MoCo government hiding crash data
from residents, made its own
plan after ignoring resident feedback
A staff report on the proposal is filled with bizarre verbal jujitsu attempting to first establish a new precedent for such a road diet. Among the laughers, it claims that Westbard-area commuters are drastically shifting modes of transportation away from automobiles, while again providing no statistical reports to back up the false claim. In fact, the only report ever done on commuting modes in the Westbard area found that over 90% of commuters are solo automobile users, far above even the regional average. But unsurprising, given that Westbard is a transit desert about two miles from the nearest Metro station, far beyond the standard quarter-to-half-mile distance required for transit-oriented development.
The report hysterically trumpets long traffic backups on southbound Arlington Road - that Parks & Planning created with their illegally-funded road diet - to be an example of "effectively metering" traffic. It also reveals that fewer cars are now using Little Falls Parkway in the evening rush hour because of the congestion the department created. The report calls diversion of traffic from a major thoroughfare like Little Falls Parkway onto nearby residential streets a success. Again, they dodge data by not reporting numbers for all of the nearby residential streets onto which those cars have been diverted. Their extreme fear of data clearly indicates their final conclusions are without basis.
One thing the report does openly admit, is that Planning and the War-on-Cars cartel have created their own proposal, tossing aside the solutions endorsed by actual residents, which were diverting trail traffic to one of the nearby signaled intersections, or construction of a pedestrian bridge.
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| Government of the People, by the People, for the People? Not in authoritarian, corrupt Montgomery County |
Reduction of Little Falls Parkway to two lanes, a "speed table" a.k.a. long flat speed bump trail crossing in the roadway, and "traffic calming" measures will be implemented on Hillandale Road. In other words, maximum punishment for drivers while allowing bicycle stop sign blowers to continue to wreak havoc. Head-on car crashes, such as drunk drivers at night, will clearly increase and the Planning Board will be held responsible for the injuries and deaths that result from those head-on car crashes currently reduced by the wide median.
This is the height of corruption - spending over $1 million of taxpayer money (on top of the previous illegal use of trail maintenance funds) to reduce vehicle capacity by 50% on Little Falls Parkway, after the same corrupt, developer-controlled commissioners voted to add over 3000 new housing units and 5910 additional cars in the same area via the 2016 Westbard sector plan.
This is not government of the People, by the People, for the People. It's a criminal cartel in charge of Big Government run amok.
It's outrageous.
30 comments:
"Little Falls Parkway trail crossing plan would increase head-on crashes"
"[This] will actually further increase crashes by removing the median of the road, placing drivers in greater danger of head-on collisions. And speaking of crashes?"
"Head-on car crashes, such as drunk drivers at night, will clearly increase and the Planning Board will be held responsible for the injuries and deaths that result from those head-on car crashes currently reduced by the wide median."
This is just speculation from someone who has no expertise in that area. How many head-on collisions have there been in recent years on comparable sections of roadway, such as Arlington Road between Bradley Boulevard and Little Falls Parkway, Hillandale Road between Bradley Boulevard and Little Falls Parkway, or Little Falls Parkway between River Road and Massachusetts Avenue?
I wash born here, an I wash raished here, and dad gum it, I am gonna die here, an no sidewindin' bushwackin', hornswagglin' cracker croaker is gonna rouin me bishen cutter.
5:25: We actually don't know the local numbers, because the County government won't allow residents who sought crash data to see it.
But what we do know on my point about head-on crashes, is that nationwide, they are more prevalent on two-lane roads with no medians.
There is no question that planners have been allowed to run amok with their little pet projects but this isn't a bad solution. It's a parkway, not a super highway.
Bad solution. Why punish all the drivers because a cyclist disobeyed a stop sign?
How about putting the trail users on a "road diet" and make it a narrow crossing so they have to dismount their bikes and use it single-file like they are supposed to anyway?
Of course the vocal trail users wont' go for that, so how about keeping the road 2 lanes each way, and putting in a HAWK (traffic light crossing) that's pedestrian-activated?
6:49: It's not a superhighway, but it is a major artery that is about to take on even more traffic via the growth of Westbard and downtown Bethesda under the plans approved in 2016 and 2017.
7:08: And how about finally requiring bikes to have license plates, and installing stop sign cameras to ticket cyclists who blow through the crossing without stopping?
We all must follow the rules, not just drivers.
There's a lot of worse ways to go than getting hit by a $100K+ car on that glorious trail while ripping your carbon fiber 8-speed worth more than the nation's median annual income passed the gorgeous elites and their adorable offspring that frequent the Bethesda region.
7:08, to be honest, i have never seen a cyclist actually dismount when they are supposed to. They still go flying around the bend by the Medical Center Metro even though it says to dismount. I doubt adding that sign changes anything.
As a resident of Kenwood Forest and father of a five year old, I can tell you that this decision was opposed by our community because it drives traffic onto Hillandale road which has become a speedway. While Little Falls Parkway has no homes on it, Hillandale has some 80 townhouses between the Parkway and Bradley Boulevard.
We have asked for speed bumps, a stop sign at the intersection of Chevy Chase and Hillandale, a speed camera, and to date have been told no because we don't meet the criteria. Instead we are getting extended curbs in the hope that slows traffic.
The death of the bicyclist was tragic. But to attempt to prevent all future accidents on Little Falls by turning heavily populated Hillandale Road into a speedway is simply bad policy. A better solution would have been to put a traffic light there and camera to enforce bicyclists and cars to obey the law. The best, albeit more expensive solution, would be to build a bike bridge. But once the park made up its mind, that was it. I hope no one dies on Hillandale as a result.
