The Georgetown Metropolitan

A new mural adorns the rear of the historic Martin’s Tavern. It is the work of Matt Corrado, and it features an artistic depiction of the historic Georgetown theater (the other buildings don’t quite match the true streetscape, but close enough).

The label at the bottom left of the mural indicates that it was made to celebrate small businesses in Georgetown. The label also sheds some light on why exactly the mural depicts a giant elk looming over Wisconsin Ave. It’s sponsored by The Hartford insurance company.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Candidate tries to sue to get into tonight’s Mayoral debate at GU.
• Oh, and the mayor has deigned to actually attend.

Last week GM was awoken in the middle of the night by a loud mechanical noise. It lasted for about 20 seconds, then stopped. Although confused, GM was also pretty tired, and went swiftly back to sleep.

The next morning, however, he was reminded of the noise and checked his security cameras to see if they captured anything interesting. And boy did they.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Mason’s and Tugooh Toys wins Great Streets grant.
• Mystery surrounds child’s grave in historic black cemetery in Georgetown.

Next week the ANC will meet for its June session. It will be on Tuesday (due to the holiday) at 6:30 pm, accessible by Zoom.

There are a few items from the agenda that caught GM’s eye. The first was a consideration of a resolution concerning the proposed “Safer Intersections Amendment Act of 2022”. This bill would make it the default across the city that no turn on red is legal. Right-turn-on-Red was introduced during the energy crisis on the 1970s as a gas-saving measure. Its persistence over the years regardless of decades of cheap gas shows that the real motivation has basically nothing to do with saving gas and everything to do with prioritizing impatient drivers over ever other road user. And the cost of that prioritization is reduced safety for pedestrians and cyclists. There is a reason why New York City never introduced the measure.

GM does not know what position the ANC will take on the bill. Georgetown is just the sort of environment where catering to impatient drivers puts people on foot or on bike at risk. For instance the intersection of Reservoir and Wisconsin absolutely should not allow right turns on red. The reason? Drivers looking to make the right turn on red from Reservoir are an absolute menace. They rarely come to a complete stop before gunning through the light. And their eyes are only looking to the left to see if any cars are coming. They never look for pedestrians crossing with the light from their right. All the drivers care about is finding a hole in the traffic. GM has yelled at countless drivers doing this exact move and they all are absolutely shocked to notice the human being they were about to run over. Right turn on red has no place in Georgetown, no matter how much whining drivers make about having to wait like every other road user (think about how there’s no “right turn on red” policy for pedestrians. They’re expected to wait no matter how clear the intersection is. It’s only drivers whose impatience is considered a problem to be assuaged.)

Here is the rest of the agenda:

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• New logo for Georgetown Main Street.
• Great old photo of Smash Records on M St.

Two Georgetown shops are on the move soon.

The first is Luigi Parasmo salon. It is vacating the rather large space at 1510 Wisconsin Ave to move down the street to 1359 Wisconsin. This new space is part of the redevelopment of some fairly derelict properties by Chris Martin the family that owns Prince and Princess across the street. They’ll soon be joined by a bubble tea joint next door and a fancy French Bakery two doors down.