Breakfast links: DC councilmembers push to keep Beach Drive car-free
DC Councilmembers want a car-free Beach Drive
Members of the DC Council as well as Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton asked the National Park Service to keep the upper part of Beach Drive closed to cars and open to other users permanently, extending the current state of the road past the end date of the public health emergency. (Abigail Constantino / WTOP)
MD rejects purple line single tracking
The Maryland Secretary of Transportation rejects a proposal by Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich to single track the Purple Line in downtown Bethesda, saying that it would be difficult to engineer and would increase headways and ultimately costs for the system. (Dan Schere / Bethesda Beat. Tip: Chester B.)
Who’s running for VA governor?
Thirteen people are running for governor in this fall’s race, including former governor Terry McAuliffe, current lieutenant governor Justin Fairfax, three other Democrats, seven Republicans, and Liberation Party candidate Princess Blanding. (Laura Vozzella / Post)
A woman was hit and killed by a driver in Fairfax County
Choon Yoo, a 77 year old woman from Annandale, was hit by a driver at Little River Turnpike and Backlick Road in Annandale and died at the hospital of her injuries. (Martin Weil / Post)
UMD looks to sell woodland for housing
The University of Maryland plans to sell and lease some acres of woods right off campus to a developer who will build 300 units of grad student housing and 81market rate homes. Opponents, including UMD professors, say the woodland is an environmental science teaching tool, or could be a nature preserve. (Lisa Nevans Locke / Maryland Matters)
Parking ticket penalties hurt Black drivers
Black drivers are disproportionately impacted by a DC law preventing people from renewing their licences if they have over $100 in unpaid parking tickets according to a report from legal advocacy group Tzedek DC. Two councilmembers have introduced a bill to change that law this week. (Martin Austermuhle / DCist. Tip: Chester B.)
Silver Spring reopens Ellsworth Drive for people
Ellsworth Drive will go back to its pre-pandemic state and close to car traffic again. Cars had been permitted to do curbside pick-ups at restaurants during the last year, but after May 10 the street will close to vehicle traffic and be pedestrian-only. (Caitlynn Peetz / Bethesda Beat)
There’s a new subterranean tunnel in DC
DC Water completed work on a five-mile-long tunnel beneath the city streets which will capture overflowing wastewater, preventing sewage from flowing into the Anacostia River during heavy rains and reducing flooding in neighborhoods like Bloomingdale and LeDroit Park (Jacob Fenston / DCist)
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