TheWashCycle

Update on Arlington Trails Work

It will start on July 6th, with two simultaneous trail repair projects.  One on the Custis Trail near where it passes over Spout Run.  The other at the western end of the new Four Mile Run trail extension near the Shirlington Rd. Exxon station.  They will maintain at least one lane open along each, because neither has a good detour option.  Work will not start until after 9am.  Neither project is expected to extend into the following weekend.

Four Mile Run and Custis Trails get paving

Arlington is just a hotbed of trail improvements lately. Kevin Stalica, Arlington Parks Trails Manager writes:

We are pleased to announce that we have been fortunate enough to have some last minute funding come our way from our Facilities unit for paving.  A portion of the Four Mile Run Trail in Glencarlyn Park was paved this week.  A portion of the Custis trail near Spout Run is scheduled for paving the week of July 6-10.  It will include expansion joints at the edges that are expected to prevent surface irregularities like those currently present.  Watch for detours during construction.

Photo by Mo Kaiwen

Striping the Four Mile Run Trail

Starting at the east end of the Four Mile Run Trail, Arlington contractors are striping 25,000 feet of the trail starting this week.

Next Stop, Nature

Naturalist Mark Garland was on WAMU's Metro Connection late last month to talk about nature close to metro stations. Among things he discusses are the W&OD trail near East Falls Church; Four Mile Run and it's trail; the Mt. Vernon Trail from the Arlington Cemetery Station; and the Sligo Creek and Northwest Branch trails from West Hyattsville,

Listening to him giving directions from the East Falls Church Station to the W&OD just makes me think of how we need better signage.

June 2009 Arlington BAC Meeting Notes

I don't attend these, so this is from the draft minutes, and are neither official nor complete.

Trail Maintenance Issues -

• Kevin Stalica with Arlington County Parks reported that the center crack in the middle of the Custis Trail in Rosslyn is almost completely filled in.  Only a short section after the asphalt end needs to be completed.  Kevin requested that the BAC mark the tree root bumps with white paint and give him the location of the nearest trail marker.  You can send the information to the Arlington County Trail site at trails@arlinton.va.us .  Arlington County employee David Patton discussed the trail cracks near Lee Highway.  No one really understands why they have occurred.
• BAC member Dwight Hlustick mentioned the flooding on the Four Mile Run Trail under the Columbia Pike underpass.  Kevin Stalica believed this would be taken care of shortly. 
• Dwight Hlustick also mentioned the damaged asphalt on the FMR trail near Glencarlyn Park which is long overdue for repair.
• BAC Chairman Randy Swart brought in an example of the sign he placed at intersection of the Custis Trail and the W&OD.  Kevin is working on a permanent sign.

Spring Events: The ride and ribbon cutting ceremony on May 30th at the Shirlington underpass was well attended.  Three Board members, Congressman Jim Moran, and the Mayor of Alexandria spoke at the ceremonies.  A group also stopped at the new covered bike rack at the Shirlington Bus Terminal for photos.

Mark Kellogg will lead an Arlington loop ride to Shirlington at 4 PM on June 10.  This is an open ride starting from the County Office in Clarendon.  The BAC approved a certificate of appreciation for him on his retirement this month. It will be presented to him at the ride.

The trail across the Wilson Bridge is scheduled to open at 1:00 PM on June 10 6.  Opening ceremonies are at 10:00 PM by invitation only.  WABA is planning rides across the Bridge from various locations.  BAC member Ed Blanton plans to lead a ride from the Shirlington bike shelter at noon.  Check the WABA web site for the rides.

Dedication of Columbia Pike parallel trail: David Goodman with Arlington County will report on this later.

Joint Meeting with Alexandria Ped-Bike Committee: Scheduled for September 14 at 7:30 PM.  The groups are looking for locations. 

October Bike DC/ Arlington Ride - Many people were upset that the Community Bike Ride was canceled this spring.  The BAC will investigate reinstating the Arlington Community Bike Ride next spring with the use of more volunteers.   A subcommittee will work on the project.

Death of Arlington Bicyclist: David Goodman spoke to the investigating officer.  The woman was hit by a car while she was going north on N. Cleveland St across Lee Highway at a traffic light.  According to the driver she was crossing against the light, but no witness was listed in the accident report which appeared to be inadequate.  According to David she had no lights and was wearing dark clothing.  The accident occurred about 2 weeks ago at abut 9:30 at night.  The woman died two days after the accident. There appeared to be major deficiencies in the police report.  BAC Vice-Chair Mark Blacknell will follow up.  He and BAC members Allen Muchnick, Michael Raizen, Erik Bootsma and Randy Swart visited the intersection after the ride and noted that the light stays green for only 5 seconds.

