New Lane Reduction in Crystal City (Alexandria, Columbia: construction, high income, taxes)

[johnsonkk]

Crystal city council is expected to reduce two lanes on Crystal drive in order to reserve for local buses only. The current bike lanes will change and a restriction on turning will be put into effect. The concept is to increase ridership on the Metroway buses but at the expense of residents, commuters, and visitors. My issue is pushing the commuter buses off Crystal drive, thus adding to longer commute.

For example, $200 tickets for those "illegally" making turns using the bus lanes (most likely would be residents). If you've seen all the construction on Crystal drive, this effort has been an expensive pursuit without thoroughly being communicated to those affected. This council is the same one that ripped out the overstreet walkways to force pedestrians back on to the sidewalks vs walkways. Local residents are trying to rally at the July 14th public hearing. Their link is below for their concerns.

Crystal City Civic Association

[NOVA_guy]

Hmm... interesting.

[gomason]

There seems to be a lot of misinformation on that site. The county government website explicity says that bicyclists are allowed which shouldnt be a shocker since they're almost always allowed in any bus lane. Website also explicity says that you have to make a right turn within the block if you get in the bus lane which shouldn't be a shock since thats how it pretty much always work like the HOV lanes in Alexandria.

This was some poorly written garbage. Even the Columbia Pike reactionaries did a better job (although at times borderline lied).

[johnsonkk]

Originally Posted by gomason

There seems to be a lot of misinformation on that site. The county government website explicity says that bicyclists are allowed which shouldnt be a shocker since they're almost always allowed in any bus lane. Website also explicity says that you have to make a right turn within the block if you get in the bus lane which shouldn't be a shock since thats how it pretty much always work like the HOV lanes in Alexandria.

This was some poorly written garbage. Even the Columbia Pike reactionaries did a better job (although at times borderline lied).

I agree the spin on the topic seems designed to rally the residents to attend the meeting on the 14th. I thought the website said the bike lane is being moved so it will be between the car lane and bus lanes so that when no buses are traveling, the bikes would basically be the right edge of the road with the occasional bus in the far right lane.

The concept will be similar to what is on U.S. 1 where the buses have their own lanes in the center of the road. The problem with this overall concept of expensive roads reserved for buses is that most housing in Crystal city and directly south is very expensive and those residents won't use the buses. There is a Porsche dealership along this bus short route.

[boyd888]

This is the same path that was originally going to be a streetcar is it not? I see them constructing these fancy stops which I though was weird for buses, but then it would make more sense if they were originally supposed to be for streetcars.

The big issue is that you have roads all over NOVA that are carry volumes traffic they were never designed to carry. The problem with these anti change people is that they don't agree with the principal of the changes, which is to get more people out of cars and into buses. Of course the changes are going to be inconvenient to individual drivers....that's the whole point. They disagree with the constantly changing lane restrictions, but the point of them is to allow people to use the bus lanes during non-rush hours. The county could easily make the lanes all buses all the time then you wouldn't have to worry about whether or not it was an ok time to be in the bus lane ya know.

The Maserati dealership on S Glebe is certainly not a in a high income area.

[johnsonkk]

Originally Posted by boyd888

This is the same path that was originally going to be a streetcar is it not? I see them constructing these fancy stops which I though was weird for buses, but then it would make more sense if they were originally supposed to be for streetcars.

The big issue is that you have roads all over NOVA that are carry volumes traffic they were never designed to carry. The problem with these anti change people is that they don't agree with the principal of the changes, which is to get more people out of cars and into buses. Of course the changes are going to be inconvenient to individual drivers....that's the whole point. They disagree with the constantly changing lane restrictions, but the point of them is to allow people to use the bus lanes during non-rush hours. The county could easily make the lanes all buses all the time then you wouldn't have to worry about whether or not it was an ok time to be in the bus lane ya know.

The Maserati dealership on S Glebe is certainly not a in a high income area.

If the intent is to have a local city council forced drivers off the road, they could simply reduce or eliminate parking garages in Crystal city. Or why not double the taxes on parking garages?

My actual main point is that all the commuter buses will not being able to use these bus lanes. Your point is for workers to mass transit and we are!! But Crystal city's council wants you to use their buses in this scheme. As they continue to raise food taxes, parking taxes, and aggressively enforce parking, over population won't be a problem. I see all the new high rises being built so optimism is high.