Dyer, people give you a lot of grief and sometimes it's justified. But you know what? This is really well done reporting. Good job. When BB picks this up I hope they heap some praise on you. This Little Falls corridor that we've all loved using for years will be ruined. Hiding information? How shocking for MoCo to do that. Not. Robert, take a bow.
8:24 AM Yup, Hillandale is going to get more dangerous. It also has folks pulling in and out of parking spaces
8:47 AM It should be the opposite. If you love your community, you want to make it better. MoCo government, schools and services were once was the gold standard.
Thankful for freedom of the press. Now, more than ever in our County.
@Dyer: There's no requirement to dismount there. You make a fair point about road capacity in light of projected growth, but presumably the planning commission will take into diminished road capacity when it considers road capacity.
I thought Custom Ink was a tattoo parlor...
2:20 PM My friend, Friendship Heights/Chevy Chase has a bunch of older apartment blocks
7029 Arlington Road was previously a weight-loss clinic. Now it is a t-shirt store. How does that equal "the rich are fleeing from Moribund Montgomery County"?
4:26: Inability to attract high-end tenants. Just check out the skid row ghost town on MoCo's former "Rodeo Drive" in Chevy Chase for more vivid proof.
Chevy Chase is not "skid row."
It just isn't.
That's what you, as an entitled white guy, thinks skid row is?
There is no cartel.
Just people you duly elected to make decisions.
Neighbors in your own communities.
This is a factual statement that Dyer deletes over and over again.
Why?
5:27: You obviously haven't been there recently, "Anna." It's creepy to walk around a deserted area even in daytime. There are more businesses operating in a slum area than along Wisconsin Ave. there.
You also spent the entire day yesterday at your computer, refreshing my site literally every 30-60 seconds, and reposting up to 5(!!) troll comments each time. That is insane.
You've been outed as a paid troll. #Oops
It's not "deserted". It's not a "skid row ghost town". It's a single shopping center that lost a total of four tenants to a new shopping center in downtown DC. Many other businesses in that same shopping center are thriving, including Clydes.
Bloomingdales is across the street, and Saks Fifth Avenue is next door.
You're delusional.
No need to use quotes "Robert," Anna is my name. You choosing not to believe the truth is your karma. Me telling the truth is mine.
I checked on your site a few times yesterday. The "entire day" "Literally every 30-60 seconds" are hyperbole and your imagination working overtime. You still don't seem to grasp the meaning of "literally."
You *Chose* to delete those comments, sweetie.
I restored my deleted comments, which at times you were right on top of, deleting my 1st comment before I'd input my 2nd comment.
It is not a skid row.
"Paid troll."
Hahahahaahhahahahahahahahahahah (breathe) hahahahahahahahahahhahahha. (gasp) Hahahahahahahahahaha (breathe)
You think pretty highly of yourself don't you?
5:40: Nope - way more than four businesses have closed along there. That whole two building area of the Collection is virtually entirely vacant now, front and back. More closures down by the hotel, and a store at Willard that recently was filled by a bank.
5:57/6:06: Nope - we all witnessed you reposting those same five comments over 30 times in just a few hours yesterday morning and afternoon. Good God. All day at the computer. Only someone being paid would have the time to do that.
The only positive is that whatever other Astroturf trolling you are assigned to do for the MoCo cartel couldn't be done yesterday (and now today, again) because you were kept busy refreshing and reposting troll comments on my site alone.
You just reposted all 5 troll comments again just now for the 35th time in 24 hours, and then claimed you weren't refreshing every 30-60 seconds. #Oops
"Anna" is a fake name, and you are revealed as a paid troll. Just think, if you had been less crazed and hyper in trolling, you might have been able to fool everyone that you were a real person and not a paid troll.
Dear Robert,
Please ignore such comments, and if you wish delete them.
By responding you are encouraging these obsessive people. If you ignore them they will go away.
You don’t need to refute any of the negative comments. Nobody cares about them. Your stories speak for themselves.
The real problem is the 90% single-occupant car-commuting mode mentioned above. Per the usual MoneyGomery decision process, the builders have prevailed - thank the Planning Board. Once again, motorists are favored over every other transport mode. Once again, more car commuting is encouraged by providing more capacity for cars at the expense of other users, opening up the potential for further development with the rosy promise of a quick commute. Once again, bikes are blamed for being scofflaws with nary a speeding ticket issued to motorists who routinely violate the speed limit. Anyone who suggests that cyclists are supposed to dismount and walk their bikes at every road crossing is frighteningly ignorant - and likely goes around adding to the "scofflaw cyclist" myth. The Planning Board has ignored the success of the Road Diet in cutting the accident rate at the CCT crossing. Let the "neighborhood" who support them enjoy the fumes emitted by the increased motor traffic.
One day I'll run into you somewhere, extend my hand and say "Hi there. I'm Anna Van Horn." Have your digitalis ready. :)
I'm amassing a book's worth of my Adventures in Commentville.
Dear 6:35AM, "Robert" encourages the negative comments for the clicks.
He's thin-skinned and never apologizes. NEVER. Like most bullies, they think it makes them look weak.
Bully me all you want. It seems to make you feel better, it shows the world how treat people and, most importantly, it makes no difference to me.
I'd have to respect your opinion to be offended by it.
Cue the sheepshills...we all know what usually comes next.
If you think telling lies about someone and deleting their defense makes you a big man?
That in itself says more about your lack of character than anything I could say.
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