👋🏼 Cuneyt here, back with Town Talker, my column on politics and power.

The District will take until the end of this year to release final concept designs for remaking Connecticut Avenue, delaying the mega bike lane project.

Why it matters: The 2.7-mile redesign of Connecticut Avenue from Woodley Park to Chevy Chase is the city’s greatest bicycle lane battle. It would nix parking spots and a traffic lane on a major commuter alley, and reduce the speed limit from 30mph to 25mph.

• Several recent crashes on the road included a four-vehicle collision last month that killed one driver and hospitalized six others.

What I’m hearing: The District Department of Transportation initially planned to wrap up its roadway designs this spring after beginning in late 2021. But DDOT tells Axios it needs more time to consider suggestions from supporters and opponents. Engineering designs will take about another year thereafter.

• The current concept design puts bicycle lanes from Calvert Street north to Legation Street.
• DDOT tells Axios it is considering an extension several blocks up into Chevy Chase Circle, and widening the bicycle lanes from 5 feet to 7 feet.

🥊 State of play: Advocates and critics are dug in. That includes D.C. restaurant world heavyweight Ashok Bajaj, who owns Bindaas in Cleveland Park. Bajaj recently tweeted that bike lanes there will have a “negative impact on residents and businesses.”

• Cyclists condemned him on Twitter. Some vowed to boycott the famed Indian chef’s restaurants.
• Bob Kotchenreuther, who has run his dry cleaning business for so long that he ended up tattooing the shop name Cleveland Park Valet on his forearm, doesn’t think bikers are his clientele. “It’s hard for them to hold dry cleaning on one hand and steer with the other,” he says.

Read the full story.

Editor's note: This story was corrected to show that DDOT is considering widening the bike lanes from 5 feet to 7 feet (not inches).

The Atlantis, a new intimate music venue by the people behind 9:30 Club, opens next month with a lineup of 44 shows for $44.

Driving the news: I.M.P., which also operates shows at The Anthem, announced yesterday that the new venue, which is a near-replica of the original 9:30 Club that lived on F Street NW, will open next to 9:30’s U Street area location.

Catch up quick: The Atlantis is the name of a short-lived punk club that occupied the F Street venue before the original 9:30 Club took it over.

• Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters broke the news of the forthcoming club in 2021 at the 9:30 Club’s first show since it closed during the pandemic; The Foo Fighters will now christen the new space by performing its first show on May 30.

Details: With a 450-person capacity, the $10 million venue is designed for small, intimate shows. I.M.P. says it’ll be exactly like the original 9:30 — without the huge rats and stench. But per a press release, it will have some sort of a “nod to the infamous pole,” that once obstructed the views of attendees.

The intrigue: The Atlantis’ inaugural show schedule, running from May 30 with the Foo Fighters through Sept. 29 with Maggie Rogers, includes big names like Joan Jett, Living Colour, Parliament-Funkadelic, Barenaked Ladies, Tove Lo, and Tegan and Sara.

• This year is also the 44th year at the 9:30 Club—hence the ticket prices and number of artists.

Keep reading ... How to score tickets

After eight months of construction and $384 million, Metro’s Yellow Line will reopen on May 7 at 7am.

Why it matters: Ridership is increasing and Metro needs all of its available resources to keep up with demand.

• Late last month the agency had its busiest Sunday since 2015 with 340,000 trips systemwide.

What’s happening: The roughly 40-year-old Yellow Line bridge and tunnel were in need of repairs, including fixing water leaks. The reopening aligns with Metro’s original timeline.

Note: In a move that Metro says will save money and improve wait times, the reopened line will run a shorter route from Huntington to Mt. Vernon Square instead of going to Greenbelt.

Paige’s thought bubble: I went 85 feet underground (nine flights of stairs!) to tour the renovated tunnel yesterday with a group of reporters. It’s surprisingly clean down there, and I’m happy to report zero rat sightings.

What’s next: The new Potomac Yard Station, which is between Braddock Road in Alexandria and Reagan National on the Yellow and Blue lines, is also supposed to open next month. But Metro has yet to announce an official date.

🚨 Roy McGrath, the former Maryland official who went on the run, is believed to have shot himself during a traffic stop in Tennessee, according to a law enforcement document. The FBI also fired shots and it’s unclear which gunshots led to his death. (Washington Post)

🗳️ The D.C. Council voted unanimously to decriminalize street vending without a license, create certain vending zones, and waive licensing citations. (DCist)

🏗️ New plans at Skyland Town Center in Southeast call for 126 townhouses, an affordable senior living center, and a park. (UrbanTurf)

💼 Check out the fresh open positions in the city.

1. Chief Human Resources Officer at WAMU.
2. Tax Manager at Intelsat.
3. Manager, Value Added Services Implementation at Intelsat.
4. Health Care Director, Drug Pricing at Arnold Ventures.
5. Development Manager at Nuclear Threat Initiative.

Want more opportunities? Check out our Job Board.

Hiring? Post a Job.

Four new vending machines installed around D.C. offer free Narcan, an overdose-reversing drug, and fentanyl testing strips.

Why it matters: Fentanyl was behind nearly every overdose death last year through August 31, with a disproportionate impact on Black and senior D.C. residents.

The big picture: D.C. has heralded the availability of Narcan — which a few years ago became available without a prescription at local pharmacies — as a central piece in the effort to reduce opioid deaths.

Driving the news: The vending machines are strategically placed in locations with higher-than-average drug use, officials say.

Keep reading ... Where the machines are

It turns out some in Washington state are upset we call ourselves Washingtonians, reports — uh — Washingtonian magazine.

• “My immediate response is that we got it first, so they can just suck it up,” historian Jane Levey of the DC History Center tells the magazine. “I mean, come on.”