Friday Morning Commute - Made in Detroit

Good morning

• As part of its new campus plan, Georgetown agrees to Capital Bikeshare stations “on and near the Main Campus.”
• Pro Cycling returns to Arlington this weekend. And by pro, I mean racing, not being a messenger or delivery person.
• Cyclist hit and injured at dangerous GW Parkway crossing on Tuesday. Though no blame was identified, the Park Police officer added this: cyclists and pedestrians are “required to stop and make sure the roadway is clear before crossing” the section of parkway.
• Everything you need to know about the Tour de Fat
• Bikes that really are "Made in Detroit"

Comments

[Ben]

Good to know that NPS puts the blame on pedestrians and cyclist while in a legal crosswalk.

What's the point in having it then?

[Jacques]

While the overall Georgetown U campus plan is a mixed bag, I was very happy to see the inclusion of more bikeshare stations (on campus and in the neighborhood). It could be a real center of usage (and one that's not subject to the usual dockblock/rush hour crush of Columbia Heights/Dupont to downtown and back).

[D. Murphy]

"cyclists and pedestrians are 'required to stop and make sure the roadway is clear before crossing' the section of parkway."

I thought the law was that crosswalk users couldn't start to cross if the oncoming cars didn't have enough room to stop.

Is the GW parkway designed so that if a car is in sight of a crosswalk there is no way for it to stop? This "requirement" that there be no cars on the roadway at all seems to say that. If so that crossing is never safe. A car could appear suddenly while soemone is crossing and by defintion there won't be space to stop.

Frankly, it sounds like bull to me.

[SJE]

I thought that the pedestrian has a duty to be careful, but that he has the ROW and the cars have to stop.

[oboe]

I thought the law was that crosswalk users couldn't start to cross if the oncoming cars didn't have enough room to stop.

Exactly! But since drivers are universally driving 20+ mph over the posted speed limit, none of them *do* have enough room to stop. See how it works?

Also, 20+ mph over the limit is the "natural" speed limit, because that's the speed that 80% of drivers feel comfortable driving.

[Michael H.]

The Washington Blvd. crossing is just as dangerous as the GW Parkway crossing. The WB crossing is close to a split in the car lanes. So close that it's extremely difficult to tell if a car is going to continue straight or turn right and approach the crosswalk. During the day, there are very few breaks in car traffic, so cyclists and pedestrians are stuck with having to guess at the direction a car will take at high speed.

Those intersections need to be redesigned somehow. The best solution would be overpasses but NPS is likely to be hostile to that idea. Or there need to be reasonable trail alternatives or maybe even a redesign of the car lanes. Something. There are far too many accidents in that area. They replaced the Humpback Bridge nearby because of safety issues (as well as capacity issues). They need to replace or fix the Memorial Bridge area crossings too.