TheWashCycle

Wednesday Afternoon Commute - Auntie Emm

Good afternoon

• Restoration of Memorial Bridge could result in it being closed for 40-100 days. But not for a few years. I doubt any major improvements would be included for cyclists, but what would you change?
• New CaBi stations at S. Arlington Mill Dr & Campbell Ave and S. Kenmore & 24th St S. And then...US Navy Capital Bikeshare? Ironically, you can't ride a bike where it is parked. 
• May is Bike Month.
• Maryland and DC guide to the East Coast Greenway - and Baltimore's trails are marked.
• "Using a helmet to protect your head in a tornado is a NO BRAINER!"

TR Bridge sidewalk to be closed for PEPCO work

Pepco will be temporarily closing the sidewalk on the I-66/Theodore Roosevelt Bridge (Date and Duration: TBD) during regular business hours (9:00am-3:30pm)  to perform reliability work on the transformers servicing the street lights and traffic signals.

Date and duration will be made public a week before it starts. 

11th street bridges overlook platforms

If you look at this 2009 planning drawing for the 11th Street Bridges, you can see the Bridge Overlooks that extend from the new bridge onto the old bridge's southern abutments. They recently started working on the supports for those (you can see the second pair in the back wrapped in black plastic). 

I wonder if they're still planning to install osprey nest perches on the northern abutments? You know where they should put another one of those - "Osprey Bridge".

Monday Morning Commute - BART

Today might be your last, best chance to see the Pan Stars comet with the naked eye. Around 7:40 pm in the western sky. 

• Tomorrow, cyclists riding from Newtown, CT to ask for comprehensive gun control legislation will stop at Proteus Bikes where they hope other like-minded people will join them for the last few miles into DC. 
• The 11th Street Bridge's 16-foot wide sidewalk should open in late May or early June. "Walkers and bikers will have access to several scenic overlooks under construction in the middle of the span." As a statement to the sad shape of the old bridge, even the temporary set-up they're using now is better than the old facility. 
• Two new bikeshare locations have been approved in Georgetown. " One station will be located next to the CVS on O Street NW at Wisconsin Avenue and the second will be located on what is currently an empty lot where 34th Street intersects with Water Street, NW "
• During the bike summit, bicycle industry leaders toured DC's protected bike lanes.
• DCBAC testimony at the oversight hearing.
• Matt Yglesias responds to AAA's claim that the new parking regs are dangerous. 
• Spring 2013 adult cycling classes
• Lots of MSM coverage of the 26% increase in reported bike crashes in Fairfax County in 2012. "According to the records of the 15 accidents involving bikes in January and February of 2012, bicyclists were determined to be at fault in seven of them. Of those seven incidents, only one biker was given a citation. The offense was riding on the wrong side of the road." I suspect the uptick is, in part, the results of better reporting. 
• Conservatives and liberals agree - taxing bicycles for GHG emissions is stupid. 
• San Francisco is going to try another round of bikes on BART, allowing bikes in all stations and on trains at all hours on every Friday. "We heard from countless bike riders on both sides of the Bay that the August pilot opened up regional commuting by bike for both experienced bike riders and those wanting to give it a try for the first time,” 
• Less federal transportation funding could be coming down the pipe. 
• London planning to become more bike friendly.

Tuesday Morning Commute - Logo

Good morning

• Many DC bridges need repairs. Could these represent opportunities for better bike connections?
• BAC testifies before the DC Council at the annual oversight hearing. 
• The Washington state representative who claimed that heavy breathing by cyclists contributes to climate change backpedals.
• The League gets a new logo. 

Thursday Evening Commute - Girls Gone Broke

Good evening

• Union Station Plaza is complete. Construction included a block of bike lanes and a section of the MBT of a length shorter than Marquis Goodwin can jump. Still, that's progress.
• There were 126,398 CaBi trips and 135,458 miles traveled in January 2013. The number of trips increased by 2% from December 2012.
• LAB helps fund WABA's Women and Bicycles initiative.
• The Post has a lenghty piece on the future of professional cycling. I haven't read it yet.
• Some advocates think a bike fee may make sense. I would argue that cyclists already pay a sales tax on all their bicycle, accessory and service purchases. And sales taxes go to paying for infrastructure. So cyclists already pay a bike fee. The question is, should they pay a larger one.
• At this link, check out the photo of the "Rough Riding Contest" at Meridian Hill in 1895. It's a bunch of cyclists on penny farthings. I think I see the next Dandies and Quaintrelles ride theme. Seriously, I want to know more about this, and does anyone know where the actual photo can be found?
• Maryland's bicycle symposium coverage.
• Rockingham County, VA could get a county-wide bicycle and pedestrian plan.
• It's funny I was just in a conversation yesterday about this issue (in advance of the Bike Summit). At AASHTO’s annual Washington conference, DOT Secretary Ray Lahood said that U.S. DOT was getting into the business of issuing its own design standards, instead of simply accepting the AASHTO guidelines. "Cycling advocates have long criticized the AASHTO guide, and the FHWA’s adherence to it, since even the most recent version doesn’t incorporate the latest thinking in bicycle and pedestrian safety treatments." They will still work with AASHTO, but they should also get more input from NACTO which has it's own set of standards (Which CaBi GM Eric Gilliland helped develop). This has the potential to be an enormous win for cyclists and cycling.   
• "Hell on wheels" + Pope
• This bridge would be the coolest. We could do the same thing on the Bay Bridge.

