Downtown Washington has scarcely enough lanes to move traffic. Unfortunately, at any given time, some of them are blocked with delivery trucks.
I asked why downtown has so few alleys these trucks could use instead. A number of you volunteered the answer:
Dear Dr. Gridlock:
I wasn't around during Pierre L'Enfant's time, but I can tell you that when I was a Central Delivery driver in 1970 and '71, downtown was full of alleys where I could park my car during rush hours.
These alleys are not there today because they were closed off to make room for all those gluttonous office buildings.
Andy Moursand
Kensington
Dear Dr. Gridlock:
When I moved to the District in 1967, there were through alleys all over downtown. What happened is that prior to new buildings going up, developers would ask the city government for permission to close an alley.
This gave the developer additional floor area ratio. And that is what happened to all the downtown alleys. These alleys still exist in residential areas. You can cut through alleys all over Chevy Chase, AU Park, Cleveland Park, Forest Hills, etc.
Sue Schumacher
Bethesda
Dear Dr. Gridlock:
The city did, in fact, have a solid network of downtown alleys, but most were allowed to be closed as part of sweetheart deals with private developers.
