Gordon Chaffin is a freelance journalist who focuses on infrastructure and traffic news and insights for Street Justice. You can support independent journalism by subscribing to Gordon’s Street Justice newsletter: He’s offering a 20% discount to THIH readers. See more information below. –Maria Helena Carey
DC’s Independence Day Fireworks on the National Mall. (Gordon Chaffin/StreetJustice.news)
Alexandria Board Muddles Motion on Seminary Road
At 12:15 AM Tuesday morning, more than four hours into their meeting, Alexandria’s Traffic and Parking Board passed an ad hoc motion to support the continuance of four car travel lanes on Seminary Road. The Board, staffed by political appointees ignorant of transportation policy basics like induced demand, set aside the expert recommendations of City Staff and the vast majority of stakeholder testimony in favor of a fleshed out design with superior pedestrian and bike facilities. Starting in the eleven o’clock hour, Board members starting planning Seminary Road changes out of thin air with individual motions. Making a mockery of the months-long public input process, non-experts grasped for a chimeric way out of the zero-sum choices Alexandria has within public space right-of-way on Seminary. [Full Story]
Montgomery County Joins DC with Micro Transit
Last Wednesday, Montgomery County launched “Ride On Flex,” an on-demand, microtransit service the County will operate in limited geographic areas and hours of operation. This comes on the heels of DC’s new microtransit service — “DC MicroTransit” —operating now in a section of Northeast Ward 4 and North Ward 5. Ride On Flex is a one-year pilot — June 2019 to June 2020 — and it is Montgomery’ County’s 3rd transit service, with a fourth coming in 2020. It looks like DC and Montgomery County are taking different tactical approaches to their pilots. [Full Story]
Takoma Residents ask DC to *Remove* a Bus Shelter
On Monday night, a majority of ANC 4B passed a resolution asking DDOT to remove the bus shelter at 6134 New Hampshire Avenue NE. This resolution was spurred by the resident of the detached home at the address. The resident submitted pictures of bus riders sitting on her front yard’s retaining wall and steps. These seem to be people going about their day, using private property in the most respectful way possible. The resident’s home, a 2,800 sq ft townhouse built in 2014, is currently listed for sale at $879,000. The listing does not mention the home’s proximity to public transit, nor the bus lines accessed by that bus stop on a major DC arterial road. [Full Story]
DDOT Reverses on Connecticut Avenue NW
On Tuesday evening June 25th, DDOT presented its plans to complete two big changes just North of Dupont Circle. The agency will complete a “deckover” of the currently exposed, below-grade Connecticut Avenue section Northwest of the Circle. Also, from Connecticut’s intersection with Q Street NW to California Street, DDOT plans to complete streetscape improvements. Everyone I talked to was upset at the limited changes to Connecticut: no lane reductions, limited curb extensions, only minor sidewalk changes, and no protected bike lanes. Less than 24 hours after the open house, DDOT Director Jeff Marootian announced on Twitter that his agency will add bike facilities to Connecticut Ave in the project area. [Full Story]
This is a daily newsletter produced by Gordon Chaffin, a journalist in Washington DC. I cover transportation & urban planning in DC, MD, & VA to explain what’s happening in the street and why. Reports delivered every weekday afternoon for paid subscribers and Sunday mornings for free subscribers. Sign up for free. Please support my local journalism with $5/mo or $50/yr. The Hill is Home readers can subscribe to Street Justice for a 20% discount