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Steve Eldridge has been covering the new study that showed the Washington region to be very much lacking in both planning and infrastructure, when it comes to evacuating the city in an emergency. One writer wrote in about the lack of facilities for bikes and pedestrians.
“The 34-page report never even mentioned the role of pedestrians in emergency evacuations. However, walking was the primary means of evacuating Manhattan on 9/11, and an important means of evacuation in the D.C. area.
“As to Potomac River crossings, there are no pedestrian and bicycle provisions on the American Legion Bridge on the Beltway. Let’s have at least one pedestrian crossing between Montgomery and Fairfax Counties before we worry about creating multiple automobile crossings."
I'd love to see a pedestrian crossing on the American Legion Bridge, and I've heard talk of it before, but I'm not sure how much it would help people to evacuate. Better to connect the Virginia side of the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge's downstream pedestrian bridge to something. Wouldn't it be great if you could go across the TR on the downstream side and then on a new bridge over Arlington Boulevard and the Jefferson Davis Highway that perfectly centered the Iwo Jima Memorial in the middle? It would almost make going to Virginia worthwhile.
The Georgetown Voice had an article about avoiding bike "loss" this week. Let's be clear, if I lock my bike up outside and come out to find it missing - it's not "lost," it's stolen. If I go bike bar hopping, get drunk and forget where I locked my bike up last - then it's lost. If I leave my bike locked to one rack for so long that it's completely looted, it's abandoned.
About three bikes are reported stolen on the Georgetown campus per month.
According to Investigator Donna Shephard of the Department of Public Safety, bikes are stolen from all parts of campus at all times of day.
In contrast, Gary O’Neill, Campus Investigator at the Catholic University of America, said that CUA, in the Brookland neighborhood in Northeast, has not suffered any bike thefts this year.
As Groundskeeper Willie might say, "An old fashioned hole diggin', aye, it's been awhile." And it has been awhile since we've seen a groundbreaking for a new trail. According to the Gazette,
Construction of the Matthew Henson Hiker-Biker Trail from Aspen Hill to Layhill will begin Nov. 6, despite continued objections from residents who are worried the trail might bring crime to their neighborhoods.
I'm surprised the crime thing still comes up. Trails bring people, people bring eyes and eyes deter crime. A crowded dark street is way safer than an empty well lit one I've been told. And the police agree that the trail is not a conduit for criminals
Kane said Maryland-National Capital Park Police would patrol the trail daily. ‘‘The fact is that it is easier to patrol trails,” he said. ‘‘According to studies we have seen, the crime on trails is negligible compared to crime as a whole.”
More on the trail
the Matthew Henson Hiker-Biker Trail will begin at Rock Creek Trail at Winding Creek Local Park near Aspen Hill and Veirs Mill roads. It will go northeast through Matthew Henson State Park and along a stand of trees near Hewitt Avenue and Bel Pre Elementary School. From there, it will continue east across Layhill Road to Alderton Road, near Indian Spring Country Club, measuring about 4.4 miles.
Construction will start in the section from Georgia Avenue to Alderton Road, Elsasser said, because the Maryland Department of Environmental Protection will be completing stream restoration of Turkey Branch from Veirs Mill Road to Georgia Avenue.
The asphalt trail will feature wooden boardwalks over wetlands to minimize environmental damage
Let's hope they learned the lessons of the Mt. Vernon and those boardwalks have anti skid surfaces. Scars are cool and all, but injured shoulders and knees just suck.
It's been a long time to get to this point. The trail was originally approved in April of 2003. But since then there have been efforts to inflate the cost, drop it from the budget (funding was restored in May), and create a huge detour on Veirs Mill Road. The intersection is still an issue
Thorne also expressed concern over how pedestrians would cross Veirs Mill Road to get from Winding Creek Local Park, south of Veirs Mill, to the other side of the trail.
‘‘Do they really expect us to cross seven lanes of traffic?” she asked.
State Highway Administration spokesman Chuck Gischlar said the state is pursuing a crosswalk, which would be located by Turkey Branch Parkway and Veirs Mill Road.
Gischlar said the hatched crosswalk would be at-grade or ground level, with flashers in advance of the crosswalk and warning signs. Hikers and bikers would cross and then wait in a grassy median before crossing to the other side of the trail. He said the median would be protected by concrete barriers on either side.
‘‘We’re pursuing the Turkey Branch crossing because it’s closer in line with the trail,” he said Friday afternoon, adding a traffic light at Parkland Drive is about 1,000 feet away.
Still some people are not happy about the trail at all
Barbara Eldredge said she received little comfort from the meeting. ‘‘[The trail is] 50 feet from my property line,”
She must not read this blog, if so she'd know that's a selling point. She goes on to say that "it’s just like they put a road in my back yard.” Except quiet. And non-polluting. And only 10 feet across. And with top speeds of ~15mph. But otherwise just like a road. I'm sure that's how people who live along the Capital Crescent Trail see it.
