Fwd: Comments Needed for Upper Beach Drive

[Gregg]

-----Original Message-----
From: Peter Harnik, PARC <advo...@waba.org>
To: Gregg Solomon <g1...@netscape.net>
Sent: Mon, Aug 2, 2021 11:38 am
Subject: Comments Needed for Upper Beach Drive

Dear Gregg,

Earlier this summer, you signed our petition to keep parts of upper Beach Drive open to people and closed to commuter traffic seven days a week. With your help, we surpassed 6,200 signatures for Rock Creek Park Seven Days a Week. And most exciting, the National Park Service (NPS), which has the final say, began a formal study of doing just that!

Weigh in Here

NPS put two options on the table. Concept #2 maintains the current upper Beach Drive car-free zones for seven days a week. Concept #1 would bring weekday automobile commuter traffic back to upper Beach Drive as it was before the pandemic. They are also considering variations based on time of day, day of the week, or park area. The People’s Alliance for Rock Creek (PARC) enthusiastically supports Concept #2, and we hope that you will too.

Now is the time to share your story.

NPS has begun an official comment period and is inviting the public to express their position on Beach Drive’s future management. They’ve told us that petitions will not be considered —they want to hear your thoughts in your own words. So speak up for Rock Creek Park Seven Days a week (Concept 2), share what this recreation space has meant to you, and ensure that the Park Service is considering the most relevant factors. 

NPS is collecting written comments through its website or by mail. We highly recommend drafting comments first in a text editor, then copying into the webform to ensure you do not lose your work.

Submit Your Comment Here

Not sure what to say? Short, personal statements are best. 

• How and when do you use upper Beach Drive?
• What do you see as the benefits or drawbacks of the options for you, your family, or your community?
• How would you like to use the park?
• Find more inspiration here.

For further information on the NPS planning process and to see slides from the recent public meeting, click here. The comment deadline is Sunday, August 22, 2021.

Thank you for supporting this important effort. You may know that both the D.C. Council and the Montgomery County Council have strongly endorsed the idea of keeping Beach Drive free of weekday commuters. But they are not the decision-makers on this. Rock Creek Park is a national park and the final decision is made by the National Park Service – in consultation with the American people – you and me.

This year – 2021 – could be the only time we will ever have this opportunity. If upper Beach Drive is reopened to weekday commuter traffic, we won’t have another chance for its four miles of clean air, quiet and healthful safety.

Your original signature on the petition got us to where we are – now we need to convince the National Park Service that there is a groundswell of support of “Rock Creek Park Seven Days a Week.”

Thank you. If you want to know more about the work of the People’s Alliance for Rock Creek (PARC), please visit: waba.org/PARC.

--Peter Harnik, for PARC

P.S. The NPS comment period ends on August 22, 2021, so don’t put this off!

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