Friday Afternoon Commute - Cardboard

Good afternoon

• Wired's autopia feature covers bike sharing and CaBi in particular. 
• Local retail stores not really impacted by USADA's Lance Armstrong report. Michelob Ultra sales, however, have plummeted. 
• Metro is seeking input on how to improve and how to prepare for the future. So far, only one discussion topic even mentions bicycles or bicycling - and then it is just in passing. I made a list of recommended Metro improvements several years ago (since then #3 and #5 have been enacted), but we could also talk about bike parking, CaBi station space/integration and preventing bike theft and ending full day bike bans such as on the 4th of July. 
• There are some good common sense improvements suggested in this article about the place where the Rock Creek and Potomac Park Trail crosses the old western turnaround of Constitution Avenue. I reeally like the idea of closing the circle and extending the trail straight across the site along the road. It would make for a nice park and perhaps the site of a future memorial. 
• A cyclist crashed on Qunicy Street in Arlington because of a very poorly patched utility cut in the pavement (video), and Mark Blacknell points out that poor pavement is often the cause of crashes. "Failure to aggressively hold itself and others to reasonable standards of safe pavement — both temporary and permanent — does a real disservice to Arlington County." In a later column, he follows up with Dennis Leach, the county's transportation director. 
• A couple of weeks ago, WABA met with Montgomery county officials and representatives of Montgomery Preservation Inc. (MPI) " to resolve the impasse on the trail alignment as it crosses Georgia Avenue and passes the historic B&O Train Station that serves as a headquarters and event space for MPI.  At this meeting, MCDOT officials stated that the agency, the County Executive, and the County Council were committed to the Master Plan Trail Alignment and to a grade separated crossing of Georgia Avenue, and that design work is beginning."  So, according to WABA the issue of alignment is resolved. That's good news. 
• Here's more good news. $2.3 million has been allocated to build a W&OD Trail overpass at Wiehle Avenue. It was funded as part of improvements identified in the Reston Metro Access Group study, in which FABB participated several years ago. "In the interim, $46,000 was allocated for installing a raised median and additional signage there. This is a relatively low cost measure that would help slow motorist at the crosswalk, especially those using the left turn lane."
• "Montgomery County Council President Roger Berliner (D-Dist. 1) of Bethesda has proposed the county seek authority from the state to establish either a local gas or sales tax to fund transportation." This is relevant for two reasons. One, higher gas prices might induce more biking (though probably not much) and, two, some of the money would likely go toward building the Purple Line. The Purple Line will change the Georgetown Branch Trail from an unpaved tree-lined trail that ends suddenly, into a paved and completed Capital Crescent Trail all the way to Silver Spring. 
• Next week, the Virginia Transportation Board will be holding a public meeting in Fairfax to "discuss projects and programs in the CTB’s current Six-Year Improvement Program (SYIP) and provide comments for the development of the Fiscal Years 2014-2019 SYIP"
• The $20 bike with a cardboard frame could change the world. "These bikes need no maintenance and no adjustment, a car timing belt is used instead of a chain, and the tires do not need inflating and can last for 10 years," he said. It would also put an end to bike theft. 

Comments

[Michael H.]

I hope people won't be riding on Monday or Tuesday. The weather conditions could be pretty bad. There's a strong possibility of falling trees, downed power lines, flooding and objects being flung about by strong winds.

In the unlikely case where the storm veers well off to the north and the conditions aren't too bad, you would miss a couple days of riding. But if you underestimate the storm and head out on Monday or Tuesday, that would be much worse than overestimating the storm.