K Street Transitway and 18th Street NW

I didn't go to the K Street Transitway meeting on Wednesday night because I had to stay home and watch the season finale of The Bachelorette (Who would she choose?). Luckily David Alpert did.

At WABA's urging, many cyclists attended the meeting to evaluate the impact of the alternatives on cyclists. Reactions were mixed. On the one hand, a bike lane all along K Street gives cyclists a facility that's not present today and isn't present in the two-lane transitway option. However, would trucks and taxis simply park in the bike lane on a regular basis, forcing cyclists to leave and making it more harrowing? Some agreed with my suggestion yesterday to focus instead on high-quality separated, buffered bicycle lanes ("cycle tracks") on parallel one-way streets, while others felt that it was important to make K Street truly multimodal. They also pointed out that even with parallel bicycle facilities, some cyclists will be traveling to and from destinations on K Street.

There may be ways to better separate the bike lane. One person suggested raising it up to sidewalk level, placing the gutter and curb between the roadway and the bicycle lane and essentially making the bicycle lane a specially painted extension of the sidewalk. Many European towns do this with their bicycle lanes. The bicycle lane could also occupy a middle height, or have a mountable curb separating it from the roadway. However, other cyclists worried that such treatment would make it difficult for cyclists to pass slower cyclists, dog walkers, or others that might intrude on the lane, as they couldn't easily jump over to the car lane if necessary.

WABA prefers the design with bike lanes to the ones without. But ideally, they'd like to see cycletracks added in. WABA believes that this would be an ideal solution for K Street and should be considered in the Environmental Assessment no matter what transitway and travel lane configurations move forward. They're concerned, as David noted above, that the bike lanes would be clogged with parked delivery vehicles.

WABA's recommendation is that a cycle track with the following design characteristics be considered as the Environmental Assessment moves forward:

• The cycle tracks should be one way, but wide enough to allow cyclists to pass each other if necessary.  In general, the recommended width of cycle tracks is six and a half feet, but can be narrowed to five feet where right of way is constrained.  
• The cycle track should be at a slightly lower grade than the sidewalk to avoid pedal strikes and be constructed with a beveled curb to allow for mounting of the curb in case an emergency maneuver is necessary.
• To the left of the cycle track, loading zone areas can be created, but a minimum of a two- to three-foot buffer between the loading areas and the cycle track is required.  The curb between the cycle track and loading zone areas should be mountable by emergency vehicles.
• Roadway crossings should be well marked and colored bike lanes should be striped through intersections.  Bike lanes on segments of K Street where formal separation of the bikeway is not an option, should also be colored.
• A bike parking plan should also be developed to address the lack of bike parked created by the move to multi-space meters.

Sort of like in the photo (I like the space for bike parking there too) by sfbike

Also, last night was the 18th Street NW meeting. I didn't go to that either, but David Alpert noted yesterday that the new design would have sharrows.

I wonder what they're doing with that odd drive-through space from Columbia to 18th Street between Julia's and the Metro police station. Some people walk through there, but you can leave plenty of space for that while adding a covered bike parking facility on the north side of Julia's.

Comments

[Brendan]

I bike K Street alot, right in the main roadway. I'd rather have smooth pavement and get rid of those broken brick sidewalks, than a dedicated bike lane. I can go alot faster and safer on a smoothed out K Street than I can in a pedestrian filled bike lane.

[Brendan]

that should be broken brick CROSSWALKS

[ABC]

About the only difference between a bicycle track and a sidewalk is the legality of riding there. Pedestrians will ignore the distinction.

[Kenney]

I'm with Brendan. I haven't read up on the general plans for K Street, but overall, I'm skeptical of bike lanes and special bike infrastructure. Often, these types of concessions to cyclists are just that: concessions. The root problem is glossed over, which is that drivers aren't being educated about the legitimacy of cycling on the road.

As it pertains to street planning, the focus should be more on safety and flow for all users. Most planners will tell you that the traffic circle (ones WITHOUT traffic lights...Dupont Circle is such a mess) is king when it comes to making roads safer and more efficient. Too often, city officials and planners see their primary transportation responsibility as keeping traffic moving at its maximum legal velocity.

I could go on forever on this topic (I work in transportation), but the main point is that we need to foster mutual respect between drivers and cyclists, and to build infrastructure (like traffic circles...) that allow us to safely police ourselves, instead of coming up with complicated, cluttered road and sidewalk designs that encourage us to be passive when we walk, bike or drive.

[Micah]

I like a Euro-style cycle lane with a buffer. If it catches on pedestrians will stay off it for the most part- I picture joggers cloging it up but you can't make everyone happy.

I didn't make it hom in time for the meeting OR The Bachelorette; thank God for Dealiest catch or I'd have to read.

[MS]

A concession to cyclists? Ridiculous. I'd much rather see infrastructure that offers the possibility of safe cycling (various techniques to separate bikes and traffic) than to tackle driver education. That's an uphill climb that'll put a dent in the issue at best. Jeez... just switch the locations of the damn parking lanes and bike lanes and we're half way there in most cases.

[Kenney]

Haha, Micah. I did have time for the K Street meeting, and fully intended to go, but instead opted for the outdoor movie night sponsored in part by WABA. Surprisingly, there were actually more Vespa riders there than cyclists.

[Contrarian]

I'm with Brendan. I ride on K a lot, there's nothing wrong with the way it's currently configured.

The cycle-track that's being proposed sounds like something that would make me very uneasy -- I would expect to be cut off by cars all the time because they're not looking for you, and have no place to go when it happens.

Riding on the road I find I get cut off by turning cars -- "cyclist invisibility" I call it -- but at least I have the full width of the road for evasive maneuvers. Worse, the presence of the cycle-track would probably make motorists more hostile toward cyclists who choose to use the road.

Finally, has any thought been given to what the legal status of a cycle-track is? Is it part of the roadway? Is it a sidewalk? Cyclists are ill-served when infrastructure is created without any thought about how it relates to the infrastructure that already exists. Look at the confusion that exists about what to do when a trail crosses a road. This will be far worse, because it crosses an intersection every block.

[Washcycle]

Hey Contrarian, it's good to see you back here.

[John Mitchell]

"Greedy cyclists"

Please explain why we are struggling to justify squeezing extravagant bike lane wishes into the K Street project. Should we also demand bike lanes along any new Metro tracks?

Put the lanes on L Street and I Street, and leave K Street to the buses.

[Washcycle]

This is awkward. I've proposed that Metro add a bike trail to their new tracks on the silver line, so yes, I guess I might also demand bike lanes along any new Metro tracks.

But to your original question. Here are some reasons to add the lanes to K street.

1. K Street is being done now and I and L are not. A bird in the hand...

2. K Street is longer than L and I and connects directly to Georgetown and the CCT and bridges I-395 (unlike I and L).

3. K Street is an important street and many people work, shop, deliver items etc.. there. It should be multi-modal.

The bike lanes don't take anything away from buses.