* Reconfigure all traffic signals to allow bikes time to get through intersections before vehicle traffic gets a green light (the bikes and the pedestrian "walk" signals would go green first, followed then by the vehicular greens).
The "very preliminary" cost estimates for the options developed by the study come in around the $450,000 range according to the document, but it must be remembered that this is a study, and not the final plans, and the numbers could go up or down.
There apparently were some business owners at the BID meeting who were displeased with the plans, centering mainly around the traffic implications of the loss of one lane in each direction, which during rush hour and ballpark events are travel lanes and which are parking for customers/workers/residents/etc. the rest of the time.
This could especially be an issue during events at
Nationals Park, a scenario which isn't mentioned at all in the feasibility study and which has the Nationals particularly concerned (as apparently voiced by the Nats' Gregory McCarthy at the briefing), since it's not out of the realm of possibility (my words, not theirs) that attendance at the ballpark could rise substantially if the team's fortunes improve, making the backups that are seen when the stadium is sold out--such as during the Red Sox series this summer--considerably worse.
There's been no meeting with ANC 6D commissioners yet about this, though reportedly one is coming soon. I've got a request in to Tommy Wells's office for more information (and what better time to ask a question like that than right around Thanksgiving), so no doubt there is much more to come.
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w says: (Nov 30, 2009 04:55 PM)
DC is a real city and many many people here do not drive and are NOT auto-oriented-use transit, walk, bicycle- and we desperately need better bicycle infrastructure .There is no reason to fight this excellent idea.
JM says: (Dec 2, 2009 02:28 PM)
JD-
Does the news that there will be no "groundbreakings" in DC regarding new properties refer also to any projects such as the Yards, where there are existing buildings that are having additions built on to them or re-done in the inside, etc? Or does it only refer to buildings that have yet to have any ground broken on them? I'm just wondering if there has been any word on any of the commercial projects in Near Southeast as of late? When I attended the Capitol Riverfront BID picnic and neighborhood tour over the summer, the gal giving the tour said that some of the buildings that make up the Yards will begin heavy construction in early 2010.
JD says: (Dec 2, 2009 03:55 PM)
I went to Forest City at the time to ask about what the BID folks were telling people at that picnic/tour, and Forest City wouldn't confirm any plans for the start of construction on any projects. They told me they were hoping to be able to have an announcement soon, but that was back in late September.
So, as of now, I don't know of any projects that would get underway any time soon, except perhaps Phase 2 of Capitol Quarter and maybe the mixed-income apartment building to be built by the Housing Authority at 7th and L, if the bond sale happens. The only commercial project that looked like a possibility in 2010--Akridge Half Street--has made no moves that I've seen toward any groundbreakings. Maybe the second half of 2010 will see some movement, but nothing that can really be foreseen right now.
E says: (Dec 3, 2009 02:20 PM)
Apparently, SWNA meeting on November 23 (reported on page 3 in the Southwester
link mention was made of the Yards, although it isn't in Southwest.
JM says: (Dec 4, 2009 12:52 PM)
Hey E Street, your link didn't work.
Andy says: (Dec 4, 2009 03:26 PM)
JM, take the parenthesis off the end of E's link in the address bar after you click on it. That's how I got it to work for me.
Andy says: (Dec 5, 2009 08:24 AM)
Hurray! It's a good thing to city's leadership is pushing for this - long over due improvements to ensure cyclist's safety and still allow flow of traffic.
JM says: (Dec 7, 2009 09:55 AM)
Thanks, Andy. E Street, good stuff in that newsletter. Thanks for posting the link. Sounds like a representative from Forest City is saying similar things that the BID did a few months ago. Construction is going to start back up after the New Year and also there will be some announcements in the next few months on restaurants that will be going into a restaurant pavillion (can't remember which building, maybe the Boilermaker Shop).
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