Breakfast links: On MLK

No mixed-use next to St. E’s?

NCPC staff say a Comprehensive Plan amendment for mixed-use development on MLK Avenue adjacent to St. Elizabeth’s is “contrary to the federal interest” because of the historic wall and security needs for the DHS headquarters. (Housing Complex)

Other streets named MLK

Next Thursday the DC Public Library will screen a film called The State of MLK Street, examining the many roads named after the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Eight young filmmakers traveled to 13 cities across the country to document and discuss what they saw about Dr. King’s legacy of social justice. (DCPL)

Road not designed to be at all walkable

Indian Head Highway, a major arterial road in Fort Washington, is so dangerous it has no sidewalk, and whoever killed a woman there likely thought he or she hit a deer. Wouldn’t it be nice if Prince George’s County prioritized making sure roads are safe for pedestrians? (WTOP)

DC owed $300M in traffic tickets

The District is owed more than $300 million in unpaid parking and driving tickets. The DMV had been planning to run an amnesty program to get more people to pay their delinquent tickets, but will have to “wait and see” whether Mayor Gray want to go ahead with the program. (Examiner)

Shaping the city in 2011

Roger Lewis’s “New Year’s resolutions for those shaping DC” include green building, preservation, multi-modal transportation, simpler zoning, and modifying the DC height limit. (Post)

Signs of a new mayor

With a new mayor, the first order of business is… putting his name on signs.  While we urged Gray to forgo this unnecessary task, DC Water actually made a video of the “changing of the sign.” (YouTube)

Biking faster than driving

A French study analyzed 11.6 million trips on Lyon’s bike share system, finding that bike riding is appreciably faster than driving in their downtown.  The city’s planners may use bikesharing ride data to plan bike paths more efficiently. (The Infrastructurist)

Under the city

Steve Duncan is what you might call an urban spelunker.  He has explored the underside of cities around the world but particularly enjoys New York City ungerground. (NPR, Matthias)  (Tip: Matthias)

And…

It was finally confirmed that Tommy Wells will replace Jim Graham on the WMATA Board. (WTOP) … China is instituting quotas on car ownership to curb ballooning traffic (Bloomberg, Steve S.) … When Winston Churchill was hit by a car and its driver in Manhattan in 1931. (Andrew Sullivan)  (Tip: Steve S.)

WTOP’s best and worst: Whatever AAA says

WTOP lists AAA’s best and worst items of the year, which not surprisingly include every highway building or widening among the “best.” But instead of writing much, the article just links to AAA’s press release. Does WTOP need reporters any more or will they just become a newswire for AAA?