Update: From David Goldman

The police report was incomplete and the investigation is ongoing (as of June 12th).
Also, the fact that the police report did not include witness statements does not mean that there were no witnesses.  I, in fact, mentioned that the investigating officer told me that there were three witnesses, and that all three stories corroborate with each other.  The incompleteness of the story is not the fault of the police or the witnesses, but with the situation itself: Nobody saw this crash as it was about to happen, and the one person who could fill in a lot of that information is dead.  ACPD is still working on piecing together more of the story.
In the meantime, Arlington County bike/ped staff is working with Traffic Engineering & Operations on addressing some important questions that came up as a result of this tragedy.  For instance: Are traffic signals for cross streets with pedestrian-activated extended green phases programmed to allow bicyclists enough crossing time during regular (non-activated) cycles?  Similarly, we're also continuing to work through issues related to automatic bike detection at intersections.

Staff Report and Issues:

Trail Counts: 50 volunteers were used in the last trail counts.  Bad weather kept some of the counts down.  David Goodman handed out the draft results.  The next count would be scheduled some time around July 4.  Counting that week would likely inflate the counts which David said was not a  concern. The availability of volunteers during that week could be a problem, however.

Lyons Village Switchbacks: A crash was reported here on Bike to Work Day.  David Goodman said he has investigated the use of a high friction coating for the switchback.  The coating is already being used by the County at some bus stops including the bus stop on Clarendon Ave. in front of the County Offices. The major purpose of the coating is color for the bus stops.  The high friction coating gets pounded into the road by traffic, losing its high friction property.  This would not be a problem on the Trail where the only traffic is bicycles and pedestrians.  The cost for the installation would be $15,000 to $18,000, but the County does not have the money for the project.  BAC members thought this was short sighted since it is only a matter of time before an injured rider sues the County.  Not putting down the high friction coating appears to increase the County's liability.  County staff will investigate getting bicycle safety funds for the project.  Allen Muchnick asked members to report accidents at the switchback to websites which keep records of accidents.

Randy Swart thought that the BAC should develop a new Web page, having seen the Alexandria site at www.alexandriava.gov/localmotion
David Goodman said they are looking for ideas on how to improve the existing County website.  Eric Bootsma will help in developing some options. He would welcome some help.

Stimulus Money: It is believed that most of the money went for trails down state.

Columbia Pike Form Based Code: The parking standard for bicycles is an issue brought up by Columbia Pike developers.  The Form Based Code (FBC) refers to numbers of bike parking "spaces". When the FBC was created that language was lifted almost verbatim from another document except the word "racks" was substituted for the word "spaces".  Since each rack represents two parking spaces, the FBC has effectively doubled the required parking on Columbia Pike relative to everywhere else in the county.  Early FBC projects seem to show that developments are putting in more bike parking than might actually be used under normal conditions. This is creating problems with sidewalk space.

The developers feel that the standard of one rack for every 60 feet is too rigid and they want to be able to group the racks together.  There is some flexibility allowed by the County in the approval process.  A motion to oppose changing the standard passed by 5 to 1 with 8 abstentions, but the group agreed that a vote like that should not be characterized as a definitive BAC position.

County Staff has since recommended elimination of any reference to the frequency of bike racks. The BAC is unlikely to support this, but might allow for clustering near doors at big box stores.

Alington County ordinances prohibit the use of parking meters for locking up a bike, limiting the available locking spots, and no single stanchion provides the supports for both ends of the bicycle that make the inverted U locks work well.

Park planning at Columbia Pike and Four Mile Run Trail: Barcroft neighborhood has a park project to be funded by Neighborhood Conservation that will include a loop trail for a turnaround.  The neighborhood is asking the County to look at paving the trail with pervious materials.

Shirlington Underpass Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

Last Saturday there was a ribbon cutting ceremony opening the new Shirlington Underpass.

The new trail eliminated nearly a mile of on-street riding and difficult road crossings and offers pedestrians and bicyclists a safer, more direct path along the Four Mile Run stream. The project brings new landscaping to the stream bank and a sanitary sewer main that increases capacity and helps prevent back-ups.

I rode it shortly after the opening and it's great - and it's really a big improvement - and since I last rode by they'd added landscaping, paint and other finishing touches. Oddly, I didn't see it mentioned by the MSM, despite what an important connection this is. This is like our new Wilson Bridge.

"But isn't the Wilson Bridge opening 'like our new Wilson Bridge?'", you might ask. No. We didn't even have a way to get across the Wilson Bridge, so our Wilson Bridge is way bigger than that. The Wilson Bridge opening on Saturday is more like the original Wilson Bridge opening.

Some people took the opportunity to check out the new covered bike parking at the Shirlington transit station.

Mark Kellogg with the Arlington DOT wrote this history of the underpass.

