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

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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.


Alps

Off topic post removed about carjackings. While they happen on roads, they are unrelated to roads. Please post those in OT, or better yet, don't post them at all.

cpzilliacus

Washington Post: Work to close ramp from Roosevelt Bridge to G.W. Parkway

QuoteThe District Department of Transportation will close a ramp leading from the Teddy Roosevelt Bridge for several hours each day over the next month, which could create headaches for travelers.

QuoteMaintenance work will close the ramp from westbound Interstate 66 to the George Washington Parkway between 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. each day. These closures are scheduled to begin on Monday and will last until Oct. 14, if the weather cooperates.
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:  Breathing easier: Washington, D.C.'s remarkable improvement in air quality

QuoteFor the first time since 2009, and only the second time in the last 16 years, Washington, D.C. had zero code red days for unhealthy air quality in the summer of 2013. This reprieve from suffocating air represents another data point fitting into a a recent trend towards cleaner air.

QuoteThe District had just four days — the lowest since 2009 — that exceeded the "standard"  for ozone (a concentration of 75 parts per billion, ppb). Above the standard, air quality begins to become unhealthy for sensitive groups (older adults, children, and people with respiratory problems), reaching the code orange level.

QuoteOzone forms when air pollutants react on hot, sunny summer days. At high concentrations, ozone can cause respiratory issues, fatigue, headaches, nausea, chest pain, and eye and throat irritation.
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

Summertime weather being a departure from recent years likely played the main factor in that.  Yes, pollution factors in, but weather conditions are the primary culprit.

cpzilliacus

#180
Quote from: froggie on September 30, 2013, 02:01:51 AM
Summertime weather being a departure from recent years likely played the main factor in that.  Yes, pollution factors in, but weather conditions are the primary culprit.

As do massive coal-fired electric generating stations far to the west of D.C. such as Conemaugh,  Kammer, Keystone, Mitchell, Mount Storm, and several others. During the 2003 Northeast Blackout (which did not directly impact D.C., Maryland  and Virginia), air quality markedly and suddenly improved because many of those coal-fired plants, unable to sell power to the Northeast, were shut-down.

But I think the real credit for improved air quality comes down to improved vehicle emission control systems (the fleet gets cleaner every year as it turns over) and to ultra-low-sulfur Diesel fuel, which instantly reduced emissions of all on-highway Diesel engines.
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: New York, D.C.-area workers face longest commutes

QuoteResidents of the nation's financial and governmental centers spend longer getting to and from work than other Americans, according to Census Bureau statistics released earlier this month, in part because they rely more on public transportation than their compatriots in other cities.

QuoteThe data show residents of four of New York City's five boroughs spend more than 40 minutes a day traveling to and from work. Bronx residents take 42.8 minutes every day to get to their places of employment, tops in the nation. And residents of several suburban and exurban counties around Washington, D.C., including Stafford, Fauquier and Prince William counties in Virginia and Charles, Calvert and Prince George's counties, Maryland, also spend nearly 40 minutes a day getting to and from work.
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: Federal shutdown brings new commuting woes for Washington area residents

QuoteWhat Washington area commuters hoped would be a silver lining of a federal government shutdown – a less-frenzied rush hour – didn't materialize for many Wednesday, leaving some to ask: If hundreds of thousands of federal workers stayed home, why was my commute still so bad?

Quote"It was the volume that shocked me,"  said Jean Stoner, who had expected a breeze of a drive between her Arlington County home and her office at the Health Information Services division of 3M, in Bethesda. Eastbound Route 50 and roads through Rosslyn were "incredibly slow and congested,"  she said.
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.

mrsman

In my local neck of the woods here in Silver Spring, I notice no traffic improvement.  I don't usually commute on the expressways.  My usual trouble spots are at the several public and private schools that I pass.  Since school is in session, traffic is bad.

cpzilliacus

Quote from: mrsman on October 08, 2013, 01:42:08 PM
In my local neck of the woods here in Silver Spring, I notice no traffic improvement.  I don't usually commute on the expressways.  My usual trouble spots are at the several public and private schools that I pass.  Since school is in session, traffic is bad.

At some point, this may get some formal research - probably when the (partial) shut-down of the federal government is over.
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: In the shadow of the 11th Street Bridge, locals build a new future for themselves

QuoteMalachi Yisrael stands and speaks before a couple dozen people in the back of a construction trailer just east of the 11th Street Bridge to Anacostia. The room is decorated with white and red balloons. Construction plans and photographs of people in orange work vests cover the walls.

QuoteIt's a graduation ceremony, of sorts, and Yisrael, 39, is one of the commencement speakers.

QuoteHe sports a bright blue plaid button-down shirt, big dreads and a bigger smile, plus a criminal record that starts at age 13. He's just happy to be there. So are the seven graduating students who are part of an innovative training program that puts some of the city's most disadvantaged adults on the engineering side of a construction job site.

