Summary of the Bicycle Advisory Council's Ward 4 bike accessibility tour

Jameel Alsalam, the D.C. Bicycle Advisory Council's Ward 4 representative, led a tour on June 23 that focused on ways to improve bike facilities and connectivity in the ward. Among the areas explored were the roads surrounding the site of the planned Walmart development at Georgia and Missouri avenues and the area surrounding Walter Reed. Tour participants also assessed the signed bike route on Eighth Street NW and other streets that run parallel to Georgia Avenue that are often used as alternatives to that main arterial by cyclists. Additionally, they evaluated the challenges that crossing Rock Creek Park presents to Ward 4 cyclists needing to access Ward 3.

The summary, which includes the committee's recommendations for improving bicycle connectivity at the sites mentioned above, can be found on the Bicycle Advisory Council's blog.

SMD meeting for 4B04 residents Wednesday, June 20

An SMD meeting for ANC 4B04 residents will be held this Wednesday evening. The owner of Chez Aunty Libe restaurant (6115 Georgia Avenue NW), who has recently applied for a Class D liquor license, has been invited to attend and answer your questions regarding the application. (ANC 4B will vote on the application at its meeting on June 25.)

Where: Emery Recreation Center, 5701 Georgia Avenue NW, Room 200
When: Wednesday, June 20, 7:00 p.m.

Bicycle Advisory Council's Ward 4 tour set for June 23

Have ideas for improving bicycle access and facilities in Ward 4? Here's a good opportunity to express them. From Jameel Alsalam, the Ward 4 representative on the DC Bicycle Advisory Council:

Please join the Bicycle Advisory Council's Facilities Committee (BAC-FAC) on a ride or 'rolling meeting' on Saturday, June 23, 2012. The ride will begin at 1:30 PM near the Capital BikeShare station at the corner of 9th Street and Upshur NW.

On this ride, the Committee will examine bike accessibility and connectivity to commercial areas in Ward 4, particularly along Georgia Avenue NW and including the Walter Reed and Walmart development sites. BAC-FAC would like your thoughts on what bicycling facilities should be considered for this area and your concerns about road safety, signage or other issues.

Please contact Jameel Alsalam or Jeanie Osburn if you have questions about the ride.

Why is Walmart still distributing promotional materials asking for support from District residents?

I came home on Saturday to find this postcard wedged into my storm door. It's a condensed version of the mailer that Walmart sent to D.C. residents just over one year ago, in May of 2011. One neighbor mentioned that she saw a small group of people gathered at the Curtis Chevrolet site on Saturday afternoon carrying clipboards; it looked as though they were about to set out canvassing in the neighborhood. I assume they were the ones who left the postcard at my door, and had I been at home I might have had the pleasure of speaking with them face to face. If anyone reading spoke to the canvassers directly, I'd be interested in hearing what was said.

I'm really surprised that Walmart is still distributing promotional pieces like this, as all of the conversations I've had with the developers have led me to conclude that Walmart fully intends to build stores at both of its chosen sites in Ward 4 (the Curtis Chevrolet site at Georgia and Missouri Avenues NW, and the planned Fort Totten Square development at Riggs Road and South Dakota Avenue NE). However, the distribution of this postcard indicates that the company still feels it's necessary to try to assuage community opposition to their projects. Are both Ward 4 Walmart plans really done deals, as the company has been insisting they are?


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