As best I can recall, the first written advocacy for this new underpass was in 1985.  In April, when the Master Transportation Plan effort got underway, some Arlington members of the Washington Area Bicycling Association (WABA) met with Arlington staff.  This was documented in a September, 1985, letter from Bill Silverman, in which these bicyclists documented on a map some 50 recommendations for trail improvements, one of which was this underpass.  At the time, the "Arlington loop" was not yet completed, but Arlington was proceeding with plans for the bridge across the Parkway, and the National Park Service seemed committed to extending the Parkway trail from Memorial Bridge to Theodore Roosevelt Island, to close the loop.  Members of WABA and the Arlington County Bicycle Club continued to work with staff in 1985 and early 1986 to develop the bicycle element of the Master Transportation Plan.  The advocacy efforts of these bicyclists not only led to their recommendations becoming the backbone of the master plan's bicycling element, but also led to the designation of a full-time staff member for bicycling, and to the birth of Arlington's Bicycle Advisory Committee.  Some of the people involved in 1985 --- Randy Swart, Peter Harnik, Chips Johnson, Bob Hirama, and probably others --- are still involved in community efforts now in 2009 --- an amazing 25-year commitment and contribution.

The underpass was included in Arlington's adopted comprehensive plan in 1986.  Though this underpass is a key regional facility, serving much more than Arlington, funding from state and regional entities proved elusive.  The ISTEA of 1991, and specifically the Transportation Enhancement (TE) category, provided Arlington with an opportunity to get started on this, and some other trail links.  Now, there is growing recognition that transportation funding, rather than transportation-enhancement funding, is appropriate for bicycling but ISTEA and TE funding were instrumental in opening the door in the 1990s to multimodalism.

Personally this represents the first Christmas Wish List Item to be completed, and the first one that can be scratched off the list. The Wilson Bridge opening won't quite get it done (there are three missing pieces, though the connection from Water Street to Clay Drive is so tantalizing close, that you may be able to bunny hop it) - so the Met Branch Trail's new section may be next in line.

Dominion Virginia Power Tree Work Along the W&OD and Four Mile Run Trails

Press release

Dominion Virginia Power(DVP) will be performing tree maintenance and removal activities near their electric transmission lines along the W&OD Trail in Arlington beginning May 11.  The work will be performed in three general areas where DVP has identified vegetation where heights beneath transmission lines exceed National Electrical Reliability Corporation (NERC) standards. The three areas are in Bon Air Park, Glen Carlyn Park, and along South Four Mile Run Drive between South George Mason Drive and South Walter Reed Drive.

In August 2003 a significant power outage, referred to as the 2003 Northeast Blackout, resulted in increased oversight and regulation of the interconnected electric grid by the National Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), including the development and enforcement of right of way vegetation maintenance standards.  A recent survey of the transmission lines extending through the W&OD Trail identified vegetation that must be cut or pruned to comply with NERC standards and ensure the safety and reliability of the electric grid.  After a review of the survey's results by certified Arborists, consideration was given in choosing the appropriate vegetation maintenance techniques.  If pruning would significantly disfigure the plant or lead to mortality upon meeting required clearance distances the vegetation was identified for removal, otherwise the vegetation will be pruned.

Dominion Virginia Power contract crews will begin this work on May 11th, 2009 and anticipate completion by May 19th, 2009.   Questions regarding Dominion Virginia Power's tree maintenance activities along their W&OD Trail transmission lines can be directed to Andrew Cooney, the Dominion Forester overseeing this project, at 703/934-6714 or andrew.l.cooney@dom.com.

Grand Opening of the New Four Mile Run Trail

Here.

When: 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. [May 30th]

Where: 27^th Road South and South Four Mile Run Drive, Arlington (Travel Directions:  The event is accessible via bicycle from the existing Four Mile Run and Washington & Old Dominion Trails, as well as by Metrobus 10B, 23AC, and 25PR routes. The event can also be reached by motor vehicle via South Four Mile Run Drive from the intersection of South Glebe Road and West Glebe Road.)

Who: Open to the public; all ages

Fee: Free of charge

What:  Join Congressman Jim Moran, members of the Arlington County Board and members of the Alexandria City Council in celebrating the long-awaited grand opening of the new multi-use trail linking the popular Four Mile Run and Washington & Old Dominion trails.  The new trail will provide a safer and more direct route for cyclists, runners and walkers under Shirley Highway (I-395) and West Glebe Road along the scenic Four Mile Run.

The Arlington Bicycle Advisory Committee will meet at 8:45am at Court House Plaza to ride to the event. All are welcome to join the ride.

For more information call 703-228-3699.

March 2009 Arlington BAC Meeting Notes

I don't attend these, so this is from the draft minutes, and are neither official nor complete.

