By David Alpert (Executive Director) • December 10, 2019
DC is moving closer to fixing one of its most vexing intersections, the triangle of New York Avenue NE, Florida Avenue NE, and First Street NE, which collectively surround a Wendy’s and have earned the nickname “Dave Thomas Circle.” Officials presented a new design for the intersection which includes some significant fixes to address resident and business requests.
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By Wyatt Gordon (Virginia Correspondent) • December 10, 2019
The successes and setbacks of creating safer streetscapes in big cities dominate our imagination, but many corners of small town America are quietly undergoing a complete streets transformation as well. The compact street grids of smaller cities like Hopewell, Virginia that developed before the advent of the automobile represent low-hanging fruit in the fight for safer, healthier, and more sustainable communities.
Governor Ralph Northam is considering raising Virginia’s 22-cent gas tax to fully fund the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority and establish a stable funding stream for projects like the Long Bridge rail expansion. (Max Smith / WTOP)
Rita Jo Sultan, an 81-year-old resident of Silver Spring, died on Monday after the driver of a Postal Service truck hit her while she crossed University Boulevard. (Will Vitka / WTOP)
The suit charges Greyhound with violating the three-minute limit for idling commercial vehicles since Greyhound buses routinely idle near Union Station. DC is asking for $216,000 in damages over the bus’s exhaust pollution. (Jacob Fenston / WAMU. Tip: Chester B.)
The city’s Vision Zero Crash Task Force will review a collision at King Street, Braddock Road and Quaker Lane where a car flipped over. Despite this, and the high car and pedestrian traffic there, Alexandria says it is not planning a large scale project to fix the intersection. (Vernon Miles / ALX Now)
The county is extending a pilot program to test e-bikes and scooters on park trails in order to get more feedback on how riders and parkgoers feel about safety on the trails. (Caitlynn Peetz / Bethesda Beat)
As part of an effort to convince residents in wealthy upper Northwest DC neighborhoods to accept Mayor Bowser’s plan to add nearly 2,000 affordable housing units to the area by 2025, DC sponsored a screening of “Segregated by Design” and a talk about the history and present reality of housing segregation in Ward 3. (Graham Vyse / DCist)
DC will offer free transit for 1,000 low-income Washingtonians as part of a study to see how transportation impacts overall well being for residents. The city may fund more discounts and free Metro rides depending on the results of the study, which will take place over the summer. (Justin George / Post. Tip: Chester B.)
The county spent an extra $2 million on last-minute expansions for facilities serving homeless people this winter after its primary men’s shelter closed unexpectedly. That facility on East Gude Drive in Rockville was evacuated earlier this year due to noises and vibrations from the landfill next door, and may not be able to reopen. (Kate Masters / Bethesda Beat)
DCRA has trained 133 people to conduct building inspections on a contracting basis. Twenty-nine of the “citizen enforcers” are already at work, though they only show up as needed, like when an inspection is requested on weekends. (Martin Austermuhle / WAMU)
Top image: Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 protests working conditions under a Metro contractor at the WMATA headquarters in November. Image by GKJ.
