Breakfast links: Parking and/or central Maryland

Check the foundation first please

32-year-old concrete pilings near West Falls Church will support a Silver Line bridge over I-66. But the contractor has resisted testing the pilings’ strength despite FTA pressure to ensure any bridge will be safe. (Post)

Champlain Street lane open

15th Street isn’t DC’s only contraflow lane anymore. The one-way road and contraflow (but not separated) bike lane on Champlain Street under Marie Reed Center in Adams Morgan is now open as well. (TheWashCycle)

Floating houses, underground parking

You might expect the American Trucking Association to want some parking. And on Capitol Hill, they are digging right under two historic row houses to make room for an underground garage. (WBJ)

Don’t take a taxi to work

You might expect the Taxi and Paratransit Association to emphasize living in areas with alternatives to driving, where people use the occasional taxi or paratransit service when transit isn’t possible. But instead, they tout the free parking at their office location, off the Beltway and I-270 far from Metro.

“Dundalk pays, Potomac plays”

Montgomery elected officials are valiantly pushing for lower tolls on the ICC, a road they approved knowing it would have high tolls. But as Michael Dresser notes, any toll reduction will just come out of the pockets of those who use the other toll facilities, which are almost all around Baltimore. (Baltimore Sun)

Street-facing, and retail, but not street-facing retail

Several auto dealerships in Charles Village, near downtown Baltimore and JHU, may become a mixed-use development with a Lowe’s, supermarket, smaller stores, and housing. But instead of an urban design with the stores on the street and parking inside or underground, the stores will face the internal parking lot, and one edge street will have nothing but garage and surface parking. (Daily Record, jfruh)  (Tip: jfruh)

Dorsey-Oriented Tunnel

Howard County is considering a proposal for a mixed-use development near the Dorsey MARC. The Route 100 freeway separates the station from the site, so the developer proposes a 1,400-foot pedestrian and bike tunnel along with shuttle service. Will people actually walk or bike to the station? Residents are divided. (Baltimore Sun)