Breakfast links: Budget bliss and big boulevards
Budget autonomy for the District
A judge has ruled that DC’s budget autonomy referendum, approved in 2014, is valid. DC can now pass its own budget and spend locally-raised tax dollars without waiting for Congress. (Post)
Wide plans for Rockville Pike
The City of Rockville has a plan to turn Rockville Pike into a 252-foot wide mega-boulevard, with 12 car lanes, BRT, and bikeways. (Bethesda Magazine)
Bye bye Bi-County Parkway
Prince William County’s Board of Supervisors voted 4-3 to take the Bi-County Parkway out of the county Comprehensive Plan. VDOT, the board’s two Democrats, and one of its Republicans opposed the move. (InsideNova)
Lyft discrimination
A Lyft driver refused to pick up a passenger in “SE” DC, east of the Anacostia River. Many delivery services also refuse to sell to people east of the river. Lyft has now suspended the driver. (CHOTR, Washingtonian)
DCRA’s document drag
To get a copy of a building permit, DC residents have to pay a fee to a specific private copy shop that has a monopoly on access to this information. The law says that the permits should all be online and free. (Post)
Metro-free nuclear zone
The Mount Vernon Square Metro station will close for two days next week due to the Nuclear Summit. The US Secret Service asked to close the station and more than a dozen streets as a security precaution. (DCist)
Proximity is key
Living near a bike trail in Arlington County increases the likelihood of biking to work. Arlington County used Census data to determine which Census tracts have a higher percentage of bike commuting. (ArlNow, Dennis Jaffe) (Tip: Dennis Jaffe)
Federally walk-blocked
Outdated rules for federal housing loans make it harder to build walkable environments with ground-floor retail or office space. Most federal loans allow only a very limited amount of nonresidential space, a Great Depression-era policy meant to reduce risk. (The Hill)
What’s in a name?
The Nationals want to give ballpark naming rights to a sponsor for the right price (possibly $10-15 million a year). (NBC4) … The internet voted to name a British research vessel Boaty McBoatface. (NYT)
And…
Contract workers at DCA will go on strike Tuesday night to push for a $15/hour minimum wage. (Post) … Virginia will fix a bottleneck that slows down trains from Richmond to DC. (Times-Dispatch) … Is DC building bikeways fast enough? (WAMU)