I was driving on Montrose Road in Rockville the other day and saw for the first time the scope of the Montrose Parkway project, and I must admit that I was shocked. This thing is huge. It looks more like the construction of an interstate highway than the little cut-through it was sold to be. I know that Montrose Road is a congested mess (I used to work nearby) but this “parkway” seems like overkill. I covered it for a while when it was in the planning stages and never really understood the need to connect I-270 and Executive Boulevard other than to take some traffic away from Montrose Road. I imagine that this highway will be a blessing to the many schools and synagogues along the road, but at what cost?
Metro’s elevator/escalator chief takes your questions today
If you’ve had a question, comment or concern about Metro’s elevators and escalators, and I know that many of you do, this might be your chance to go right to the source. From noon until 1 p.m., David Lacosse, Metro’s director of elevator and escalator maintenance, will be part of an online chat and discuss the system’s 588 escalators and 220 elevators. You’ll probably hear that Metro operates more “vertical transportation” than any other system in the world and has some of the longest escalators ever built.
Of course that doesn’t mean a lot if the one or two that you use every day seem to be constantly broken or under repair. To log onto the chat, visit www.wmata.com/chat/chatsList.cfm.
The fine line of a parking ticket
Rita writes: “I’ve been parking at the Glenmont garage since it opened several years ago. I never knew that straddling the white line of a parking space is a violation of the law until I received a $50 ticket. I’m aware that parking in the designated handicap spaces and parking in the reserved spaces warrants a fine. We learned that in driver’s education, and it’s posted all over the parking garage. But this was a sudden surprise. It’s not taught in driver’s education or noted anywhere else. I know there is no excuse for ignorance of the law but this is a buried secret to catch us ignorant ones. Thought others should be aware of the penalty.”
Taking up two spaces when Metro parking is already at a premium should be a ticketable offense. However, if Rita only had a tire on the white line divided the spaces then I would think that others could still use the space next to her. I guess what we need here is a bit more information. At the same time, it seems like all parking lots were designed in the late 1970s when every car was small because of the gas crisis. These days the Expeditions and Escalades and Navigators and Hummers so many drive barely squeeze into a legal space. Maybe parking lots should be restriped with a little extra space if tickets are going to be issued for “straddling the white lines.” Or maybe we’ll all start driving smaller vehicles again and fit into those spaces nicely.
Questions, comments, random musings? Write to [email protected].