QuoteThe program is part of the D.C. Department of Transportation's 11th Street Bridge Project, the most expensive job the department has ever undertaken. On-the-job training programs are mandatory for projects that receive federal funding. They give local residents a chance to learn a skill. Usually, they're for the lowest-paid positions – the hard labor.
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

Didn't know if CP would post this given that he works for MWCOG, but a high-ranking official within MWCOG, Transportation Research Board director of transportation planning Ron Kirby, was found fatally shot at his home in Alexandria.  My thoughts and condolences to the Kirby's and those at MWCOG.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/dc-council-of-governments-official-slain-in-home/2013/11/12/c08d1590-4bb8-11e3-be6b-d3d28122e6d4_story.html

Henry

Quote from: froggie on November 12, 2013, 01:44:14 PM
Didn't know if CP would post this given that he works for MWCOG, but a high-ranking official within MWCOG, Transportation Research Board director of transportation planning Ron Kirby, was found fatally shot at his home in Alexandria.  My thoughts and condolences to the Kirby's and those at MWCOG.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/dc-council-of-governments-official-slain-in-home/2013/11/12/c08d1590-4bb8-11e3-be6b-d3d28122e6d4_story.html
That's horrible! :(
Go Cubs Go! Go Cubs Go! Hey Chicago, what do you say? The Cubs are gonna win today!

cpzilliacus

#188
Quote from: froggie on November 12, 2013, 01:44:14 PM
Didn't know if CP would post this given that he works for MWCOG, but a high-ranking official within MWCOG, Transportation Research Board director of transportation planning Ron Kirby, was found fatally shot at his home in Alexandria.  My thoughts and condolences to the Kirby's and those at MWCOG.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/dc-council-of-governments-official-slain-in-home/2013/11/12/c08d1590-4bb8-11e3-be6b-d3d28122e6d4_story.html

Thanks, Adam.  I posted the words below on Facebook:

QuoteAdam ("Froggie") posted this in the DCROADS.NET Facebook group, but I am posting this article here since the loss of Ron Kirby impacts me directly - he was the longtime senior manager of everyone where I have worked for many years. In addition to understanding long-range transportation planning (and short-range planning, too), he understood the politics of the District of Columbia, Suburban Maryland and Northern Virginia, transportation policy at the federal level, and he also knew how to listen to people while being "aggressively neutral" when dealing with a very diverse cast of people (including many elected officials) and their points of view. Beyond all of that, he was a good manager, respected by his staff, from older set-in-their ways types (like me) to the youngest interns. Everyone on his staff was proud to be able to say that they worked for Ron. As to the circumstances of his death, I know nothing beyond what is being reported by the Washington Post in the article below.

QuoteThe Washington, D.C. area (and the transportation planning profession at the national level) have suffered a terrible loss.

WTOP Radio's story:  Council of Governments official found shot to death in Alexandria home
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

Quote from: froggie on November 12, 2013, 01:44:14 PM
Didn't know if CP would post this given that he works for MWCOG, but a high-ranking official within MWCOG, Transportation Research Board director of transportation planning Ron Kirby, was found fatally shot at his home in Alexandria.  My thoughts and condolences to the Kirby's and those at MWCOG.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/dc-council-of-governments-official-slain-in-home/2013/11/12/c08d1590-4bb8-11e3-be6b-d3d28122e6d4_story.html

Washington Post: Alexandria police asking for help in Ronald Kirby death

QuoteAlexandria police on Thursday asked for help in solving the slaying of 69-year-old Ronald Kirby this week, saying they do not have a person of interest in the death of the prominent regional transportation planner.

Quote"We'd like to have anyone who has any information, who might have been in contact with him in a social way or any other way that they think may bear some information to this investigation – we'd like them to come forward,"  Alexandria Police Chief Earl L. Cook said at a news conference at police headquarters.

QuoteKirby, the director of transportation planning at the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, died Monday after being shot multiple times in the torso, according to authorities, who are investigating the case as a homicide.
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

Quote from: froggie on November 12, 2013, 01:44:14 PM
Didn't know if CP would post this given that he works for MWCOG, but a high-ranking official within MWCOG, Transportation Research Board director of transportation planning Ron Kirby, was found fatally shot at his home in Alexandria.  My thoughts and condolences to the Kirby's and those at MWCOG.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/dc-council-of-governments-official-slain-in-home/2013/11/12/c08d1590-4bb8-11e3-be6b-d3d28122e6d4_story.html

Washington Post op-ed tribute:  RIP Ron Kirby: Region's top transportation expert leaves legacy of a model public servant

QuoteWhen I decided Monday to attend the next day's Montgomery County Council debate about an ambitious new plan for express buses, I immediately reached out to the best person I knew to give me a thorough, fair-minded preview of the project's pluses and minuses.

