Be careful around the Jefferson Memorial

[Mikey]

For those of you comming in and leaving the city on the 14th street bridge, take extra precaution around the Jefferson Memorial. Besides the increased number of pedestrians, and tour busses, NPS has placed a series of port-a-johns along the sidewalk that parallels the street (ohio drive?) so if you are comming off of the bridge and making a right your choices are salmoning into tour busses, or attempting to ride through the tourist potty queue. It may just be easier to take a left and ride around the tidal basin, or ride through the monument baracades. I think this arrangement should be in place until the end of next weekend, since the 4th is on a Wednesday. the inadequacy of bike infrastructure here will become very apparent as Cars/busses, people, and bikes collide.

Topic

[5555624]

@5555624 23942 wrote:

Especially since I think the door to the handicapped ones will extend to the curb. If I remember, I’ll post the lock status Monday morning. (Since there is now a note stuck to my monitor, I just need to remember to look.)

They were padlocked this morning, at 3:00 a.m.

[Mark Blacknell]

Hains closure is an annual thing. Give up on it until the end of this week or so.

[Terpfan]

@dbb 24010 wrote:

The NPS said the construction should be completed today. Lets see!

Maybe I’ll ride down there tomorrow. Oh wait, I am temporarily bike free. Damn!

The signs are still there and I saw some guys working this morning. So yah, they’re not done. One would think they would wrap this up by tomorrow given the place will be a zoo on Wednesday, but who knows.

[dbb]

@KLizotte 23974 wrote:

Great letter to NPS. I certainly hope it works!

I am beginning to feel that there may be little interest in improving conditions for cyclists at the NPS in DC. The cones had returned today and I had the occasion to ask a NPS employee not to place cones in the crosswalk. A couple of PP officers came over and told me that the cones were there for security (even though they had built a barrier about 25 feet past the cones) and then that the cones prevented a unknowing motorist from turning into what has become an employee parking area and blocking the other crosswalk.

It seems that there must be some kind of hierarchy in protection with respect to crosswalks. Who would have thought it?

Getting to be time to bump it up the chain of command.

[KLizotte]

@dbb 24175 wrote:

A couple of PP officers came over and told me that the cones were there for security (even though they had built a barrier about 25 feet past the cones) and then that the cones prevented a unknowing motorist from turning into what has become an employee parking area and blocking the other crosswalk.

Oh.My.God. I would not have been able to keep a straight face listening to that rationale. Can you call it a rationale? These are the folks protecting us?!

Strange how the cones only seem to appear during rush hour and not, say, weekends.

Perhaps its time to steal the cones and hold them for ransom.

At least they haven’t stuck a bollard in the middle of the crosswalk. Give them time….

Oh, and take care to notice the oh-so-gorgeous infrastructure framing the monuments: jersey barriers, port-o-johns, barriers, cones, etc. It’s just so darn postcard perfect.

[Mark Blacknell]

Sounds like a job for the People’s Department of Transportation. Early or late shift.

[Greenbelt]

The PDOT moved a bunch of barrels out of the bike lanes in Greenbelt MD last night. They haven’t even started construction yet! Just storing them in the bike lane for a week or two I think.

[ShawnoftheDread]

The cones at Jefferson were there this morning, but in a (to me) reasonable place. That is, not in the crosswalk coming off the bridge, and along the edge of the adjacent crosswalk. Also, the sidewalk and both traffic lanes are open, but some of the patchwork on the sidewalk is temporary.

[Terpfan]

@ShawnoftheDread 24186 wrote:

The cones at Jefferson were there this morning, but in a (to me) reasonable place. That is, not in the crosswalk coming off the bridge, and along the edge of the adjacent crosswalk. Also, the sidewalk and both traffic lanes are open, but some of the patchwork on the sidewalk is temporary.

Yah they seemed to have stopped their construction, at least temporarily. I’m not sure I understood what the point of the jersey wall barriers is? It’s like they’re trying to create an accident. And of course a cop was in his car so nobody was really salmoning making it more interesting.

Criticism aside, I did notice the PP running speed traps on GWP this weekend. One was down by the south side of the airport where they always sit except the cop kept his car back out of sight and somewhat hid behind a sign. The other was even more clever and was sitting underneath the bridge right by 395–somewhere I have never seen them before. So at least they’re trying to slow folks down.

[dbb]

@Terpfan 24190 wrote:

Criticism aside, I did notice the PP running speed traps on GWP this weekend. One was down by the south side of the airport where they always sit except the cop kept his car back out of sight and somewhat hid behind a sign. The other was even more clever and was sitting underneath the bridge right by 395–somewhere I have never seen them before. So at least they’re trying to slow folks down.

Maybe they could turn the speed camera on that is just south of the Gravelly Point turnoff (north of DCA)! Sending $50 tickets to those with whom we share the road might slow them down.

[Terpfan]

@dbb 24195 wrote:

Maybe they could turn the speed camera on that is just south of the Gravelly Point turnoff (north of DCA)! Sending $50 tickets to those with whom we share the road might slow them down.

Unless it’s a mobile camera, people will adjust accordingly to it. Of course I don’t trust those things that much. I got a red light ticket many years back on Connecticut Avenue in Kensington during a thunderstorm with traffic at a near-standstill and all because I had a dump truck behind me who was skidding trying to stop. I took it to court and the judge said, I understand but you still have the ticket. C’est le vie.

[DaveK]

@Terpfan 24206 wrote:

Unless it’s a mobile camera, people will adjust accordingly to it. Of course I don’t trust those things that much. I got a red light ticket many years back on Connecticut Avenue in Kensington during a thunderstorm with traffic at a near-standstill and all because I had a dump truck behind me who was skidding trying to stop. I took it to court and the judge said, I understand but you still have the ticket. C’est le vie.

Speed cameras = I’m constantly staring at my speedometer to make sure I don’t exceed the limit and not looking at anything in front of me.

I completely support red light cameras when the appropriate discretion is applied in cases like yours but I’m not a fan of speed cameras. Just one more thing competing for drivers’ attention.

[mstone]

Alternatively, you could just slow down. No offence, but when people routinely exceed the speed limit by a significant margin (which does statistically kill people) and then complain that speed cameras make things less safe or are a money grab, it’s BS. The problem is that it’s a cultural norm to ignore speed limits (and kill people) and it’s hard to change that culture.

[Terpfan]

@mstone 24221 wrote:

Alternatively, you could just slow down. No offence, but when people routinely exceed the speed limit by a significant margin (which does statistically kill people) and then complain that speed cameras make things less safe or are a money grab, it’s BS. The problem is that it’s a cultural norm to ignore speed limits (and kill people) and it’s hard to change that culture.

Theoretically speaking I think you’re right, but the where they place some of those cameras in the middle of roads bisecting cemetaries makes me think it’s more about money. Of course, one would think if they are about safety than they would also give us some anti-harassment laws, but maybe I’m dreaming.. ha.

[mstone]

Slowing the nominal top speed by 25% would do more for safety than any number of harassment laws.

[Author]

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