Trail Maintenance Issues -

• Graffiti has become a problem lately.  Cameras have been set up and has resulted in some convictions. The graffiti has been painted over temporarily since the power washer is broken.  Graffiti on private property has been a problem for the County. In the case of the Custis Trail, the Commonwealth contributes half the cost of maintenance and, therefore, half the clean up. 
• Dominion Power is installing new lines on the W&D Trail and as a result is doing quite a bit of damage around the trail as well as muddying up the trail.  The County is powerless to control this. Hopefully, the power company will restore the damaged areas when the work is completed.
• The crack on the Custis Trail in Rosslyn still needs to be filled in.  The asphalt on the W&OD Trail near the basketball court in East Falls Church is in bad shape and needs to be replaced.

Testimony at County Budget Hearing: The BAC will testify at the hearing.  The paving fund is bankrupt.  DES is supposed to pave the trails.  Paving has been done through the Park Services.  Paving for trails is a major problem.

Spring Events: 

• The Shirlington underpass is almost complete.  There appears to be some problem with drainage at some locations.  Ribbon cutting for the Shirlington underpass is being planned for May 2nd at 10:00 AM. The trail is presently being used by many bicyclists and pedestrians.
• County Board bike ride is still unresolved except that it will not be May 2.  The Community Bike Ride is also unresolved and may be combined with a ride involving DC.  There will be Pit Stops in Rosslyn and Crystal City on Bike To Work Day (May 15).

Staff/Consultant Report:

• According to David Goodman with Arlington County, there will no staff cut, but transportation planning will lose one vacant position.  Ron Hicks in traffic calming will be reassigned to another office until he retires. Consultant activities will probably be cut as well. 
• According to Kevin Stalica with Arlington County Parks, Park staffing for trail maintenance appears to be stable.  There will probably no temporary staffing this year.  The budget will last until the end of June.  Only $25,000 is left in the budget for this year for trail maintenance, therefore only safety and emergency items are being addressed.  
• According to David Goodman there is not much more to cut in 2009.  There has been an increase in the commercial property tax which will generate an additional $15,000 for bike parking and related issues.  Funded projects are going forward.
• Up to $800,000 in Trail enhancement funds may be available from the Commonwealth.  According to David Goodman, shovel ready projects are being considered based on the Feb. 19 list.  50% of Virginia's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 funds will have to be obligated by VDOT 120 days after the money is available (June 30, 2009).  The County needs a list of additional projects to consider.  The BAC has a list of projects and others will give additional input. Parks would like to replace some bridges in Barcroft.

Liaisons and Regional Meetings:

• There is an option to drop the trail to the East Fall Church Metro Station.  This has not been recommended by the County.  Three business need to be sold to the developer.  The project still needs a gathering place - will the developer allow this?  Also VDOT needs to extend the bridge off of I-66 for better access.  There appears to be no money for this extension. According to some participants improvements are needed on Westmorland for bikes.  Also, some wanted a bike stripe on Tuckehoe.
• There was no Pedestrian Committee meeting last month.  The Traffic Calming Committee may meet every other month instead of every month as a result of the budget cuts.   David Goodman is working on Share the Trail message in electronic newsletter. He is trying to get the message shorter and is asking for input from the Committee.

Photo by wfyurasko

Crystal City Multimodal Transportation Study

I got excerpts of the bike-related sections of the Crystal City Multimodal Transportation Study. The purpose of the study is to take advantage of the opportunity the BRAC process will have to reinvent the area. The vision created is one with more transit and more geared toward pedestrian and cyclists. The district is already served by the Mt Vernon Trail, the Four Mile Run Trail and a handful of connectors, bike lanes and routes. The plan, adapted from the Master Transportation plan invovles the following:

1. Complete Streets - including 5-foot bike lanes on Crystal Drive, 18th Street S, 12th Street S, 23rd Street S and Potomac Avenue.
2. A trail connection from Crystal Drive to Long Bridge Park
3. Improvement of the Crystal City Connector to improve visibility, aesthetics, lighting and width.
4. Direct trail connection from the MVT to Terminal A of National Airport
5. Direct trail connection from the MVT to Terminal C of National Airport
6. Route 233 (Airport Viaduct) sidepath from Crystal City to National Airport with a connection to the MVT
7. Better bike access across Jefferson Davis Highway to S Eads at Route 233
8. Trail connection from the FMR Trail to Potomac Yard/Crystal City
9. Adequate bike parking and upgraded parking at the Metro Station
10 Share the Road signage
11. Possible Crystal City Bike Station
12 A bike sharing system funded by a Virginia Dept of Rail and Public Transportation grant - the study says this is going to be Nextbike, but I've read elsewhere that that isn't yet settled. It also says DC is planning to make SmartBike available with the SmartTrip card system. They suggest stations be located at the VRE, Metro station and along Crystal Drive.