TheWashCycle

Long Branch Community Revitalization Plan

Montgomery County planners presented preliminary recommendations for the Long Branch Community Revitalization Plan. The plan lays out quite a few ways for the neighborhood to capitalize on the coming Purple Line and how that can help make the neighborhood more walkable and bikeable. This includes the reconnection of the street grid, improving and extending current trails and adding bike lanes and other facilities. A list of what they have planned for cycling is below:

• Shared on-street bikeways:
  • Flower Avenue
  • Franklin Avenue
  • Sligo Creek Parkway
  • Domer Avenue
  • Piney Branch Road
• Exclusive on-street bike lanes:
  • Piney Branch Road
  • Flower Avenue
  • Carroll Avenue
  • University Boulevard (interim)
• Shared Use Paths
  • Piney Branch Road (University Boulevard to Carroll Avenue)
  • Wabash Avenue (Sligo Creek Parkway to Garland Avenue)
  • Domer Avenue (Flower Avenue to Barron Street/Seek Lane Local Park) with a
  • connection to the Long Branch Trail.
  • Garland Avenue (Wabash Avenue to Clayborn Avenue)
  • Clayborn Avenue (Garland Avenue to Long Branch Trail) connecting Sligo Creek Trail
  • to Long Branch Trail.
  • Gilbert Street (Barron Street to University Boulevard) with a connection to Long
  • Branch Trail.
  • University Boulevard—(interim as part of the Purple Line Construction)
• Trails
  • Extend and improve the Long Branch Trail
  • Improve the Long Branch Trail Crossing of Piney Branch Road.

Comments can be directed to MCP-Long Branch@mncppc-mc.org. More information, though not necessarily bike-oriented, is here.

Maryland BPAC meeting minutes Feb and April 2012

Items of local note from the February and April minutes

• Dennis Callahan, former mayor of Annapolis and opponent of the W&BA trail alignment
  proposal through the Myers property in Anne Arundel County, had passed away.
• The Committee voted in support of a motion for the Chair to send a letter to the Secretary
  of Transportation noting MBPAC’s support for the concept of rails with trails
• The name of the rail to trail proposal in south Washington County has been changed from the Roxbury-Weverton Trail to the Civil War Railroad Trail to note that it passes nearby the sites of much Civil War activity, including the Antietam National Battlefield. This 24 mile proposed trail alignment extends in a northwesterly-southeasterly alignment from the C&O Canal at Weverton to Hagerstown’s City Park. Sixteen miles of the proposal trail is owned by the Department of Natural Resources. The upper five miles would be a rail-with-trail proposal. CSX railroad opposes this concept and this trail proposal will be added to a MBPAC resolution expressing support of both rail-to-trail and rail-with-trail concepts. Support for the proposed trail from the Town of Keedysville and the Save Historic Antietam Foundation citizens group. There is much more support in southern Washington County for the proposed trail now than there was when the trail was proposed twenty years ago.
• Greg Hinchliffe met with Andy Harris, Mid-Atlantic Coordinator of the East Coast Greenway and Michael Jackson to discuss ECG’s request to sign Maryland’s portion of the ECG.
• Jim Titus discussed his concerns with differing guidelines between the Prince George’s County Department of Public Works and Transportation and the State Highway Administration regarding the width of bike lanes on Virginia Manor Road.
• A motion was introduced a that MDOT increase the funding eligibility for bikeway projects from a distance of one half mile to two miles from a rail transit station if the bikeway provides a connection to that station. Scott Hansen seconded and the motion was approved with three abstentions.
• Michael Jackson with MDOT mentioned that he had been asked to provide testimony on SB 977/HB 1278 which would require public institutions of higher education to include bicycle and pedestrian transportation planning in their facility master plans at the House Appropriations Committee and that Dr. Maria Prince from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene also provided supportive testimony
• A motion was approved requesting that MDOT provide a family-friendly trail spur between the BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport Terminal and the BWI Trail. Michael Jackson noted such improvements are contemplated in the BWI Trail Improvements Conceptual Plan currently being finalized.

