Upper Beach Drive in Rock Creek Park will stay closed to cars year-round

That view baffled many supporters of preserving the highway for individuals on foot and bikes. After reviewing feedback on its plans, the Park Service introduced Wednesday its view had modified. In a press release, the company stated it was safer to maintain pedestrians and automobiles separated and that closing the highway to automobiles would create extra alternatives for individuals with disabilities to go to the park.

The talk over Seashore Drive mirrors others taking place across the nation within the pandemic’s third 12 months, as communities weigh what to do with streets that have been closed to offer area for recreation or partly turned over to eating places and cafes for out of doors eating.

“Opening this part of Seashore Drive to pedestrians and cyclists has offered our neighborhood with elevated alternatives for wholesome recreation, better entry to nature and out of doors enjoyment,” Rock Creek Park superintendent Julia Washburn stated in a press release. “We hope to proceed seeing you all on Seashore Drive and ask on your assist as we work to guard delicate habitat surrounding the highway.”

NPS had weighed making Beach Drive car-free every summer

Whereas holding the highway closed had many supporters — together with D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) and members of the D.C. Council — some residents stated it might worsen site visitors on close by residential streets. The Park Service stated it labored with the District Division of Transportation and concluded that site visitors results can be minimal.

The highway was a comparatively minor route for automobiles earlier than the pandemic, the Park Service has stated, carrying between 5,500 and eight,000 automobiles per day. That compares with 50,000 every day automobiles on the close by Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway.

The Park Service stated it’s nonetheless involved concerning the results extra guests may have on pure sources, however that it might handle them by monitoring for unofficial trails and inspiring guests to stay to marked paths.

Jared Davis, who lives within the Crestwood neighborhood east of the park, stated the closure of Seashore Drive has compounded site visitors issues within the space. He stated he was disillusioned by Wednesday’s choice.

“I really feel that on the very least, a compromise of getting it open throughout rush hour was the trail of least resistance,” Davis stated.

The 5 miles of highway that may stay closed embody Bingham Drive and Sherrill Drive, along with three sections of Seashore Drive. A center part of Seashore Drive will stay open for automobiles to entry parking heaps and picnic areas, the Park Service stated.

The choice caps a four-decade marketing campaign by the Individuals’s Alliance for Rock Creek, which has pushed for expanded pedestrian and bike entry to the park whereas gathering hundreds of signatures in assist of year-round closures.

“We’re ecstatic and gratified that this has lastly come about,” stated Peter Harnik, one of many alliance’s leaders.

Colin Browne, a spokesman for the Washington Space Bicyclist Affiliation, stated the closed sections will join right into a broader community of trails and bike lanes that “actually join huge elements of the town to one another and join communities to one another.”

The onset of the pandemic reinvigorated a debate concerning the position of automobiles in cities across the nation as city leaders rushed to shut streets to create space for socially distanced recreation. A lot of these swiftly organized approaches proved unpopular or flawed and have been rolled again, however others endured.

One other part of Seashore Drive in Montgomery County is equally closed to automobiles between Friday mornings and Sunday afternoons, together with elements of the county’s Sligo Creek Parkway. On Monday, Montgomery Parks introduced the following part in a pilot program that includes closing two of 4 lanes on Little Falls Parkway to automobiles and reserving them for recreation.