QuoteBut Ron Kirby never got my e-mail requesting a chat.

QuoteThe Washington region's top expert on its top problem – traffic congestion – had been fatally shot that day in his Alexandria home. No one has been charged in his homicide.

QuoteToday I am one of many journalists, officials, politicians and activists mourning the loss of a man who came as close as anyone I know to being a model public servant.

QuoteKirby, who was 69, was the well-informed, honest broker who won esteem from all sides in the high-stakes battles over roads, transit and land use. He did so by combining a powerful intellect (which earned him a PhD in applied mathematics) with hard work and a cordial, diplomatic manner.
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: Transportation planner Ron Kirby's inquiring mind, sense of fairness remembered

QuoteRonald F. Kirby was remembered Sunday as a man who found beauty in the arcane details of how Washington gets around.

Quote"Ron Kirby was an artist. Ron's canvas was the region,"  said Chuck Bean, executive director of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, where Kirby was the senior transportation planner. Bean spoke to hundreds of mourners gathered at a memorial service at an Alexandria funeral home and an overflow area nearby.

QuoteNeil Kirby recalled his brother's love of cars, including the Alfa Romeo and soft-top Mustang he once drove. Ron, as they'd say in their native Australia, was "a good bloke."

Quote"I couldn't have asked for a better brother,"  he said.

QuoteKirby, 69, was found slain in his Alexandria home Nov. 11, shot multiple times in the torso. A suspect has not been apprehended.

QuoteA photograph of Kirby bear-hugging a koala flashed on a screen to the right of his open casket. To the left was a picture his daughter, Marilyn, painted when she was 12. She had wanted to toss it in the trash, but Kirby insisted on saving it, then proudly had it framed.

QuoteFriends rose from the crowded benches to add their voices.

QuoteOne neighbor recalled a terrifying night when a giant rat appeared in her house while her toddler slept. She called Kirby, who appeared, tennis racket in hand, to handle it. Max Williamson, another neighbor and Kirby's Sunday tennis partner, noted, to laughs, that he "didn't realize how he did his training."

QuoteSince Kirby's death, tributes have been coming in from far beyond Washington, including flowers from the Southern California Association of Governments. Many sent in their condolences.

Quote"He was the most exciting, dynamic, cheerful, witty, fair-minded, and thoughtful human being I have ever had the privilege to know in life,"  wrote James Hogan, a longtime Washington colleague. Hogan recalled how Kirby described his approach to the dense, highly technical and highly charged job of transportation planning among representatives from more than 20 jurisdictions. It took Kirby just two words: "aggressive neutrality."
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

It's a rare day when new streets open in downtown DC. On the way to last night's Caps game, we found two new segments of 10th Street and I Street (both NW) open next to the "City Center" project where the old convention center used to be. They opened sometime within the past week, as they were not open when we went to a game on December 3.

One oddity that might cause some trouble for inattentive drivers: The new segment of 10th Street, which runs between H Street and New York Avenue, is a two-way street, while the portions of 10th north of New York Avenue and south of H Street are both one-way southbound (the segment between Pennsylvania and Constitution is also two-way). It's rather strange to have that short two-block northbound lane on a street that is otherwise southbound-only, but I presume it's to give City Center residents an easy way to exit to New York Avenue–without it, because 9th Street is also one-way southbound they'd have to go around the block in what can be a rather congested area, and going around the block is further complicated by the intersection of 7th & H having a "No Turns" restriction (it's the Barnes Dance intersection).

It might be interesting to see how this changes the traffic flow in that area. We regularly use eastbound New York Avenue in that area en route to Caps games and it's always a nuisance during rush hour (except last night with the government closed) because the lights are horribly timed and can't handle the volume of traffic. You have to stop at every red light on New York and when your light goes green, the next light ahead goes red. Inevitably someone blocks the box. So having a new means of getting around to I Street might, in theory, take some traffic off New York in terms of people heading for Massachusetts Avenue (you can now take 10th, go left on I, and follow that to Massachusetts just east of 5th Street), and it might also relieve New York by eliminating the need for 10th Street traffic to go left on New York in order to access 9th Street to Virginia.

On this map, the new segment of 10th is in green and the new segment of I is in black. Both are two-way streets. I Street does not connect through to 11th Street. Instead, the area shown in red is a pedestrian-only area blocked off with metal bollards at either end (underscored with "Do Not Enter" signs). I would have liked it if they'd finished the street all the way through, as I'd find it to be a very useful route to the parking garage we use for games, but I'm not all that surprised they didn't.

"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.

1995hoo

Following up, two dashcam videos of the new streets noted above. In the first video, we're going eastbound on New York Avenue and we make a right onto the new portion of 10th Street, then a left onto the new portion of I, crossing onto the older portion of I. (On the map this means making a right onto the green stripe, then a left onto the black.) In the second video, we're going the opposite way on I after leaving the parking garage and we go across to 10th and then make a left (across the black stripe and then a left onto the green).

