Georgetown 2028 Plan

[peterw_diy]

@PotomacCyclist 72244 wrote:

The Georgetown BID would also like to restore the C&O towpath. One of the pictures shows a wider, paved path, instead of the narrow dirt trail.

Pave the towpath? Nooooooooo!!!!!! Please, no!!!!

[rcannon100]

Wont get past historic preservation.

Its retail market share has declined as other parts of D.C. — Gallery Place, 14th Street, Columbia Heights — have boomed.

A case study in smart growth. G’Town adamantly refused a subway stop, believing that it would bring riff-raff to the hippest part of town. This is why the closest station is foggy bottom. Now… they are a transportation wasteland with the monument to dumbgrowth: the whitehurst freeway.

[PotomacCyclist]

That’s actually a myth about the refusal to add a Metro station.

http://wamu.org/news/13/12/05/a_metro_station_in_georgetown_it_could_finally_happen_0

[rcannon100]

I hate to say it, but one article in WAMU does not substantiate that it is a myth. I was here when the subway was built. Everyone said G’Town was insane for not taking the subway. There were maps that had it going through, if I am not mistaken. But G’Town was THE night spot then of rich white people.

It sounds like revisionist history to me. I would like to some actual evidence that G’Town was snubbed by WMATA as opposed to G’Town refused WMATa.

[lordofthemark]

@rcannon100 72268 wrote:

I hate to say it, but one article in WAMU does not substantiate that it is a myth. I was here when the subway was built. Everyone said G’Town was insane for not taking the subway. There were maps that had it going through, if I am not mistaken. But G’Town was THE night spot then of rich white people.

It sounds like revisionist history to me. I would like to some actual evidence that G’Town was snubbed by WMATA as opposed to G’Town refused WMATa.

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/423/georgetown-never-blocked-metro-stop/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgetown,_Washington,_D.C.#Transportation

There was opposition in the neighborhood, but apparently metro never seriously considered it due to grade issues. The proposed new line would run somewhat farther north, and would presumably be different from engineering perspective.

[jrenaut]

There are a couple reasons I never go to Georgetown: Lack of transit; narrow, over-crowded sidewalks; and d-bags. Did I punctuate that correctly? Who cares.

[mstone]

@rcannon100 72268 wrote:

I hate to say it, but one article in WAMU does not substantiate that it is a myth. I was here when the subway was built. Everyone said G’Town was insane for not taking the subway. There were maps that had it going through, if I am not mistaken. But G’Town was THE night spot then of rich white people.

It sounds like revisionist history to me. I would like to some actual evidence that G’Town was snubbed by WMATA as opposed to G’Town refused WMATa.

It’s documented in a number of places. Check the bibliography in The Great Society Subway. The metro plans were being drawn up as early as the late 50s and early 60s. The Kennedys had moved in, but Georgetown wasn’t exactly what it is today. If you compare their Georgetown houses to, say, Hickory Hill you might get the impression that they were slumming it a bit–they just happened to like the neighborhood. The real reasons there’s no metro in georgetown are the geology (they’d have to go deep under the river, then have an enormous elevator/escalator to the top of the hill to get to the center of the town) and the fact that in the early 60s there weren’t enough projected trips to justify a station. Even today if one goes in there, it will be as a side effect of putting in a tunnel for other reasons rather than driven by georgetown itself. (And I’d be mildly surprised if it does happen, because the price tag will pretty steep.)

Yes, there were socialites who lobbied against metro, but that seems to have been more self-aggrandizement than reality.

[dasgeh]

@PotomacCyclist 72244 wrote:

Long-term goals include a Metro station and a gondola between Georgetown and Rosslyn. Those may or may not happen at all. Same with a proposed streetcar line and a bike/ped bridge between Georgetown and Roosevelt Island.

Shorter-term projects include less expensive upgrades and changes like more bike racks and ground-floor retail. The Georgetown BID would also like to restore the C&O towpath. One of the pictures shows a wider, paved path, instead of the narrow dirt trail.

Thanks. This is great stuff. I still think they should implement a one-way system, where M would be one-way eastbound and N one-way westbound. That would free up space on M for better sidewalks and real cycling facilities: imagine M street where the brick sidewalks stay, but all impediments, poles, etc on them are moved out. Then the curb slopes down to a cycletrack (one on each side, so one way), possibly with bike parking and other “impediments” better moving bikes and peds, then poles, etc between moving bikes and the street. On the other side of those light poles are the cars…

The prospect of a bridge to Roosevelt Island and on to Virginia is interesting. It could be an alternative to the TR Bridge (especially if it’s built on the eastern end of Gtown). That would be AWESOME!

[PotomacCyclist]

I’m puzzled by one item. Aren’t bikes currently prohibited from Roosevelt Island? I read that somewhere. I’ve never actually visited the island, though I’ve passed by many times.

[mstone]

@PotomacCyclist 72314 wrote:

I’m puzzled by one item. Aren’t bikes currently prohibited from Roosevelt Island? I read that somewhere. I’ve never actually visited the island, though I’ve passed by many times.

If you take the bridge, you’re on Roosevelt Island…

[TwoWheelsDC]

@PotomacCyclist 72314 wrote:

I’m puzzled by one item. Aren’t bikes currently prohibited from Roosevelt Island? I read that somewhere. I’ve never actually visited the island, though I’ve passed by many times.

http://www.nps.gov/this/faqs.htm

Is it possible to bicycle on the Island?

Bicycling is not permitted on Theodore Roosevelt Island. There is a bicycle rack located in the parking lot area next to the Mount Vernon Trail.

[dasgeh]

@PotomacCyclist 72314 wrote:

I’m puzzled by one item. Aren’t bikes currently prohibited from Roosevelt Island? I read that somewhere. I’ve never actually visited the island, though I’ve passed by many times.

When you’re on the TR Bridge you’re on/over Roosevelt Island. I took the write up to mean there would be a bridge where you could walk or bike over to Roosevelt Island and beyond to the TR Island parking lot. They’d either build bike parking on the bridge, or you’d have to bike all the way to the parking lot. Either way, it’d be better than the current TR bridge or Key Bridge, for that matter.

[Author]

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