish and maintain a positive working relationship. Sure, they can (and do) thumb their noses at anyone they want to. But that doesn’t mean we cannot request that they stop.

[ginacico]

@Steve O 147617 wrote:

In fact, the very existence of those facilities is paid for by you and me.

This is my biggest peeve with the whole situation. After I read “The Army disagrees with and rejects these comments ….” I halfheartedly skimmed the rest. The Army clearly thinks it owns and makes all the decisions for ANC, and I reject their assumption of authority. It’s a public property, and the public ought to at least have a voice in when/how it is accessed and enjoyed.

[mstone]

@Steve O 147617 wrote:

If I’m not mistaken, every single person who works in the fort or the cemetery is paid through the taxes that you and I pay. In fact, the very existence of those facilities is paid for by you and me. Their showing a bit of accommodation to the many hands that feed them hardly seems to be unreasonable. I am in total agreement with Chris. There is no “good” reason why these institutions cannot sit down in a collaborative way and work with the community within which they exist–and have for more than a century–to establish and maintain a positive working relationship. Sure, they can (and do) thumb their noses at anyone they want to. But that doesn’t mean we cannot request that they stop.

Hey, if you think that you can convince a majority of ArlCo voters to side with cyclists over DOD in defense of a demand to allow ANC to be a commuter route then go for it. I think you’ll find that you won’t get a majority in which case you can’t claim to be representing the will of the people. (The “many hands that feed them” argument cuts both ways: if that’s what you’re basing this on, you’ve got absolutely no ground to stand on if a majority either doesn’t care or rejects the idea, and I suspect you’ll find that’s the case.) Yeah, your tax dollars pay for it, but that doesn’t mean you have a right to do whatever you want there–that’s a principle long established in law and custom. DOD has the responsibility for maintaining that property. They had a public process at which people who disagreed were given a chance to be heard. DOD rejected the criticisms and explained why. Unless there’s something new to add, or you have enough public support to force them to do something they don’t want to do, you run the risk of playing into the worst stereotypes of cyclists (optics again). DOD does spend quite a bit of time and attention on community relations, but that’s generally for issues outside the fence; especially in a post-9/11 world there’s just not much public support for overriding any policy on restricting access regardless of whether some people think the restrictions are unreasonable.

[rcannon100]

@ginacico 147621 wrote:

This is my biggest peeve with the whole situation. After I read “The Army disagrees with and rejects these comments ….” I halfheartedly skimmed the rest. The Army clearly thinks it owns and makes all the decisions for ANC, and I reject their assumption of authority. It’s a public property, and the public ought to at least have a voice in when/how it is accessed and enjoyed.

Not quibbling – and not entering debate – but just making a procedural note. SOMEBODY has to be the decision maker in any administrative setting. It may be public [FILL IN THE BLANK]. Sure. But someone is charged with caring for and making decisions for that public [FILL IN THE BLANK]. Does the public get a voice – of course – but “a voice” is not the same as “who decides.” Someone is designated at the entity that listens to the voices and decides between those who say GREEN and those who say YELLOW.

That an entity is charged with making decisions and operations is not in opposition to the notion that the subject is public.

[Steve O]

@mstone 147626 wrote:

Hey, if you think that you can convince a majority of ArlCo voters to side with cyclists over DOD in defense of a demand to allow ANC to be a commuter route then go for it.

The Arlington County Board officially weighed in on this in favor of maintaining the status quo of allowing bikes to use the current commuter route. So the citizens of Arlington County, through their elected representative, did in fact make that case.

[Terpfan]

I laughed aloud at the Army’s safety argument. The last time I visited, I waited 25 minutes in the heat with my daughter this summer to get on their shuttle service. I decided to walk back with her from the Columbarium, figuring the wind beat waiting a half hour for them. On my way back, one their shuttles passed us with less than two feet and no oncoming cars.

And decorum respect? They take private tour buses full of people with selfy-sticks out looking for the best photo moment. I’m happy they’re learning the history, but seriously, I think they way overblew that one.

Oh well. Now I’m going to make a point of biking and having them issue me the temporary pass each time.