Thursday Morning Commute - Civil War

Good morning

• The Post profiles Ita Lapina, the victim in this week's Four Mile Run Trail crash, "Lapina was born in 1931 in Southern Russia and as a child evacuated to Siberia to escape the Nazis. She spent years with her family in Siberia, living in miserable conditions in a small basement, Fridlis said. She had many family members in Ukraine who were killed."
• There will be a meeting on Thursday, June 21, at 7 p.m. at the Boonsboro Volunteer Fire Co., 6 St. Paul St. in Boonsboro to discuss the Civil War Rail Trail. Because it connects to the C&O Canal, it means one would be able to bike from DC to Hagerstown on trails. 
• Armstrong denies he doped. "I have never doped, and, unlike many of my accusers, I have competed as an endurance athlete for 25 years with no spike in performance, passed more than 500 drug tests and never failed one. That USADA ignores this fundamental distinction and charges me instead of the admitted dopers says far more about USADA, its lack of fairness and this vendetta than it does about my guilt or innocence. Any fair consideration of these allegations has and will continue to vindicate me." Nonetheless, "As a result of the charges, the World Triathlon Corporation has suspended Armstrong, who recently resumed his career as a triathlete, pending resolution of the case. He is currently able to compete in non-WTC events."

Wednesday Morning Commute - you can’t bare your bottom

Good morning

• The 11th Street Bridge construction team has closed the bike/pedestrian trail that runs between the intersection of 11th & O Streets SE and the Navy Yard Riverwalk East end. The trail will be closed for approximately 3 weeks to facilitate demolition of the old 11th Street bridge. Also, last night, Good Luck road was closed below DC 295. 
• “Tour de Fat” Still Needs a Car-for-Bike Swapper
• DDOT is hosting a design update and review meeting for Minnesota Ave NE. "The study limits are Minnesota Avenue from A Street to Sheriff Road...The design documents for this project are at 90% completion and reflect many comments from previous public meetings held in your community." Tuesday, June 19th 6:30-8:30pm at Friendship Edison PCS/Woodson Senior High School.
• This fall, work will begin on an EA for transforming the SE Freeway west of Barney Circle into Southeast Boulevard. This will include an "adjacent new multi-use trail to allow bicycle and pedestrian travel not currently possible in this area."
• New Roundabout being installed at the entrance to the Greenbelt Metro Station.
• Work to begin this summer on the Broadneck Trail in Cape St. Clair, MD. Eventually the trail could connect to the B&A Trail. "Phase 1 includes the construction of a trail along College Parkway from Green Holly Drive to Cape St. Claire Road."
• I predict that Arthur Armstrong will become a daily bike share user.
• From a begining cyclist to an Olympian in 4 years.
• Beer Bikes, coming to a town near you.

Friday Morning Commute - Milestones

Because the railroad tracks were removed, and the underpasses are so large, I think the 11th Street Bridges project might inadvertently create a clando rail trail from Good Hope Road SE to 13th Street SE. Maybe they could "accidentally" spill some asphalt on the ROW?

• The Anacostia Waterfront has a new website, which features the trail prominently. It also has information on some upcoming milestones. Namely (1) Osprey Bridge opening this summer (2) Kenilworth trail section design completed this summer (3) Construction begins on Kenilworth section this year.
• Jim Sebastian and Terry Bellamy of DDOT were in Chicago for kick off of the Green Lanes Project.
• What might help with promoting registration is if you pointed to success stories. Anyone can TAKE a registration.
• Spartan Road in Olney to get bike lanes. 
• All we are saying...is give peace a chance.
• "The Charles County commissioners authorized the Washington, D.C., chapter of the nonprofit Urban Land Institute to conduct a study of the [Indian Head Rail] trail as part of its Technical Assistance Panels program. The panel made recommendations for the town and the growth of the trail during a meeting in Indian Head last week."

