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District of Columbia

Started by Alex, April 07, 2009, 01:22:25 PM

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machpost

Quote from: AlexandriaVA on July 06, 2016, 10:24:54 AM
I wonder if they would (could?) rebuild the span as not a drawbridge. Can't remember any time in my lifetime that the drawbridge was raised, and I don't see any future need for it to raise. I presume it would save money as well.

That Post article mentions that the drawspan hasn't been opened since 1961. So it would appear that there's no need for the drawbridge mechanism to be maintained.


1995hoo

Quote from: machpost on July 06, 2016, 10:44:59 AM
Quote from: AlexandriaVA on July 06, 2016, 10:24:54 AM
I wonder if they would (could?) rebuild the span as not a drawbridge. Can't remember any time in my lifetime that the drawbridge was raised, and I don't see any future need for it to raise. I presume it would save money as well.

That Post article mentions that the drawspan hasn't been opened since 1961. So it would appear that there's no need for the drawbridge mechanism to be maintained.

It's not necessary to have the drawspan because the two upstream spans at the 14th Street Bridge (HOV and SB spans) are fixed spans, as is the Roosevelt Bridge. So there's pretty much no reason why the Memorial Bridge drawspan would ever open again.

I read something a few months ago that indicated they would permanently disable it, but that to remove it altogether and rebuild it would be insanely expensive.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

AlexandriaVA

Come to think of it, I think the South Capital Street Bridge (d/b/a Douglass Bridge) will be rebuilt without a drawbridge mechanism, which was the impetus for removing Display Ship Barry from the Washington Navy Yard.

froggie

That was part of it.  The other part was that the Navy and the Navy Yard were becoming increasingly disinterested in maintenance of the old Barry.

AlexandriaVA

Quote from: froggie on July 06, 2016, 03:52:24 PM
That was part of it.  The other part was that the Navy and the Navy Yard were becoming increasingly disinterested in maintenance of the old Barry.

Sad...an influx of myopic twits will inhabit the Navy Yard area, without any knowledge of its industrial past.

1995hoo

Technically the current bridge is a swing bridge, rather than a drawbridge, but your point remains valid.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

machpost

Quote from: froggie on July 06, 2016, 03:52:24 PM
That was part of it.  The other part was that the Navy and the Navy Yard were becoming increasingly disinterested in maintenance of the old Barry.

If I'm not mistaken, the Barry was towed away to be scrapped a few months ago.

1995hoo

Quote from: machpost on July 11, 2016, 01:09:17 PM
Quote from: froggie on July 06, 2016, 03:52:24 PM
That was part of it.  The other part was that the Navy and the Navy Yard were becoming increasingly disinterested in maintenance of the old Barry.

If I'm not mistaken, the Barry was towed away to be scrapped a few months ago.

Correct.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

cpzilliacus

Dr. Gridlock of the Washington Post had an online discussion today, and several entries were about the (lack of) District of Columbia traffic law enforcement
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

cpzilliacus

WTOP Radio: Do you know which freeway you're on?

QuoteIt's the District's busiest road, yet most drivers don't even seem to know its name.

QuoteThe Southeast-Southwest Freeway is technically two separate interstates, Interstate 395 and Interstate 695, which join together near South Capitol Street. WTOP conducted an unofficial survey at an I-695 off-ramp along 6th Street SE to find out what drivers on the busy freeway call it.

QuoteWTOP questioned 53 people between noon and 5 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 10.

QuoteWhen asked how they refer to the road that they just exited from, more than half of the drivers, 56 percent, misidentified it as I-395 or didn't know. About 24 percent correctly identified it as I-695. Roughly one in six drivers referred to it by its colloquial name, the Southeast-Southwest Freeway.
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

cpzilliacus

Washington Post: After persistent fraud, District is readying reform of disabled parking

QuoteMotorists have been abusing disabled parking permits in the District for more than 15 years, and city officials haven't been able to stop them.

QuoteNow, after consulting for more than a year with advocates for people with disabilities, business groups and others, city officials are finalizing an overhaul they think can prevent the cheating and save reserved parking spaces for those who truly need them.

QuoteOfficials would dramatically scale back the reserved parking system for the disabled, focusing on areas in the city's center where they think the need is greatest. And, taking a cue from efforts to fight such fraud in other cities, people with disability parking placards would no longer be able to park free downtown.
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

AlexandriaVA

#686
The Arlington approach to it is "All may park, all must pay", as in, while they will reserve certain street parking spaces for the disabled, they don't let you park for free due to your disability.

