Monday Morning Commute - Scare Tactics

Happy Halloween.

• At the T-intersection between the 14th Street Bridge ramp and the MVT they put a little more pavement down, making it easier for cyclists to make the turn. I still wish this had been made into an A-intersection.
• The first platform for the CaBi station at Courthouse in Arlington is under construction.
• MD and VA residents - contact your Senators. A couple of letters to the editor defend TE as well. Also, the Senators who oppose TE are saying things that aren't true. In fact of the 39 items Sen Coburn listed, several are flawed examples.
  • No transportation aid was spent on the coffee pot's $100,000 restoration, said Olga Herbert, executive director of the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor. The money was raised entirely from preservation and civic organizations and local supporters.
  • Also on Coburn's list was a lighthouse renovation in the harbor of Toledo, Ohio, that would be partly funded with $500,000 in federal money. Actually, no transportation dollars have been authorized or awarded.
  • Coburn's list includes a 1996 grant for preservation of a "factory used to make saddletrees" — the foundation of a riding saddle — in Madison, Ind. Not mentioned is that the grant wouldn't qualify for enhancement money under current program rules
  • The Texas Department of Transportation is described as spending $16.2 million in enhancement money to restore the Battleship Texas, docked in the Houston Ship Channel. U.S. transportation officials said an application for the money was turned down.
  • The list cited landscaping to screen a junkyard in Aiken, S.C. After checking with state and local authorities, federal officials said the project was canceled years ago and again, no funds were awarded.
  • The simulator theater is really a driver-education classroom for free driving classes for older people and teenagers, not a chance to pretend to be behind the wheel of a Corvette, museum officials said.
  • The "Turtle Tunnel" was paid for with stimulus money, makes driving safer and came in under its $3M budget. Coburn said it would cost over $9M and wasn't finished.
• One again, the difference between a bike critic and a bike advocate is a 2 hour bike ride. "It was a revealing experience for a guy who had thought of bikes as more of a toy than a real vehicle, one that should be tried by any driver guilty of making the same mistake."
• High school cycling teams hit the new section of the Three Notch Trail. "So far, St. Mary’s is the only public school system in the state to start a cycling program. He said there has been interest from other counties, including neighboring Charles County, in starting cycling programs as part of the corollary sports initiative. The corollary sports teams were created to give students with a variety of disabilities the chance to participate in team sports, he said. The teams are open to any students, though, and there are a few without disabilities participating now, he said."
• Some unauthorized, but much-wanted, pavement markings in Portland are going to be removed by the state DOT. I like these, and I really wish we had more on-pavement directions on trails. I think they're much easier to understand. 

Photo of Courthouse CaBi station construction by Chris Hamilton

Comments

[Richard Layman]

re the pavement markings. Last week, I couldn't find my arlington bike map and I went to a planning session for Columbia Pike at a middle school off Rte. 50 and Carlin Springs Rd.

I had never ridden out that way, and I relied on my understanding of the geography out there (very weak), and as it got dark, I ended up getting lost. (Pretty embarassing.)

I should have just stayed on the W&OD but I didn't, I deviated and ended up going in a big circle, and then back to the W&OD.

Having map signage at major road/gateways, or destination signage for major roads along trails would be very helpful.

[Kolohe]

They've also just finished paving the bike trail underpass on the southern side of the Humpack bridge (just to the left of the pic border), but right now, the trail it connects to dead ends about half-way around the Boundary Channel.