Thursday Morning Commute - New Bridge

Good morning. The new 11th Street local bridge opens today. It should be a better ride than the old bridge.

• The Montgomery County fiscal 2013-18 capital improvement program is scheduled for formal adoption Thursday after receiving tentative approval from the nine-member county council this past week. The budget includes $49.5 million for the Capital Crescent Trail and funding for the Metropolitan Branch Trail. There's more at the County website. It lists the following: "Funded the design and construction of the Capital Crescent Trail, costing $49.5 million. Retained construction funding for the Metropolitan Branch Trail and the Silver Spring Green Trail.  Funded construction of new bike trails along Frederick Road in Clarksburg, Needwood Road in Derwood, and Gold Mine Road east of Brookeville."
• Streetsblog has a story about how bicycle registration is used for profiling, which is part of the reason registration was ended in DC. I'll say that I used to get results from leagle.com in my automatic searches ( but not anymore) and that 95% of them were drug or weapon busts that started with a cyclist [almost always male and black or hispanic] being stopped for not having a light or a bell or a helmet or some trivial law that you didn't even realize the police enforced.
• "a man on a Bikeshare cycle punched a pedestrian and snatched her iPhone during daylight hours on a busy Capitol Hill street." You'd think they could narrow down who it was to a pretty small number of people. Everyone who had a bike checked out at that time and could reasonably have gotten to the place of the crime.
• Olney's Ride of Silence took on special meaning after a recent bicycle fatality in the community. Diane Whitman's crash is still under investigation. Also, it appears that DC had a Ride of Silence and I apologize for not advertising it here, but I didn't know about it.
• A junior at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School wants to make sure that every kid at Rachel Carson Elementary School in Gaithersburg has a bike. And so he's repairing donated bikes for those who don't.
• TE is an issue for Tea Party members in the House working on the new transportation bill. Though the Senate bill is a step backwards for the program, some members just want it killed.

Sunday Afternoon ride - Everything is new

I had a post written, but unsaved on my computer. When I got home I tried to submit it, and I lost it all. So sad.

• Tommy Wells went for a ride on the new Wetlands Bridge on the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail - 3 days before it officially opened. Scandal!!!
• New warning signage about biking and texting on the Capital Crescent Trail. And the River Road Plaza will go before the Planning Board on May 17th. Assuming the Planning Board votes on May 17 to approve the plan, the County Parks Department and the Coalition will move forward to let out bids for actual construction of the Plaza. It is hard to estimate how long the bid process and the actual construction of the Plaza will take, but approval of the plan by the Planning Board is a huge step towards having a beautiful place for Trail users to stop, get a drink of water and enjoy another rest area on the Trail."
• New, lower prices for Metro bike lockers go into effect July 1. 
• New bike path between Shady Grove Road and Redland Road near the Shady Grove Metro will break ground later this month.
• "About four out of every 10 drivers passing through a work zone in Northern Virginia are on cellphones, according to a new survey of law enforcement officers in Northern Virginia."...."Because I'm calm, I'm just talking, you know," he says. "I think it is distracting when people have arguments and they get emotional on the phone. What would it take you to stop? Well, I'm talking to my employer so I have to communicate with my employer getting different kinds of jobs like that."
• PG County leads the region in pedestrian and cyclist fatalities.
• Vienna candidates for Mayor and city council, discuss Safe Routes to Schools, bike parking, helmet laws and the Bicycle Advisory Committee. Meanwhile, Herndon candidates and Fairfax city candidates discuss joining Capital Bikeshare or other bikeshare and cyclist access. Elections are on Tuesday.
• New investigation into Floyd Landis for possible wire and mail fraud connected to a defense fund he set up to fight doping charges.
• Officials handing out free bike helmets - for tornado preparedness.

http://www.gazette.net/article/20120427/NEWS/704279555/0/SEARCH&template=gazette

No Detour

Photo looking west along Gude, standing behind the blockage at the southeast corner by antibozo, who adds

This photo shows the Millennium "Trail" at Gude Drive and Research Boulevard, just on the west side of the 270 bridge, on 2012-03-18. Construction has blocked the trail with no ramp and no alternative but to use the shoulderless Gude Drive to get around the blockage. I had to haul my bike up the high curb (i was traveling eastbound). A wheelchair user would be totally and completely screwed.

