Awesome. I am jealous but good for them completing the streets.

by NikolasM on Nov 19, 2008 5:39 pm • link • report

Well, we may get her sooner than you think! I hear she is on the short list to be DOT Secretary...

by Lilly on Nov 19, 2008 5:55 pm • link • report

Because things in this city move sloowwwwllllyyyy

We're not unique in that respect, so I'm by no means disparaging the city... in fact in other places I've lived, their DOT doesn't even try, lacks any meaningful funding, and/or are wedded to cars.

by SG on Nov 19, 2008 6:26 pm • link • report

Tangherlini is great for planning and Catoe should be good for busses, but neither are that clued into sustainable pedestrian design. They also aren't as pragmatic as she. She makes messy solutions that prove that they work, rather than making things perfect and waiting for every board to make an aesthetic approval.

by The King of Spain on Nov 19, 2008 6:56 pm • link • report

I don't own a car and probably never will but I'd have to be sympathetic to motorists vis-a-vis the Summer Streets program. As much as cars should accommodate pedestrians and cyclists, I think cars deserve space too, after all streets are for people to get around. While I'm on the subject, marathons should be 104 laps around a college track and I cast a skeptical eye on parades too.

by Steve on Nov 19, 2008 7:14 pm • link • report

Plus, that's a lot of leg she's showing. She could be the sexiest cabinet official since Lloyd Bentson.

by David C on Nov 19, 2008 10:38 pm • link • report

I'd love to have her as DOT secretary, if not that, I wish we could steal her from NYC but that ain't happenin'.

by Vik on Nov 19, 2008 10:49 pm • link • report

That Summer Streets program sounds like a great idea. Maybe we could do that here next summer. Imagine Connecticut Avenue close south of Florida through to the Farmers' Market on a Sunday? I mean we already do a lot of that if you count the street closing the feds do for street festivals down around Penn. Ave., but some street closings on a Sunday would be fun in out "hometown" neighborhoods. And they wouldn't really disrupt traffic if it were done on a Sunday and well publicized ahead of time.

by Lance on Nov 20, 2008 12:27 am • link • report

Don't want to sound arrogant here, but this stuff has been policy in the Netherlands for at least 15 years. And it's been implemented in many European cities since then.

by Jasper on Nov 20, 2008 9:24 am • link • report

What street segments do people advocate these practices in the video to be employed in DC?

by FourthandEye on Nov 20, 2008 1:06 pm • link • report

@ FourthandEye: Pretty much anywhere (downtown)?

How about all those intersections where the State Aves cut at odd angles?

How about most of the little squares and circles downtown?

Nearly all roads downtown are pretty wide. The park and bike switch could be done in plenty of places.

And DC could also use a couple of good bus lanes. They could be placed on roads parallel to the main route. Such roads could be closed for all but bus and bike traffic (and inhabitants).

The problem with 'duh' ideas like this is often that people simply can't imagine it.

The Netherlands make the big shift for bikers in the late 80s and early 90s. So, my high school time, I had to bike to school between cars, and while in college they started making seperate bike lanes. First just with a line, then painted in (big difference) and later physically separated (often by taking out car lanes). Result? A massive drop in accidents, safer biking, and no more gridlock.

The point is to give everybody their own space on the road, and to lead cars to understand that not the entire road is theirs. Just marking lanes, and separators at intersections can make a major difference in safety and behavior.

Oh and, please, can we get a bunch of decent roundabouts in the suburbs? Check France for how awesome those can be for traffic flow. Remember, traffic *never* stops are a traffic circle. There is *always* flow. This opposed to a traffic light or a stop sign, where you *always* have a stop in flow.

by Jasper on Nov 20, 2008 1:29 pm • link • report

I find specifics more thought provoking to discuss/debate rather than saying "pretty much anywhere". Does anyone have any?

Seems to me that in the east end of downtown, other than maybe Pennsylvania Ave NW, there isn't anywhere wide enough to put a plaza in the middle of a the street that doesn't already have a triangle park or traffic circle. I don't think our roads are as wide as NYC. They mention to cross 23rd it was the length of two football fields. We don't have that here. You could probably put a modest sized landscaped median on Connecticut but not a big median plaza for lounging.

Many of the streets they show in the segment seem to have been take down from 3 lanes in one direction to 2 lanes in that direction. Drivers can adapt to that more easily than the drop from 2 lanes to just 1. On a major corridor you need the second lane because often one lane is blocked by a driver trying to turn.

by FourthandEye on Nov 20, 2008 2:56 pm • link • report

The end of Penn Ave @ M St, Washington Circle, Farragut Square, the triangles in front of 2000 Penn Ave and the IMF, the circle @ Mass & Vt & M & 14th, or the one @ VA & NH & I-66 in front of the Watergate, actually, make that everything around the Kennedy center and Watergate, etc etc.

You might say: they already have some benches. That is true, but they are very depressing places. And hard to get too.

My point: there is a lot of waste real estate in downtown DC. With just a bit of good will, they can be turned around in wonderful areas. As long as you're willing to give pedestrians a bit more leeway.

Freedom Plaza (Penn between 13th and 15th) is the only place where I sometimes see people hang out. So that's the only only one I can think of that's somewhat successful.

by Jasper on Nov 20, 2008 5:44 pm • link • report

I'm not familiar with all your examples. But the ones I am, it seems more like reprogramming public space to be better and more engaging public space. That's useful and worth doing of course. But it's different than converting lanes of asphalt into new public space as they did in NYC.

by FourthandEye on Nov 20, 2008 5:50 pm • link • report

There is plenty of dead asphalt there too that can be reclaimed. And now I am thinking about it, you could reorganize long stretches of M and K Sts NW. They have bylanes anyway.

by Jasper on Nov 21, 2008 1:26 pm • link • report