I rarely recommend reading the comments on WaPo columns, but this might be an exception. Fisher received more than 2,700 comments (now closed) and they included not only well-deserved ridicule but also criticism and analysis far more thoughtful than anything Fisher wrote.
Some points that are worth uplifting: Fisher’s narrative completely erases the existence of people of color, including Black residents, who are advocating for safer streets. Study after study and real-life experience shows that road safety in the US is racially unjust. People who understand this and are advocating accordingly exist, and Fisher is ignoring them.
And his framing that “the people are winning” in the argument over Connecticut Avenue is false. Hundreds of neighbors voiced support for the bike lanes, and 4 out of 4 Advisory Neighborhood Commissions(ANCs) in the project area voted in support. (Ironically, a stereotype with ANCs for years has been that they block street safety projects and new housing; this has been changing in neighborhoods like the ones along Connecticut Avenue precisely because residents got fed up with how unrepresentative and confrontational previous ANCs had been, and voted to elect commissioners who would advocate for the changes desired by a more diverse and forward-looking cross-section of the community.)
I rarely recommend reading the comments on WaPo columns, but this might be an exception. Fisher received more than 2,700 comments (now closed) and they included not only well-deserved ridicule but also criticism and analysis far more thoughtful than anything Fisher wrote.
Some points that are worth uplifting: Fisher’s narrative completely erases the existence of people of color, including Black residents, who are advocating for safer streets. Study after study and real-life experience shows that road safety in the US is racially unjust. People who understand this and are advocating accordingly exist, and Fisher is ignoring them.
And his framing that “the people are winning” in the argument over Connecticut Avenue is false. Hundreds of neighbors voiced support for the bike lanes, and 4 out of 4 Advisory Neighborhood Commissions(ANCs) in the project area voted in support. (Ironically, a stereotype with ANCs for years has been that they block street safety projects and new housing; this has been changing in neighborhoods like the ones along Connecticut Avenue precisely because residents got fed up with how unrepresentative and confrontational previous ANCs had been, and voted to elect commissioners who would advocate for the changes desired by a more diverse and forward-looking cross-section of the community.)
I live in College Park. I'm just off of Route 1 between the Beltway and University Blvd. Inside of University Blvd., they took out the center turn lane, and installed a raised median; you now have to make left and U turns at intersections with turn arrows. In the center of College Park, you can only make U turns at certain intersections. Along with this, they installed a nice green bicycle lane on both sides of the road, from the center of town up to University Blvd. Did it make traffic worse? No. I'd like to see them do that to Route 1, all the way up to the Beltway. What I don't like about riding on Route 1, is from the center of College Park to the Beltway, it's one long, almost 3 mile hill. I'll stick to Rhode Island Avenue and the Trolley Trail. They are flat.
The Ontario government is proposing legislation making it compulsory for municipalities to get permission to construct bike lanes.
It is my experience that private vehicle usage causes traffic congestion and its attendant pollution. I vote for congestion fees and parking restrictions.
Traffic calming, at least as it's done in my city, is a bad idea. We already had a bike lane and pedestrian lane on the boulevard in my neighborhood. I like the pedestrian lane because the sidewalks are rough at best, nonexistent on some blocks, and unusable in winter. When the city installed curb bumpouts for "traffic calming" a few years ago, the pedestrian and bike lanes instantly became more dangerous. Bikes and walkers now have to swerve into the traffic lane at every intersection, so the lane is almost pointless.
Curb bump-outs shorten the crossing distance (and exposure time) for pedestrians. I don't understand how you mean they made the street more dangerous. Do you have Google Streetview you can share or link?
They do shorten the crossing distance slightly, but they also block the pedestrian and bike lanes, which used to be unobstructed. Now walkers and bikes have to skirt around the bump, which puts us in the traffic lane.
Here's the boulevard in Google Streets. You can see how the bump pushes the walker intoo the traffic lane.
I rarely recommend reading the comments on WaPo columns, but this might be an exception. Fisher received more than 2,700 comments (now closed) and they included not only well-deserved ridicule but also criticism and analysis far more thoughtful than anything Fisher wrote.
