Interesting article at The Was Cyclist about MD State plans for a vehicular underpass at the Viers Mill & Randolf Road intersection in Montgomery County, Maryland:
https://www.thewashcycle.com/2019/03/moco-deputy-director-says-complete-streets-are-too-expensive-and-too-hard-on-drivers.html
The article is critical of the vehicular underpass proposal, as are the comments that appeared on my computer's screen showing of this Wash Cycle article.
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This
is disappointing to see with Montgomery County claiming to want to
improve cycling and walking throughout the County. Reminds me of the
ICC trail.
This show staff are not serous about Vision Zero.
This show staff are not serous about Vision Zero.
"The
Draft Plan has the goal of recreating Veirs Mill Road as a "complete
street." This concept which would treat the safety and mobility needs of
pedestrians, bicyclists, and motor vehicles more or less equally-is
normally reserved for urban environments where all are moving closer to
the same pace."
A: Even in very dense urban environments this isn't true. I'm definitely getting someplace faster when I bike/drive compared to walking. And biking is really only competitive when traffic is really heavy and I get lucky with lights.
B: And that's the whole point of a complete street. In that case it makes even more sense on a road where you can get up to speed. Making Veirs Mill a perfect candidate for complete streets for the exact reasons its argued that its a bad one.
C: "It's a suburb" is not some magical cantrip you can utter to stop debate on something. If it doesn't work in online comments sections it certainly shouldn't be parroted by actual policy makers.
A: Even in very dense urban environments this isn't true. I'm definitely getting someplace faster when I bike/drive compared to walking. And biking is really only competitive when traffic is really heavy and I get lucky with lights.
B: And that's the whole point of a complete street. In that case it makes even more sense on a road where you can get up to speed. Making Veirs Mill a perfect candidate for complete streets for the exact reasons its argued that its a bad one.
C: "It's a suburb" is not some magical cantrip you can utter to stop debate on something. If it doesn't work in online comments sections it certainly shouldn't be parroted by actual policy makers.
Honestly,
the County and the State are horrible on pedestrian and cycling issues.
And they're surprised that death rates are rising. News flash: you
built traffic sewers that run right through densely populated, mixed use
areas.
This
is not very different from the perspective of DDOT engineers. When it's a
hard choice between safety and car speeds, car speeds win 9 times out
of 10.
As a society, we care much more about driving fast than not killing people.
As a society, we care much more about driving fast than not killing people.
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So I made the comment that appears at the end of the list of published comments. OK. Good. And I even took the opportunity to fill the box for the commentator's url with that of my blog "A Trip Within The Beltway".
http://wwwtripwithinthebeltway.blogspot.com/
OK.
But when I check on the article about 10 minutes later, my comment is absent.
Why might that be?
To help with envisioning such a solution, please look at WDC's DuPont Circle as well as my cir. year 2000 Rt 1/Beltway "Alexandria Orb" proposal.