reconfiguration of a major intersection?
before the election last week, ted mcginn, a candidate for an ANC seat in SMD 5C02 brought up some of the things that were discussed at the edgewood civic association meeting that would affect his SMD in the near future.
(ted is also one of the principals behind the bloomingdale farmer's market every sunday.)
anyway, one of the things that was brought up was that ddot was planning to implement a "virtual traffic circle" at the intersection of florida and new york avenues beginning in february of 2009. needless to say, i was rather intrigued, and asked ted for more background. he directed me to this website, which is home to an old corridor study that ddot did for new york avenue from mt. vernon square all the way to the maryland line, where one can find the map below (modified with a few corporate logos by yours truly):
if this map is correct, florida avenue will be turned one-way westbound (towards U street) from the eastern end of the ATF building over to the XM building. eastbound traffic (towards trinidad and gallaudet) will be routed onto 1st street NE, then will have to make a left turn onto the short stretch of O street that is usually used as a loop for current eastbound florida avenue traffic to get onto eastbound new york avenue.
the site says this is a "temporary" solution, but it appears that a final solution for redesigning this intersection hasn't been agreed on. leave a comment and let everyone know what you think about this. i, for one, am not a big fan of one-way traffic, as it seems to make roads more apt to be racetracks. of course, eastbound traffic would be doing anything but racing through this redesign...
8 comments:
Isn't it amazing that something so simple as an underpass, which would solve the entire problem, is now beyond the resources of the US (or at least DC)? Think how many underpass/overpasses were built during the 1940's-1980's - now labor costs, threat of litigation, the layers of management oversight seem have taken such "grandiose" solutions off the table.
In any case the current configuration of the intersection is so dreadful that I'd support just about anything to fix it. My morning commute is Bloomingdale to PG County, and lately I've been eyeing RI Avenue as an alternative.
Truxton Circle to UMD going up RI isn't that bad of a commute. I personally like the idea of tunneling 395 out to 9th st NE that is mentioned.
The 40s/50s underpass/overpass enthusiasm was entirely due to our love affair with the automobile. While an underpass would be a simple solution FOR CARS, it would seriously impact this neighborhood's liveability. For human beings to live harmoniously in close proximity, the ground plane must be preserved. It's not just a matter of aesthetics and neighborliness, it's also a big pedestrian safety issue. And without pedestrians, there's no street life. What's a city without THAT?
This traffic pattern should have been implemented long ago. There are still some major flaws (eg access from Florida Av westbound to Eckington Place) that only a real circle could solve, but because the city let ATF build right on top of the intersection, the land required to build one is no longer available.
Speaking of ATF, I find it amusing that a person cannot stand on the sidewalk - or even in the street - next to the building and smoke a cigarette, but two feet further, occupants of the thousands of cars which stream (or slog) past can engage in all sorts of activities - including, of course, igniting legal substances.
The 40s/50s underpass/overpass enthusiasm was entirely due to our love affair with the automobile. While an underpass would be a simple solution FOR CARS, it would seriously impact this neighborhood's liveability. For human beings to live harmoniously in close proximity, the ground plane must be preserved. It's not just a matter of aesthetics and neighborliness, it's also a big pedestrian safety issue. And without pedestrians, there's no street life. What's a city without THAT?
This traffic pattern should have been implemented long ago. There are still some major flaws (eg access from Florida Av westbound to Eckington Place) that only a real circle could solve, but because the city let ATF build right on top of the intersection, the land required to build one is no longer available.
Speaking of ATF, I find it amusing that a person cannot stand on the sidewalk - or even in the street - next to the building and smoke a cigarette, but two feet further, occupants of the thousands of cars which stream (or slog) past can engage in all sorts of activities - including, of course, igniting legal substances.
DuPont Circle has an underpass as do other DC traffic circles yet wo calls for their elimination or says today theuy were wrong to build.
Likewise with urban railways
We need a good design for a tunneled extension of I-395!
http://wwwtripwithinthebeltway.blogspot.com/2009/01/i-395-extension.html
Here's the history of all of the old plans, plus my superior alternative:
http://wwwtripwithinthebeltway.blogspot.com/2009/01/i-395-extension.html
that alternative is only superior if you consider tearing down houses and ensuring more automobile traffic as the highest goal.
sorry, i do not permit ad hominem attacks against others, doug, and i do not cotton to conspiracy theories.
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