 

Friday Morning Commute - % on sidewalks

Good morning

• MV Jantzen has another map of biking in DC. This time using bicycle count data. Be sure to play with the picklist on the bottom to see how things differ when you look at helmet use or CaBi use. For example, the statistics tell you that 27% of cyclists counted were on sidewalks, but when you choose "% on sidewalk" you see that almost all the dark red ones are on bridges. Helmet use really goes down east of the river, perhaps lending support to the idea that helmet laws especially hurt the poor.
• Gotta listen to the boss. 
• On Feb 13, the Rockville Planning Commission discussed the final draft of Rockville’s Pike Plan and a set of associated zoning requirements for the area along Rockville Pike from just south of Town Center to the city’s southern border. "The draft plan calls for a boulevard design on Md. 355 with more side streets, low-speed access roads and pedestrian crossings. It also seeks to bring new buildings closer to sidewalks and to break up the area into smaller, more walkable blocks...The new Pike Plan was prompted by concerns about traffic, accommodations for pedestrians and bicyclists, and development interest near the Twinbrook Metro station, which opened in 1984, according to the draft plan."

What "Get off the road!" results in

This is the Cabin John Bridge. 

 In 1884 the first recorded bicycle crossing on the parapet top was recorded in the local newspapers. The story quickly became quite famous and the etching on the right was included in a national publication later the same year. 

 This dare-devil feat was repeated many times over the years, up until at least the 1960's by several Cabin John youngsters. The addition of iron railings on top of the parapet finally brought the practice to an end. 

I hope they were wearing helmets.

"Fix it First" could be good for cyclists

In the State of the Union Speech, President Obama called for a "Fix it First" approach to transportation improvement. Transportation4America's David Goldberg was happy to hear the focus on repair and so should bike advocates. Here's why.

• Cyclists are much more at risk for decaying infrastructure than drivers are. Potholes or gaps in pavement can be deadly for cyclists when they're only an annoyance for drivers.
• Money spent on new infrastructure would likely be spent in rural areas than in urban areas where cycling has the greatest utility. Even when that facility has a bike path, like the Intercounty Connector, it is still likely to be lightly used. 
• There is a lot of low hanging fruit within the built environment. We can see here in the DC area that as bridges are rebuilt, they usually include better or new biking facilities, even when the improvement to drivers in trivial. Think of projects like the Wilson Bridge, the bridges over the HOT lanes, Humpback Bridge or the Route 50/10th Street project. Or ones that are planned like the Nice Bridge, Route 27 Bridge or the Long Bridge.  If current trends hold, money spent rebuilding urban infrastructure should build more complete streets. 

Thursday Morning Commute - Memorial Trends

Good morning

• DDOT presented new information on the South Capitol Street Bridge to the BAC and PAC. The alignment would change to be parallel to the existing bridge. The ovals will stay, but "some sort of bicyclist and pedestrian facilities and connections will be included in the ovals."
  • DDOT is planning 16-foot bike/ped pathways on both sides, with horizontal separation of markings or signage to show that one portion is primarily for pedestrians and one is primarily for bicyclists.
  • There is not a change of elevation from the walking portion to the biking portion, allowing for flexible space to handle peak traffic of either bike or pedestrian during busy periods, like ballpark events or morning commutes.
  • Most importantly, that 16-foot bike/ped pathway will be present around the western oval, with eight feet marked for bicycle use
• The NCPC has released the revised version of the Comprehensive Plan's Visitors & Commemoration Element. NCPC is seeking public comment on this updated element through March 15, 2013. "NCPC will host a public forum on the draft element on Wednesday, February 20 from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. Come learn about the element, NCPC’s recent Memorial Trends and Practice in Washington, DC report, and provide us your feedback." There isn't anything in the Memorial Trends document about cycling, but the Visitors and Commemoration Element has a section on transportation that does mention bike sharing. 
• Tomorrow, WABA is partnering with Dr. Ted Eytan, a full-time promoter of active transportation within Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Total Health, to lead a public meeting on how to make bicycling a part of your everyday life, and how decisions like these lead to a healthier life. 
• Another report on the Green Mile meeting with SHA. 
• Bicycle Action Day in Richmond. And more here. 
• Freeairpump.com