[ginacico]

@chris_s 147605 wrote:

The Cemetery is so big, it is a barrier to movement in the County. It is especially a barrier to people on foot and on bicycles. It is even more of a barrier because it is directly adjacent to Ft Myer which is also a barrier. It is even more of a barrier because it almost immediately adjacent to the Pentagon which is also a barrier.

These institutions need to be good neighbors.

I’d like to go back in time and kick the urban planners who put all three of these properties together, across the river from the nation’s capital. But they’re not moving anywhere, so access through or around them is an ongoing negotiation with Arlington residents.

I live just a couple miles south of the Pentagon, and actually the roads through and around their property are open to the public, including bike commuters. I ride there regularly, and as long as you don’t go through any security gates, nobody blinks an eye (though I don’t doubt there are cameras and well armed guards watching). The Pentagon 9-11 Memorial attracts visitors on a daily basis without any special pass. Metro subway and bus commuters come and go in droves through their massive transit center. Just putting this out there, that despite typically tight security, the Pentagon should get credit for being a good neighbor.

ANC is another story.

[rcannon100]

Remember that Arlington was a backwater ‘burg back in the day – filled with chicken coops and dairy farms. It was rural. And at times questionable. ANC’s history is well known. Fort Myer’s dates back to the civil war as well. Fort Myer hosted demonstrations of the Wright Brother’s plane for Congress and the military. Fort Myer also was the home of the first high powered radio antenna, built by the Navy, that could communicate with the Eiffel tower. Point is – all this stuff has history long before the modern Arlington. The urban planners that you speak of – there was no urban. There were cows and chickens. There was lots of land that was available for use by the war department – particularly in the context of the civil war.

[mlefrak]

Hello – I’m a producer with WAMU News, and I’m working on a story about the bike restrictions in the cemetery. I’d love to include your perspective, as someone who has family in the cemetery. Would you be willing to chat? My email is mlefrak@wamu.org. – Mikaela

[ginacico]

Congrats to chris_s and dasgeh, who both made strong statements in this morning’s interview on WAMU.

The fact is, the new ban on cyclists in ANC only reduced bike access by one notch in the recent decision — from almost none to even less. Commuters previously had a specific route and a narrow time window to ride through the cemetery, and now they’re not allowed at all (except with an issued family pass to visit loved ones). The Department of the Army, acting as “custodians” for this important public property, made an arbitrary (at best) or even discriminatory (at worst) decision to exclude bicyclists. They did so against the public comments that they solicited, and against the recommendations of Arlington County who are their neighbors. Their judgment of decorum evidently carries more weight, even, than the Pentagon’s concern for security.

The hornet’s nest this has stirred up has to do with the bigger picture, illustrated by Arlington’s newest rendition of the Comfort Map. Arlington Cemetery, plus adjacent Fort Myer and the Pentagon, remains as a giant, impassable blob that blocks Arlington residents from reasonable and straightforward routes into DC.

ANC and Fort Myer have existed since the Civil War, the Pentagon since 1941. Yet Washington DC was designated this nation’s capital in 1790. Maybe it was all goats and chickens back then, but this is 2016. It’s fruitless to argue that urban and transportation planners could not have anticipated the growth of Arlington’s neighborhoods and provided better routes for ALL — autos, pedestrians, cyclists, and public transportation — sometime in the past 226-odd years. We’re only going backwards, and I for one don’t like the trend.

[elbows]

I went on a tour this morning at Arlington Cemetery that was led by the chief horticulturalist there. Someone from another area asked him if cycling was allowed, and he talked about the change. He went on that he didn’t think banning pets made sense and that he had never seen a failure to clean up after a dog, but that he agreed with the cycling ban, emphasizing the safety perspective. I was tempted to ask him if he had ever heard of a safety incident, but I’m pretty sure I know the answer and wasn’t looking to start something with him. I doubt that he was the chief decision-maker behind the change. Still, the easiness with which he cited “safety” as an adequate motivator for the ban when I think about how much less safe for cyclists the Pike is (as well as the path by Iwo Jima is). (Like many, I had a semi-bad accident on the Pike that still impacts me physically.) I got so upset about his comments that I left the tour. If someone wants to go on a future tour and engage, the next one is Nov 4 at 9am from the visitors center. It was a great tour before I got my cyclist hatred rage/depression.

Ditto on the thanks to Chris Slatt and dasgeh for their advocacy on this issue.

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