'M' is for mad as hell

It also so happens that Bilnoski supported McDaniel's opponent, Sharon Boyd, in his last two runs for city council.

As for the traffic plan, it now languishes at City Hall, awaiting further study and at least two more public hearings, Poss says. "I can't make a firm commitment," she says, when asked when the plan might be resurrected. "I am not the engineer. But I'm hopeful it will be within 90 days."

Back on and around the M streets, the buzz is that the traffic plan is barely alive.

"It's dead," Ramsland says. "People are realizing it doesn't make sense to spend taxpayers' money on this right now."

Joy Bell isn't about to give up. She's joined in a couple of neighborhood pickets to help keep the issue out front, and more guerrilla tactics are in the works as well.

"The city wants to just flush this down the drain and we're not going to let that happen," she says. "We've got plans to keep this alive. We're asking our neighbors to start parking on the street. If the city can't support us on something the majority supports, we'll have to slow the traffic down some other way.