Montgomery County's bicycle infrastructure is just abysmal. The Millennium "Trail" is a prime example. Along Gude, it's really just a sidewalk paved with asphalt, with frequent cutouts for driveways. There's very little signage to alert drivers that there's actually a trail there. Another example in that area is the bike lane along Route 28. Sometimes there's a lane, sometimes there isn't. There's no signage at all; you can just tell it's a bike lane from the markings at intersections, where right turn lanes for cars go to the outside of the bike lane (e.g. see Key West Avenue at Medical Center Drive). The lane abruptly ends in places, apparently crossing to poorly maintained asphalt trail on the other side of the road, again with no signage at all.

Thursday Morning Commute - $75 T-shirt

Good morning. March Madness is here.

And so is Bike to Work Day Registration.

And so is BikeDC Registration. All Bike to Work day registrants get $5 off.

• The Environmental Film Festival features a few flicks about bicycling, of course. 
• I don't agree with everything this author says, but they have some good advice in this DC-Centric article. Still, I'm not sure that there has been an increase in clueless cyclists, just because there are more cyclists total. You don't have to be new to behave badly. And since an increase in cyclists tends to result in no corresponding increase in crashes, I'm not sure you can blame the new cyclists.
• Bikesnob is coming next week.
• DC Velodrome kick off dinner: March 18th.
• Take Action: Maryland legislators attempt to weaken the Negligent Manslaughter law.
• "Montgomery County will spend $500,000 each year for the next six years on creating new bikeways under County Executive Isiah Leggett’s (D) proposed Capital Improvements Program budget, released Jan. 15. This year, the county’s Department of Transportation is set to fund planning for a bikeway along the proposed Midcounty Highway, from Goshen Road to Woodfield Road."
• USBR 11 in Virginia and Maryland added to the US Bicycle Route Corridor Plan
• Everything you could want to know about the east end of the Chesapeake Beach Rail Trail.

US Bicycle Route Corridor Plan

Thursday Noon Ride - Told you so

Good morning

• Veitch and 20th in Arlington being prepped for a new CaBi station.
• The Examiner reports on Oboe's vision of the future ""People are saying, 'Get me close to the city, get me close to transportation, put me in a position where I might be able to use my bicycle,' " Prince George's County Realtor Boyd Campbell said."
• Many people spoke up in favor of the Capital Crescent Trail at the meeting on the non-motorized Boathouse Zone last week. No sign of "Friends of the Capital Crescent Trail" though. "Another theme from several of the teams was that they wanted to restrict vehicular traffic beyond the old aqueduct and near the Capital Crescent Trail."
• Lynchburg cyclist killed in late night hit and run.
• Crystal City Diamond Derby this Saturday. "Spectators can enjoy a free party throughout the day at the lounge, which includes a large screen to watch the action, live music and a cash bar. An outdoor midway will be set up with vendors, food and a bicyclist sprint lane."
• More on the Maryland bike grants. I didn't realize how far north the BWI trail extension will go. Almost to the Patapsco River. Really the trail is another section of the WB&A trail as that is the ROW it will run along, and could make biking to Baltimore easier someday. The pylons for the old Patapsco River bridge are still there, so it may be possible to easily build a trail across it. 
• At least one person "knew" that running the CCT and the Purple Line through the tunnel would have been cost prohibitive because of costly alterations. Would've been nice of them to point that out beforehand. 
• St. Mary's County comes up with agreeable solutions to ROW issues with the Three Notch Trail route.