Click thumbnails to play. Neither is all that fascinating, but I thought someone might be interested in the new streets.



"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.

andrewkbrown

#194
On the topic of new streets. A short section of 1st Street NW opened recently between H Street and I Street NW. It had been disconnected by a parking lot (and Google Maps still shows this), and it now runs along the site of one of two new Wal-Mart stores in DC, along with residential units above.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Washington,+DC&hl=en&ll=38.900201,-77.011317&spn=0.00243,0.005284&sll=39.761626,-84.051212&sspn=0.001697,0.003664&oq=was&t=h&hnear=Washington,+District+of+Columbia&z=18&layer=c&cbll=38.900203,-77.012213&panoid=o-oj7DRvfVaPiRrycyL_kQ&cbp=12,19.38,,0,0.66

I'm unsure if the city will ever remove the Jersey barriers where 1st Street NW intersects New Jersey Avenue and Massachusetts Avenue NW now that the new section has opened. My engine company from the New Jersey Avenue and E Street NW firehouse frequently uses 1st Street NW as an alternate running route to avoid N. Capitol Street congestion during rush hours, and a fully opened 1st Street from the intersection northward would work great for us.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Washington,+DC&hl=en&ll=38.898928,-77.011344&spn=0.00243,0.005284&sll=39.761626,-84.051212&sspn=0.001697,0.003664&oq=was&t=h&hnear=Washington,+District+of+Columbia&z=18&layer=c&cbll=38.898887,-77.012351&panoid=wcpir2AT0QE-KwncItFnYg&cbp=12,14.84,,0,5.8
Firefighter/Paramedic
Washington DC Fire & EMS

Alps


cpzilliacus

Quote from: froggie on November 12, 2013, 01:44:14 PM
Didn't know if CP would post this given that he works for MWCOG, but a high-ranking official within MWCOG, Transportation Research Board director of transportation planning Ron Kirby, was found fatally shot at his home in Alexandria.  My thoughts and condolences to the Kirby's and those at MWCOG.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/dc-council-of-governments-official-slain-in-home/2013/11/12/c08d1590-4bb8-11e3-be6b-d3d28122e6d4_story.html

The Alexandria Police are still investigating. 

WTOP Radio:  Fund started as as police ask public for help in Kirby murder case
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

WAMU Radio: Transportation Forecasts Suggests Reducing Car Dependency A Must

QuoteAs the Washington region's population and employment grow, traffic congestion will worsen and the percentage of all daily trips taken using transit will remain at seven percent through 2040, according to a forecast by transportation planners at the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG).

QuoteBut the "financially constrained"  forecast is based on the possibility Congress will not continue to fund Metro's rehabilitation, maintenance, and expansion beyond 2020, leading transit advocates to label it a technical analysis rather than a vision of what policy makers want for the region.

QuoteThe long range transportation forecast combines travel data from three regions: the regional core of D.C., Alexandria, and Arlington; the inner suburbs of Fairfax, Montgomery, and Prince George's Counties; and the outer suburbs of Charles, Frederick, Loudoun, and Prince William Counties.

QuoteWithout substantial investments in mass transit, including Metro's move to using only eight-car trains during rush hours, the number of roadway lane miles that will be congested during the morning commute will increase by 71 percent, the forecast said. The increase in demand on the region's roadways is expected to outpace the supply of new lanes.
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: In NW Washington, Broad Branch Road is neither broad nor sturdy for its load

QuoteRunning for a mile and a half alongside Rock Creek Park, Broad Branch Road is, in many ways, a classic country road in the middle of the city. Narrow and winding, it is tucked among the wooded hills of the park and mid-century homes, a few scattered embassies and the former estate of Marjorie Merriweather Post.

QuotePicturesque as it is, Broad Branch has become a commuter route, carrying thousands of people who use it to bypass Connecticut Avenue and 16th Street in upper Northwest Washington. The signs of age and heavy use are evident. Chunks of the retaining wall that runs along the serpentine creek bed at the park's edge are falling off. The road – marked with potholes and worn edges – frequently floods. And pedes­trians and bicyclists complain that there's no room for them on the stretch of shoulderless road, as it runs from Linnean Avenue to Beach Drive.
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: Nearly 100 D.C. traffic cameras to start ticketing

QuoteWASHINGTON - For the last month, drivers were getting warnings, but starting on Monday the nearly 100 newly installed traffic cameras around the District will start issuing tickets.

QuoteSeven types of new traffic cameras installed across the city will automatically ticket drivers for violations if they run a red light; speed; run a stop sign; don't give a pedestrian the right of way; block a traffic intersection or speed through one; or if they have an over-sized vehicle on a restricted street.
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.



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