Another group of articles sitting in the to-do list were these articles about local people riding their bike across country or people riding across country to DC. First there was this Methodist minister who biked to the Gulf Coast region
The Rev. Dennis Whitmore biked 1,071 miles from Laurel, Md., to Laurel, Miss., to raise money and awareness for relief efforts for the city still recovering from Hurricane Katrina.
Whitmore said he looked up Laurel, Miss., on a map and recognized Route 11 from a bike trip he took through southwestern Virginia. The pastor, who worked as salesman, manager and personal trainer in Baltimore-area health clubs for eight years, works out four times a week and makes at least one long-distance bike trip each year. Whitmore has participated in a race in Maryland benefiting multiple sclerosis research for more than two decades, and in 2003 he biked nearly 1,000 miles from Maryland to the South Carolina border.
A Bethesda student rode from Baltimore to San Francisco.
Ersin Akinci of Bethesda was one of 27 students participating this summer in the Hopkins 4K for Cancer, a 4,000-mile coast-to-coast bicycle trip to raise funds to help cancer patients and their families.
The journey began Memorial Day weekend at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and ended July 30 at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
The Adventure Cycling Association sponsored a ride from Seattle to Washington, D.C. A friend took photos of the finish for me, but I seem to have lost them. No worries, RPUS has one and points you to a blog too. I'm not sure if that was the same ride as this one, also from Seattle to Washington. Then there's a Minnesota man biking around the country. It says he's riding 6000 miles which is almost coast to coast and back.
Mukwa Ogitchida, a single father from St. Paul, Minn., is riding his bike across the country to raise awareness for children in single-parent homes.Ogitchida stopped in Leesburg on July 12 -- about 2,500 miles into his 6,000-mile trip.
I also found this blog of another cross-country cyclist. And finally there's this local guy who's biking...wait for it...to Brazil.
Paul J. Park is on his way to northeast Brazil on a frame and two wheels.
Trekking across North, Central, and South America by bike, Park hopes to promote information on global warming and to collect signatures and donations to support a bill that is now before the United States Senate.
Since graduating from college, Park has pursued his dream and formed the Mount Rainier Bike Co-op. The project, located behind the Mount Rainier library, received an award for the Best Community Project in Maryland.
Perhaps the most vital investment Park made recently is the Miyata World Traveler bicycle, which will carry him to his destination.
So there you go. Inspired yet?
With Daylight Savings Time ending on Sunday we're all going to be biking in the dark more. But at least now you can have lights on your bike to avoid tickets (and being run over). And they're free. And hopefully nicer than the one pictured here.
Cyclists who are caught riding in the dark without a light have to pay $72 to the state — a $15 fine, and a $57 processing fee.
Lights are expected to be available on from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Monday [the 30th?] on the Custis trail adjacent to Lee Highway between North Lynn Street and Fort Myer Drive.BikeArlington Program Manager Paul DeMaio said about 45 accidents involving cyclists take place in Arlington each year.
He said he did not have an exact number of how many Arlington residents commute to work on a bicycle, but that it is well above the national average of 1 percent.
Compare this to the post about the sign asking cyclists to not park in the tree box. Instead of just saying what people shouldn't do (park here, ride without a light), it's a proactive solution - giving possible violators an easy alternative. That's good government.
Over on RPUS he talks about this sign. I don't want to park my bike in anyone's tree box, but if there are no alternatives...
From the Commuter Page Blog, there's this update about the Ballston Bike Center I mentioned earlier.
The Ballston Bike Center & Commuter Store is to be two facilities located at the Ballston Metro plaza and will provide double-decker bicycle parking for 100 bikes and a bike shop to offer repairs, accessory sales, classes, and rentals.
Presently, parking for about 30 bikes is provided inside the "bike pit" (pictured), with additional spaces around the fenced perimeter (above). The existing parking is usually full during most of the year, so to better meet bike parking demand and encourage greater use of bikes for transport, plans are to more than triple the number of bike parking spaces to 100. Due to limited space on the plaza, a bike parking structure will be constructed on this spot and use double-decker racks. These racks slide out and pivot down, allowing cyclists to more easily park and remove their bike.
A survey was conducted of Ballston cyclists to determine whether the facility should be free-of-charge, secured for members-only access and fee-based, or a hybrid of the two. Survey results are presently being analyzed.
Bike Shop
The bike shop will have an on-site bike mechanic, bike rental, and sell necessary items such as inner-tubes and tires. The bike mechanic would be available to work on repairs during the day while the bike commuter is at work. A yet-to-be decided small business will operate the bike shop.
Sounds great. Too bad Silver Spring canceled their's.
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