By brownpau
Much gratitude to DC DDOT for paving over what I affectionately call “The Button Moat” around the pedestrian crossing button at Rock Creek Parkway and Virginia Ave NW in Foggy Bottom. (Bigger before-and-after-pictures after the jump.) Continue reading
By Max
I was buzzing around the Internets today (as I do), looking for interesting photos, reading up on celebrity gossip, browsing through drink recipes, Googling people’s names – you know how it goes. Little did I know that when I clicked on one of my RSS feeds I would be slapped in the face by what seems like a brilliant idea: Scramble Intersections!
By brownpau
So I was running a bit late for work this morning and took a cab. As we passed through downtown, WTOP on the radio warned of traffic around 18th and K Streets NW, as a pedestrian had been hit by a car around that intersection. As luck would have it, the taxi had just arrived there, and sure enough there was a backup of about half a block — nothing too bad, and I got to work just fine.
Well, guess who hit the pedestrian: Robert Novak, in his black Corvette. He says he didn’t even know he’d hit anyone till a passing biker told him. Police detained Novak on the scene for about an hour and gave him a citation (no arrest); the pedestrian, as yet unnamed, was brought to GWU with arm pain. WJLA has posted a raw video interview with Novak immediately following his emergence from an MPD cruiser.
Update: Additional info, commentary, and schadenfreude from Washington Post, DCist, Politico, TMZ (where he blames NPR for distracting him), Think Progress, Wonkette, and The Carpetbagger Report.
By brownpau
It’s usually pretty simple to get across Rock Creek Parkway when walking between Washington Harbour and Foggy Bottom near the Watergate (map) — the button to get a WALK light is actually responsive, and vehicular traffic at that particular location is unusually generous to pedestrians for a DC intersection.
But when it rains, then comes the challenge: the button lies behind a muddy moat (okay, puddle) through which one must wade and risk the wetting of feet and pants legs to get a WALK light.
And it gets worse in winter, when the puddle freezes over. Can someone get that paved, please?