Posts about Roads
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This map shows a 40s-era plan to make East Capitol an expansive avenue
In the 1940s, there was a proposal to make East Capitol Street into a wide, monumental avenue. This map shows what it would look like, and provides some other glimpses into what DC was like at the time. Keep reading…
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Tysons was built around cars. How can it transform into a place people can walk?
Tysons wants to transform from a suburban office park to a bona-fide city filled with more residents, even more jobs, and culture and activities. According to its comprehensive plan, Tysons is aiming to become “a true urban downtown for Fairfax County.” But the question on a lot of people’s minds is how they will get there, and how they will get around. Keep reading…
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A sinkhole and erosion ate a third of Baltimore’s light rail stops. Then people couldn’t find the buses.
How does Baltimore, a major city, lose the busiest part of its busiest transit system—light rail—for over a month during the busiest part of the summer, to the detriment of its bus system and the dismay of roughly 30% of residents who don’t own cars? Keep reading…
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It’s deja-vroom: That flawed Texas A&M traffic study is back yet again
In 2011 and 2015, the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M released an “Urban Mobility Report” which grabbed a lot of headlines, like “Washington area tied with Chicago for traffic congestion, study finds.” The study led me and many others to write articles debunking its bad methodology. Keep reading…
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DC is hosting its first Open Streets event this fall. What’s Open Streets?
Mayor Murial Bowser recently announced that a three-mile section of Georgia Avenue will be closed to automobile traffic for several hours in October for the District’s inaugural Open Streets event. Open Streets is a worldwide program that temporarily pedestrianizes streets. Keep reading…
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These ‘magic school buses’ give kids safe, fun, and healthy walking routes to class
It’s back to school time for kids across the Washington region, and some families are already puzzling over the first practical exercise: How to get them there. A “walking schoolbus” could be the solution: It gets several kids to walk to school together, escorted by one or more adults. All it takes is a little organization, a route people can follow, and showing up. Keep reading…
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Eight ways the law incentivizes driving
Automobile supremacy has been written into the legal fabric of the United States for the past century, as government and industry leaders choked public transit and encouraged personal automobiles instead. Recently, University of Iowa law professor Greg Shill wrote a paper detailing how US law subsidizes driving. Keep reading…
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Here’s what you should do if you get into a bicycle crash
If you get into a bike crash, call 911. Try to get a police report, and note details about the officer making the report. Take photos. Also, avoid getting angry as best you can, and don’t downplay the potential severity of your injury. Keep reading…
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Meet the group making DC streets safer through do-it-yourself urbanism
The DC Department of Transformation—not to be confused with the District Department of Transportation—is helping cyclists and pedestrians one plunger, or traffic cone, or ad hoc handstand, at a time. What started off as a Twitter account aimed at rectifying problems with city infrastructure, DCDOTRA has grown into a prime example of tactical urbanism. Keep reading…
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Ellen Jones will be DDOT’s new Chief Project Delivery Officer
When Sam Zimbabwe left to head Seattle’s Department of Transportation, he left some big shoes to fill. That position will now go to Ellen Jones, who is currently Deputy Executive Director of the Downtown DC Business Improvement District and previously headed up the Washington Area Bicyclist Association. Keep reading…