Biking advocates worry I-66 expansion project puts a bike trail too close to traffic

The Washington Post ^ | July 9, 2017 | Luz Lazo

[digger48]

They’re just mad there’s no stop signs for them to ignore

[MortMan]

The bike path, part of the $2.3 billion interstate expansion project...

Does anyone else have the "What the hell?" reaction to the idea that a bicycle path is a logical addition to interstate funding?

[GingisK]

It is because car doors aren’t as long as they used to be. ;-D

[eartick]

2.3 billion so that politicians can whiz around the cesspool easier but they can only scrape together enough money for 74 miles of fence or wall for 2000 miles of border fence.

Effing traitors one and all.

[relee]

and they want to raise the gas tax because there’s not enough money for highway construction

[nicollo]

Thanks for straightening me out on that. I used to live in Vienna and I really really don’t miss that corridor outside the beltway.

Sadly, I was under the impression that Arlington had finally agreed to add an additional lane on its portion of 66, so it was wishful reading of the article on my part. The Arlington idiots will never budge on 66 even though there’s plenty of space for the additional lanes. They threw a fit over running HOT lanes on 395 through Arlington, all in the name of “air quality,” so we now have near empty HOV3 lanes and stifled traffic on the regular lanes that just spit fumes (see https://www.surrey.ac.uk/mediacentre/press/2017/latest-research-reveals-sitting-traffic-jams-officially-bad-you) all the way to the Fairfax line. So stupid.

They do so many ridiculous and expensive things here in the name of social engineering, such as turning 4 lane roads into 2 lanes w/ a bike lane, unnecessary side walk expansion, speed bumps, etc. They even tried to turn an access road along Rte 50 into a bike path that would have blocked not just parking but driveway & garage entrances for homeowners — for a 300 yard bike path that began and ended nowhere. Despicable.

[palmer]

They were talking about expanding, and they expanded one stretch of 66 inside the beltway but only for an exit lane. Instead they just finished putting up overhead toll collection devices. So now they will allow any to pay big bucks to use the (mostly) 2 lanes at any time. The HOV-2 people will still drive for free.

But looking at the plans, I see I was wrong. They are going to do some widening starting 2018: http://inside.transform66.org/faqs/default.asp (click on Eastbound Widening).

I thought because they added the 2 lane overhead tolls that they were done, but they are not.

[gundog]

I think Oregon just slapped a $15 tax on bikes costing over $200.

[gundog]

Never mind that every bike lane in the country is next to traffic.

[Blue Jays]

"...bicycles should be taxed..."

---

It is always hilarious when the bicycle-hating crowd here promotes MORE TAXES like a bunch of leftwingers.
Meanwhile, if hundreds of automobiles are replaced by people cycling to work...it improves THEIR commutes, too.

[cyclotic]

How in the world did you find a nine month old thread to comment on?

And I agree with you.