Police activity at Horner
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Topic: Police activity at Horner
Posted By: jhatton1980
Subject: Police activity at Horner
Date Posted: 12 Mar 2004 at 8:12am
I am curious to hear everyone's thoughts on the recent police activity at the "new" Horner lot.
When I was there on Tuesday morning, everything seemed pretty normal. I was sick on Weds. and Thurs.
Then this morning I arrive to find a police officer directing the slug cars out of the traditional line and into the parking lot. This forced the line of waiting sluggers to move off of the sidewalk and into the parking lot. A dangerous situation, given how erratically some people were driving.
I assume this is being done so the line of waiting cars will not block the bus lane. When the officer was asked why this was being done, he told us that the police received a request to keep the lane clear, but he did not know who submitted the request.
All in all, it is a pretty annoying turn of events, given hat the line has been been established in that spot for over a year.
But wait, there is more!
I also learned that many cars were ticketed for illegal parking yesterday. The cars fell into one of two categories:
1. Cars that parked beyond the end of a parking row, over top of the striped paint, were ticketed. This seems pretty reasonable. We should know not to park over a stiped paint area.
2. Cars that were parked along curbs and sidewalks were also ticketed. This is not reasonable to me. There are no "No Parking" signs by the sidewalks and curbs. There is no striped paint and no paint on the curb. i have no problem with them deciding to restrict parking along a curb or sidewalk for a valid reason (fire lane, handicap access, etc..) but the MUST put signage up to indicate this, before they start ticketing.
I can't imagine that the parking tickets could have been tied to any request to keep the bus lane clear. I have to assume that these parking tickets were just tickets of opportunity. The cops were there any way, so they might as well get some parkers and meet those quotas!
I will be contacting Ruth Griggs about this, as she has always been so active in supporting commuter issues. I will post any response I receive in this space.
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Replies:
Posted By: 18thstreetcommuter
Date Posted: 13 Mar 2004 at 10:28am
A couple of weeks ago I received a parking ticket for parking on the white stripes. I knew it was wrong but there were no spots available at that time (approx. 7:45). I had never parked along the curb or on the white stripes before but I was running very late and took my chances. So ... pressing the snooze button too many times that morning cost me $25. I've learned by lesson, promptely paid my ticket and won't park there again.
I knew it was only a matter of time until PWC would get involved. Everyday this week the line caused traffic hazards because cars lined far up onto Telegraph and people were making illegal right turns into the parking lot.
The root cause of the problem is the line was reversed.
People have forgotten the primary reason for slugging---to get to work promptly as possible with as little friction from people, traffic and police. While revsering the line curbs the line cheaters, it creates a much longer slug line and creates a traffic hazard on Telegraph. This is probably why the police were called. And, people were making illegal right turns into the parking lot.
The way I see to fix this is to once-and-for-all ..... split the line into 2 lines, based on what was done for the Pent/Ross/CC line! Line 1 for 14th and L'Enfant. Line 2 for 18th and Navy Yard.
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Posted By: mlrdad
Date Posted: 15 Mar 2004 at 9:47am
Just thought I would pass along a quote from someone from the Navy Yard on police activity on the 12th at Horner Road. Sheds some light on what is going on.
"I just wanted to give all of you a heads up regarding Horner Rd. Friday
morning closer to the 7am hour a cop was at our slug line to keep cars and
slugs from lining up where we normally line up. He stated to me that we
were not to use that area as a slug lane because it was clearly marked for
buses and that we were causing problems on Telegraph Rd. Apparently, when
the car line backs up onto Telegraph cars were crossing the yellow line to
pass us. He said we were to find somewhere else to set up our slug line.
Needless to say Friday morning was a mess, leaving people to wander around
the back parking lot trying to find rides and riders. This morning however,
around the 6:30 hour, things were normal, so who knows what will happen the
rest of the week. "
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Posted By: rupshur
Date Posted: 15 Mar 2004 at 10:05am
I totally agree with "18thstreetcommuter" who said the way to fix this is to once-and-for-all ..... split the line into 2 lines, based on what was done for the Pent/Ross/CC line! Line 1 for 14th and L'Enfant. Line 2 for 18th and Navy Yard.
What steps need to be taken to get this line splitting action underway?
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Posted By: cin
Date Posted: 18 Mar 2004 at 5:41pm
Responding to the parking tickets being issued....
18thstreetcommuter - you mentioned there was no parking at approximately 7:45 a.m. Not sure where you normally park, sounds like the upper lot closest to 95, and if that is the case, then it is hard to find parking the closer to 8 a.m. that you get. I've been faced with it many days. But rather than park in the striped areas or along a curb, I end up going down to the lower lot by Telegraph Road. Even as late as 8:15 a.m., there are spaces available. The only down side to that is if you slug from the upper lot (Pentagon-Rosslyn-CC), you have to walk back up. I'm glad to hear you won't park there again!!
jhatton1980 - Not sure where you normally park either, but if you park in the upper lot by 95, it is a real mess! Cars are parking in the striped areas and along every available curb. There may be no parking signs for the curb parking, but there should be. It is becoming dangerous for drivers and sluggers. Trying to get around these cars and not being able to see if a car or slugger is coming from the direction you are going is a real hazard. Before long, someone is going to get hit and hurt!
My understanding is that the police check this website on a regular basis, so they have probably seen the messages about this problem and eventually responded. And yes, I was the one to first post the parking problem, but no, I did not personally call the police. But I am glad that they are aware of it; I'm just not sure the problem will go away anytime soon. Everyone seems to like Horner lot now because of its convenience, so we have more people coming there to drive and/or slug and obviously not enough parking - AGAIN!!
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