After reading the article, just saw this:

QuoteArlington County, Va., and Philadelphia are among the jurisdictions that slashed abuse by making all parkers pay. Within months of the change, disability-placard usage dropped from 30 percent of all metered spaces in Philadelphia to about 7 percent, indicating either a health "miracle"  or a reduction in fraud, officials there said.

froggie

They should've done this the last time parking policy was revised (within the past few years).

cpzilliacus

Quote from: froggie on August 15, 2016, 09:44:16 AM
They should've done this the last time parking policy was revised (within the past few years).

A lot of those handicapped hang tags are, I believe, fraudulently used in the District of Columbia. 

Either out-and-out counterfeit, or issued to someone other than the user. 

The D.C. parking ticket writers do not seem to pay much attention, and they probably cannot do much about it anyway.
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

froggie

If the Arlington experience is any indication, that fraudulent use will diminish significantly when/if they required handicapped users to feed the meters.

oscar

Quote from: froggie on August 15, 2016, 08:38:33 PM
If the Arlington experience is any indication, that fraudulent use will diminish significantly when/if they required handicapped users to feed the meters.

But some of the handicapped users will complain that because of their disabilities, they can't feed the meters. The most interesting excuse I've heard is from one guy who said his fingers could not grip a credit card to slide it into and out of a reader. (Which might be true, but there are other ways to pay for parking, such as by smartphone, at least in D.C.)
my Hot Springs and Highways pages, with links to my roads sites:
http://www.alaskaroads.com/home.html

AlexandriaVA

Quote from: oscar on August 15, 2016, 08:47:43 PM
Quote from: froggie on August 15, 2016, 08:38:33 PM
If the Arlington experience is any indication, that fraudulent use will diminish significantly when/if they required handicapped users to feed the meters.

But some of the handicapped users will complain that because of their disabilities, they can't feed the meters. The most interesting excuse I've heard is from one guy who said his fingers could not grip a credit card to slide it into and out of a reader. (Which might be true, but there are other ways to pay for parking, such as by smartphone, at least in D.C.)

And yet, they're perfectly able to operate the various elements of their automobile!  :sombrero:

cpzilliacus

Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

cpzilliacus

WTOP Radio: Why is traffic still so terrible? Welcome to the "˜September surge'

QuoteForget "Terrible Traffic Tuesday"  – the term long used by D.C.-area commuters to describe the crush of traffic on the first day of work after Labor Day.

QuoteThe phenomenon of congested D.C. roadways and frustrated drivers has now stretched into a monthlong commuting headache for many. Welcome to the "September surge."

QuoteThe reasons for the troublesome traffic are fairly self-evident: The kids are back to school; Congress is back in session and motorcade season is in full swing, and some tourists unfamiliar with local roadways are still in town.

Quote"I think what we've seen is the evolution of the "˜terrible traffic Tuesday' into the September surge,"  said Jim Battagliese, WTOP's director of traffic and transit operations.
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

cpzilliacus

Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

ixnay

Quote from: cpzilliacus on September 26, 2016, 11:53:00 PM
Letter to the Editor in the Washington Post: The D.C. region will pay a steep price for deferring maintenance on its roads and rails

He probably knows, having as he has been the head of Metro and Amtrak in his career.

ixnay
The Washington/Baltimore/Arlington CSA has two Key Bridges, a Minnesota Avenue, and a Mannasota Avenue.

cpzilliacus

WTOP Radio: Traffic officers, signal retiming no match for crush of DC traffic

QuoteAbout 75 percent of D.C. traffic lights have been adjusted recently to improve the flow of traffic, but it has not been enough to address some major congestion.

Quote"The streets of Washington are in gridlock these days,"  said Councilmember Jack Evans, who represents Ward 2.

Quote"It's a combination of a lot: Beach Drive being closed, Metro not working like it should, special events, who knows, people driving more. Do we have any thoughts both cosmetically and practically?"  Evans asked District Department of Transportation Director Leif Dormsjo at a D.C. Council roundtable this week.
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

1995hoo

That WTOP article mentions the traffic control officers. I've seen plenty of people either ignoring them or arguing with them. Last week I was walking to the Metro and at the intersection of 19th & L one of the traffic control officers told a jaywalker to get back on the sidewalk (the light was about to turn) and the jaywalker started cursing and acting like "who the hell do you think you are." (In case anyone might wonder, the jaywalker was a white woman who appeared to be in her late 20s and the traffic control officer was a black woman who appeared to be 10 to 15 years older.) My reaction was, "Good for the traffic control officer."

