[Brendan von Buckingham]

Chief Farr should ride a bike up that hill and let me pass him in my SUV. Bet I could change his mind.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

It would be too bad if that company received a bunch of calls for estimates and no one showed up at the appointments.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

Mass disruption protest + excellent PR – flex commuters(stayed home + rode metro + rode bikes) = easiest commute ever.

I didn’t see a single protest. I saw more protesters in front of my house in Arlington Forest. One of the protest boats and its crew pulled up in front of my house around 7:30 am. The “crew” didn’t look very nautical and that oddity caught my attention. I thought maybe it was some school’s sailing team forced to take care of their own stuff.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

Had to ride Florida Avenue from Bladensburg Rd NE to 9th Street NW yesterday and saw the bike lane they installed. What a trash-filled, debris filled, POS. It’s about 30 inches wide and unridable. Between the bollard are horizontal barriers, so once you’re in it you’re in it. No way out and no bail outs. It’s unacceptable even as a temporary measure.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

I drove to work yesterday. I never do that. It was awful, terrible, painful, slow and expensive. $25 to park for the day? At that rate I’ve saved $100,000 over the last 20 years (I know, I know, parking didn’t cost $25/day in 1999, but I’ve been bike commuting since ’93 so it’s a wash). An hour to get to George Mason and 50? I’m home with a beer by then on a normal day. Driving is for suckers and last resorts.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

@Steve O 192201 wrote:

Here’s my math:

– The distance from A to C along the red line is pretty much identical to the distance from A to B along the blue line.
– B is lower than C (at least by eyeball, having ridden this many times; they may be exactly the same, but B is definitely not higher than C).

There’s also a property line involved. The switchback is squeezed into the right of way of the highway so it stays off the property of the United States of America (Banneker Park). On your diagram B to C is on USA property. The ramp (B to A and beyond) is on the other side of the property line and in DC public space.

Why didn’t DC and the Feds coordinate for a better design? Don’t know. Maybe highway funds can only be spent on highway land and the Feds only wanted to pay for a cheap sidewalk and not an expensive elevated ramp.

propertyquest.dc.gov is a good website to see property lines and and property information. Can’t link to it, but it’s easy enough to navigate.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

There’s also a property line involved. The switchback is squeezed into the right of way of the highway so it stays off the property of the United States of America (Banneker Park). On your diagram B to C is on USA property. The ramp (B to A and beyond) is on the other side of the property line and in DC public space.

Why didn’t DC and the Feds coordinate for a better design? Don’t know. Maybe highway funds can only be spent on highway land and the Feds only wanted to pay for a cheap sidewalk and not an expensive elevated ramp.

propertyquest.dc.gov is a good website to see property lines and and property information. Can’t link to it, but it’s easy enough to navigate.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

Sorry for getting lazy with the terminology. Technically it’s an “accessible route” not a ramp (same source, 206.2) and the maximum slope for accessible routes is 1:20 (403.1, 403.3). When you get into ramps at entrances and within buildings you are allowed steeper slopes like 1:12, but those steeper steeper slopes have maximum heights and runs which limit their length and require extra landings and turns. If you have room for 1:20 there is no limit to rise or run so you don’t need a ton of switchbacks like you do for 1:12 and other steeper slopes.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

I was going to list all the reasons why I just use Maine Avenue both inbound and outbound. But you guys have already done that for me.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

Wheelchair ramp maximum slope is 1:20.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

@scoot 192027 wrote:

Apparently there are five additional ped bridges gone?

Two pedestrian bridges over Lubber Run behind the Lubber Run Amphitheater were washed away. That’s just off of Four Mile Run so probably count in that total.

Lubber Run north of 50 is a mess. Route 50 over Lubber Run is actually a really tall causeway with a teeny-tiny culvert at the base for a lazy Lubber Run to pass through. The culvert is about the size of a Mini Cooper. Lubber Run floodwaters bottlenecked here and built up behind the Route 50 causeway like a giant dam. Judging by the debris in the tree branches, the water was probably 20 feet high up above the normal level of Lubber Run.

Parts of the Lubber Run bridges managed to squeeze through the culvert and got hung up at the confluence of Lubber and Four Mile. Between the confluence and the W&OD, Four Mile Run looks like a giant’s game of pick up sticks.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

Edited for update from neighborhood: “Clarification – the pedestrian bridges on the main W&OD trail are ok, some trees block the path just north of the turtle pond, but otherwise good. The bridges off to the side (west side access lots) between 50 and Columbia Pike are completely out – swept away or mangled.”

I live by the two W&OD Bridges on either side of the confluence with Lubber Run. There are several bridges between 50 and Columbia Pike. My neighborhood list serve says “both bridges are out.” I’m at work downtown and can’t investigate, but that would be good to know. They might be talking about some of the miscellaneous pedestrian bridges too. Lubber Run had a bridge swept away behind the amphitheater at Columbus and 2nd St North.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

A logical and rational pro-cyclist segment. Worth a watch. It emphasizes the second part of the question by concluding, no, it doesn’t matter if they think they’re above the law because it’s not a problem. Cars are the problem.

Personally, I’m not above the law, but I also don’t give a priority to the laws that don’t care about me. It’s fruitless to care about laws that most drivers don’t even know, understand or abide by. My laws, in order, that should be everyone’s laws: Don’t kill anyone. Don’t get killed. Don’t hurt anyone. Don’t get hurt. Protect and respect people/things weaker/smaller than you.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

@ChristoB50 191624 wrote:

Just expressing no surprise whatsoever that the C.A. is up in arms “because of cyclists” who exhibit bad behavior, as their most convenient excuse.
The whole universe of cyclists gets painted with the same bad brush in this case. Regardless of the (hopefully larger) set of cyclists fully mindful of the rules and using the trail responsibly; but all of those are forgotten, painting so broadly to justify an action.

Here’s the thing though. Even if you or I could wave a magic wand and get every cyclist to operate according the regs and the Universal Truths of Kindness (TM), the C.A. would still say they want what they want because of all those lawless cyclists.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

I think they fixed it this Saturday by installing a big scrolling text trailer at the end of the sidewalk to tell you that 30-something Street was closed. It was awesome having to dismount and try to waddle over the curb and into traffic instead of using the curb-cut and crosswalk.

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