Morning links: A sometimes merry land

by David Alpert • April 13, 2009 10:18 am

Possible configuration for Rockville Pike.

Support the Pike: Rockville would like area organizations to send letters in favor of their plan to convert Rockville Pike into a more multi-modal boulevard flanked by walkable shops instead of standard strip malls. (Rockville Central)

From Secretary to Deputy Secretary: President Obama has nominated Maryland Transportation Secretary John Porcari to be U.S. Deputy Secretary of Transportation. (Post) Observers consider this very good news for the Purple Line, which Porcari supports. Whether from a press release or because of the Post's road bias, most press accounts focus on Porcari's role in pushing the ICC.

Wider, wider, wider: The Bowie City Council approved State Highway Administration plans to widen Route 197. Some County Councilmembers raised concerns about the width, but mostly to complain about sidewalks, which they think are unnecessary because nobody walks there (might they one day?) or a "bicycle-compatible lane", which might be superfluous since there's a "recreational bike path" already. (Gazette)

Planner argues stadium opponents missing the point: It may be too late, but Park and Planning chair Samuel Parker, Jr. argues that a soccer stadium is not a giveaway but a chance to jump-start transit-oriented development along Metro lines that have seen little of that. (Gazette)

Crash means holes in the ground: Continuing the theme started by Marc Fisher, this weekend's Post compares the promise to the reality in the neighborhood around the ballpark. Any district at the cusp of redevelopment would have gotten hit by the downturn, stadium or no; the article quotes people who point out that revitalizing the Gallery Place area took years, too.

Back in brick: The Chinese Community Church restored the original brick facade of its 155-year-old building thanks to a $600,000 grant from a nearby office developer. (The Triangle, Paul S)

Don't drink and bike in Poland: Poland's Constitutional Court ruled that drunken cyclists should be treated like drunken motorists. Under the law, a drunken cyclists can face up to two years in prison. The ruling has sparked debate and many suggest that drunken cyclists should face the same penalties as drunk pedestrians. (BBC World News, Lynda)

Police fee? Streetlight fee? Why not a congestion fee?: One town in Florida has started charging fees when police respond to the scene of a crash. Of course there's DC's streetlight "fee", which isn't really a fee since you don't get to choose whether to use the streetlight. Making "taxes" a dirty word has created some bizarre public policies. And Matthew Yglesias argues that we're charging for the wrong things, disincentivizing calling the cops while we keep avoiding fees like congestion pricing which would actually solve problems. One sensible fee the Times article mentions is higher trash dumping fees, as long as the fee rises with more trash; such pay-as-you-throw programs create a good incentive to recycle.

The simple answer: Eliminate public transportation: The Daily Show's John "PC" Hodgman lays out his plan for fixing the auto industry. It's not all that different from Barbara Mikulski's. Via The Overhead Wire.

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7 comments

Tags: alcohol, auto industry, Barbara Mikulski, bicycling, bike lanes, Bowie, congestion pricing, DC, development, downtown DC, history, humor, ICC, John Porcari, law, links, Maryland, Mount Vernon Triangle, Near Southeast, pay-as-you-throw, Poland, Prince George's, Purple Line, Rockville, SHA, stadiums, taxes, TOD, USDOT, video, walkability

David Alpert is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Greater Greater Washington. He has had a lifelong interest in great cities and great communities. He worked as a Product Manager for Google for six years and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He loves the area which is, in many ways, greater than those others, and wants to see it become even greater.

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Definitly need to enforce the drinking and biking thing here as well. Again, bikers should be subject to the same rules as drivers. I can already see a drunk biker getting mowed by a car and having the driver being raked through the GGW coals. I love this site but their has to be balance between and fairness with respect to the rules with drivers and bikers.

by SA on Apr 13, 2009 12:10 pm

Eliminating public transit to 'help' the auto industry sounds to me like eliminating highway links to 'help' transit, or eliminating overseas auto imports to 'help' the domestic auto industry- as if competition 'hurts'...

by Douglas Willinger on Apr 13, 2009 1:10 pm

Why do you guys out to destroy Detroit? I hope you're happy knowing that you've put good family men out on the streets.

by MPC on Apr 13, 2009 2:02 pm

IMHO, BWI is much more similar to public drunkenness than DWI. I don't really buy Jasper's argument that a drunken cyclist has more incentive to be careful, simply because incentives or not, impairment is impairment and no matter how careful you are being, if you are impaired you are going to have trouble controlling the bike. However, again, BWI is not DWI and it's insane to treat it that way. A PD citation would be much more reasonable.

by Nate on Apr 13, 2009 2:25 pm

Imagine that, the bikers don't want to be accountable for drunkenness.

The bottom line is that you're operating a motor vehicle while impaired. End of story.

by MPC on Apr 13, 2009 2:36 pm

and what if that drunk biker swerves into the road, the sober car swerves to avoid him and accidently kills a innocent pedstrian? Should the drunk biker not be charged with manslaughter?

by SA on Apr 13, 2009 3:23 pm

"Treating BUIs exactly the same sounds a bit like that college town where I used to live and where the campus cops used to hang around bars and arrest students walking home for public intoxication and throw them in the slammer and then reporting them to the college. I mean, seriously?, kids choose to walk, not drive home and you're gonna dump them in jail as well? Legal: Yes. FAIL: yes."

BS jasper not same thing, not even same ballpark. A drunk pedestrian is far less a danger. Again you guys have not addressed the fact that a drunk biker could cause a sober motor vehicle accident by swerving into the road or crossing erraticly. DRUNK BIKING IS DANGEROUS and should be a FELONY.

by SA on Apr 13, 2009 3:27 pm