The traffic has definitely been worse these past couple of weeks than in past years. I don't know whether it's due to Metrorail's problems, ruder drivers, frustration with the traffic causing more illegal behavior, or (most likely, in my view) all of the above plus other factors. I was driving this week because I was working longer hours, going in early and coming home later, and I've noticed there seems to be a lot more rude behavior just for the sake of being rude. It's like people are so conditioned to have the MFFY attitude that they act that way even when there's no reason for it. The other thing I REALLY don't understand is how people get outraged when you honk at them. If you don't move within a few seconds of the light going green, then I'm going to beep my horn because I assume you're not paying attention; if you then do it again at the next light, I will honk the horn (as opposed to beeping it). Some people become enraged even at the beep of the horn. Yesterday afternoon I could see the guy in front of me playing with his phone, and when he didn't move I beeped the horn; he then proceeded to give me the finger and to try to brake-check me multiple times before we even reached the light. WTF??? Your little text message does not get priority over the rest of us getting through the green light!

The parking enforcement needs to do more to deal with the delivery trucks blocking lanes during rush hours. Plenty of downtown streets have no-parking restrictions during the afternoon rush hour until 6:30, but it's hardly unusual on a three-lane street to find both the right and left lanes blocked by trucks, choking everyone down to a single lane.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

cpzilliacus

#698
Quote from: 1995hoo on September 30, 2016, 06:04:56 PM
That WTOP article mentions the traffic control officers. I've seen plenty of people either ignoring them or arguing with them. Last week I was walking to the Metro and at the intersection of 19th & L one of the traffic control officers told a jaywalker to get back on the sidewalk (the light was about to turn) and the jaywalker started cursing and acting like "who the hell do you think you are." (In case anyone might wonder, the jaywalker was a white woman who appeared to be in her late 20s and the traffic control officer was a black woman who appeared to be 10 to 15 years older.) My reaction was, "Good for the traffic control officer."

In my fantasy world, the people directing traffic at D.C. intersections would be armed Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers, not the DDOT Traffic Control Officers.

Additionally, the  MPD would re-establish its Traffic Branch (shuttered during one of the terms of late former Mayor-for-Life Marion Shepilov Barry, Jr.) to supply traffic officers to do traffic directing, general traffic enforcement, crash investigation (especially those crashes with serious injury or death), commercial vehicle enforcement; and tactical targeting of crotch rocket motorcycles, dirt bikes, "hoopdie" cars and "summer" cars (the goal being to get such vehicles off the streets and ownership forfeited, and in some cases their operators led away in handcuffs). 

The Traffic Branch  would also be involved in efforts to make D.C. streets safer for bikes and  pedestrians (in  spite of much talk about this, I get the impression that most MPD officers have little interest in the subject).

Quote from: 1995hoo on September 30, 2016, 06:04:56 PM
The traffic has definitely been worse these past couple of weeks than in past years. I don't know whether it's due to Metrorail's problems, ruder drivers, frustration with the traffic causing more illegal behavior, or (most likely, in my view) all of the above plus other factors. I was driving this week because I was working longer hours, going in early and coming home later, and I've noticed there seems to be a lot more rude behavior just for the sake of being rude. It's like people are so conditioned to have the MFFY attitude that they act that way even when there's no reason for it. The other thing I REALLY don't understand is how people get outraged when you honk at them. If you don't move within a few seconds of the light going green, then I'm going to beep my horn because I assume you're not paying attention; if you then do it again at the next light, I will honk the horn (as opposed to beeping it). Some people become enraged even at the beep of the horn. Yesterday afternoon I could see the guy in front of me playing with his phone, and when he didn't move I beeped the horn; he then proceeded to give me the finger and to try to brake-check me multiple times before we even reached the light. WTF??? Your little text message does not get priority over the rest of us getting through the green light!

The above are examples of "D.C. driving with an attitude," which  in some cases comes pretty close to what could result in  a reckless driving  charge if observed by police  in Virginia.

Quote from: 1995hoo on September 30, 2016, 06:04:56 PM
The parking enforcement needs to do more to deal with the delivery trucks blocking lanes during rush hours. Plenty of downtown streets have no-parking restrictions during the afternoon rush hour until 6:30, but it's hardly unusual on a three-lane street to find both the right and left lanes blocked by trucks, choking everyone down to a single lane.

The D.C. Department of Public Works (DCDPW) Parking Enforcement operation was established by the late former Mayor-for-Life in his first term, in 1979 or 1980 for two reasons:

(1) to collect more parking fine revenue from non-D.C. residents; and
(2) to provide more D.C. municipal employment.

Note that traffic congestion relief or traffic control is not on the list above, though sometimes the DCDPW does ticket and even  tow vehicles that are blocking traffic.
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

ARMOURERERIC

If Trump wins maybe he can undo the executive order against DC freeways.



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