Some points that are worth uplifting: Fisher’s narrative completely erases the existence of people of color, including Black residents, who are advocating for safer streets. Study after study and real-life experience shows that road safety in the US is racially unjust. People who understand this and are advocating accordingly exist, and Fisher is ignoring them.
And his framing that “the people are winning” in the argument over Connecticut Avenue is false. Hundreds of neighbors voiced support for the bike lanes, and 4 out of 4 Advisory Neighborhood Commissions(ANCs) in the project area voted in support. (Ironically, a stereotype with ANCs for years has been that they block street safety projects and new housing; this has been changing in neighborhoods like the ones along Connecticut Avenue precisely because residents got fed up with how unrepresentative and confrontational previous ANCs had been, and voted to elect commissioners who would advocate for the changes desired by a more diverse and forward-looking cross-section of the community.)
🔥
I rarely recommend reading the comments on WaPo columns, but this might be an exception. Fisher received more than 2,700 comments (now closed) and they included not only well-deserved ridicule but also criticism and analysis far more thoughtful than anything Fisher wrote.
Some points that are worth uplifting: Fisher’s narrative completely erases the existence of people of color, including Black residents, who are advocating for safer streets. Study after study and real-life experience shows that road safety in the US is racially unjust. People who understand this and are advocating accordingly exist, and Fisher is ignoring them.
And his framing that “the people are winning” in the argument over Connecticut Avenue is false. Hundreds of neighbors voiced support for the bike lanes, and 4 out of 4 Advisory Neighborhood Commissions(ANCs) in the project area voted in support. (Ironically, a stereotype with ANCs for years has been that they block street safety projects and new housing; this has been changing in neighborhoods like the ones along Connecticut Avenue precisely because residents got fed up with how unrepresentative and confrontational previous ANCs had been, and voted to elect commissioners who would advocate for the changes desired by a more diverse and forward-looking cross-section of the community.)
I live in College Park. I'm just off of Route 1 between the Beltway and University Blvd. Inside of University Blvd., they took out the center turn lane, and installed a raised median; you now have to make left and U turns at intersections with turn arrows. In the center of College Park, you can only make U turns at certain intersections. Along with this, they installed a nice green bicycle lane on both sides of the road, from the center of town up to University Blvd. Did it make traffic worse? No. I'd like to see them do that to Route 1, all the way up to the Beltway. What I don't like about riding on Route 1, is from the center of College Park to the Beltway, it's one long, almost 3 mile hill. I'll stick to Rhode Island Avenue and the Trolley Trail. They are flat.
The Ontario government is proposing legislation making it compulsory for municipalities to get permission to construct bike lanes.
It is my experience that private vehicle usage causes traffic congestion and its attendant pollution. I vote for congestion fees and parking restrictions.
Traffic calming, at least as it's done in my city, is a bad idea. We already had a bike lane and pedestrian lane on the boulevard in my neighborhood. I like the pedestrian lane because the sidewalks are rough at best, nonexistent on some blocks, and unusable in winter. When the city installed curb bumpouts for "traffic calming" a few years ago, the pedestrian and bike lanes instantly became more dangerous. Bikes and walkers now have to swerve into the traffic lane at every intersection, so the lane is almost pointless.
Curb bump-outs shorten the crossing distance (and exposure time) for pedestrians. I don't understand how you mean they made the street more dangerous. Do you have Google Streetview you can share or link?
They do shorten the crossing distance slightly, but they also block the pedestrian and bike lanes, which used to be unobstructed. Now walkers and bikes have to skirt around the bump, which puts us in the traffic lane.
Here's the boulevard in Google Streets. You can see how the bump pushes the walker intoo the traffic lane.
https://www.google.com/maps/@47.704648,-117.4652193,3a,75y,318.98h,91.72t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sTQH-SU8x8hp66QWyT5AGFA!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D-1.7224193497203402%26panoid%3DTQH-SU8x8hp66QWyT5AGFA%26yaw%3D318.979213078116!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MTExOS4yIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D