TheWashCycle

Rethinking Glover Park

This article about a rebuilt Glover Park seemed to capture all the re-urbanization of a neighborhood that's generally good for cyclists.

In the model Glover Park, sidewalks are wide, uncluttered and lined with trees, parking is readily available, pedestrians move safely and easily and restaurants thrive.

The only place it mentioned bikes though was in this line:

The report also suggests relocating and consolidating news stands and bike racks, widening sidewalks, planting street trees and maximizing the 780 existing garage and private lot parking spaces through improved access and visibility.

So I went to the source document. Usually planning documents read like science fiction, fantastic and unlikely. This one is a bit heavy on its reliance on cars and parking. But the real problem is how it views bicycles. Bikes are described as "clutter." Photos are included to demonstrate how "Randomly located bike racks create a dangerous pedestrian environment." (I agree) And the report states:

Existing quality of the streetscape and the public realm require some improvements to provide a safer, more pleasant, and inviting commercial environment for residents and visitors. For example, …parked bikes locked to parking meters and utility poles [is one] of the issues addressed in the recomendations

But it isn't. Or not in the way a cyclist would address it. Their one solution to this "clutter" is

The Office of Planning should coordinate with The Department of Public Works and discuss the relocation of bike racks along the sidewalk to reduce clutter.

I agree that bikes locked to parking meters and poles may constitute a safety hazard and reduce the quality of the streetscape. I agree that "randomly" placed bike racks are bad. But simply moving the bike racks won't solve anything. First of all, if cyclists are locking their bikes to street furniture, that means there aren't enough good places for them to park. So more - strategically placed - bike racks are needed. 

Second, cyclists will not park a block away just because that's where the bike rack is. So if inverted U's are not going to be placed at regular intervals along the sidewalk, then the parking offered had better be worth walking to/from. It should be covered, more secure or more accessible. This might work. Or this. Or the on-street bike parking from Montreal seen in this photo. But simply moving the bike rack...bad solution.

11/30 Quick Release

Other items in the WABA Quick Release this past week:

Do you support mandatory helmet laws?
WABA is taking a straw poll on mandatory helmet laws for adults. We have yet to formalize our position and are looking for input from our members and area cyclists before doing so.
  Take the survey>>

Final piece of the DC to Pittsburgh Trail to open on 12/14! 
   
In Cumberland on Dec 14th at 1:00 PM the Allegheny Highlands trail of Maryland will open the last leg of trail between Cumbland and Pittsburgh. The ribbon cutting by  Gov. Ehrlich will complete this 335 mile trail from DC to PIttsburgh. If you would like more info, email Larry Brock at lbrock@gapselfstorage.net

  WARD 7 RESIDENTS! Help Fulfill the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative and Transform the Northern Ward 7 Waterfront!
 
          PRESENTATION OF DRAFT MASTER PLAN
          Wednesday, December 6, 2006 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
          Nevell Thomas Elementary School
          650 Anacostia Avenue NE Washington, DC 20019
         
The Anacostia Waterfront Corporation's Northern Ward 7 Waterfront Plan will focus on proposed projects in the neighborhoods of Parkside, Paradise, Mayfair Mansions, Eastland Gardens, and Kenilworth to better connect communities to the Anacostia River. Visit www.anacostiawaterfront.net or call Howard Ways, AWC Ward 7 Project Director, at (202) 406-4035 for more information Call (202) 724-4593 for directions to the school.

Final Town Hall with Montgomery County's Executive-elect Ike Leggett TONIGHT!
      Thursday 11/30, 7:30 pm
      Black Rock Center for the Arts
      12901 Town Common Drive in Germantown
      
Come out and tell Ike face-to-face what you think is working in our County and what’s not—before he gets sworn in as our next Montgomery County Executive on December 4.

Bicycle theft publicity stunt

Whether this is a story of an amazing crime or an incredible publicity stunt, it's still pretty good.

hovering above the Las Vegas skyline, a helicopter lowered several ropes onto the roof of Caesars Palace. The thieves on the roof worked quickly and in tandem. Within minutes, the helicopter flew off with the stolen Emporio Armani Sportbike hanging between its skids.

Freewheelingspirit thinks it's a hoax for publicity and is trying to get a free bike out of it. I have to figure out how to turn this blog into a free trip to Interbike. Certainly if Trek can give G.W.Bush free bikes, they can send me out there to talk about bike blogging. We bike in the same hood (The Secret Service facility is just up the road), live on the same street and my approval rating is higher than his.

Virginia Capital Trail Opens

Or at least 2.8 miles of it. When complete, the trail will cover 54 miles from Williamsburg to Richmond.

In all, 37 miles of the trail are in development or under construction. Another eight miles are due to be finished by May and 23 miles of the trail are being developed.

Kaine says he hopes the entire trail will be completed or under development by 2010.

The trail will follow the James River and Route 5 corridor.

I hope that deck has a no-slip surface. Regular commuters of the Mt Vernon Trail can tell you how important that is.

Car Free

I had a couple of links sitting in my to-do list related to car free living. One is a blog entry about the Chris Balish book from Seattle's Bus Chick.

The other is a graphic from the Post about the percentage of people by county who commute by car alone. It's interesting, because most planners would say that we need to find a way to reduce the number of single car commuters and yet the steps taken toward that goal are clearly inadequate (when the national average is 77%). Since this is a bike blog, I won't discuss how to get people onto buses and trains. But I think there are steps that can be taken to get more people to bike. Facilities is one part, but biking in DC is already easy to do. Showers are a big step - and that's being addressed by the new Green Building code changes. Bike parking is important too - also addressed in green building codes and with the bike stations. So, while driving becomes more difficult and biking becomes easier, I think it's inevitable we'll see more and more bike commuters. That may create a critical mass - to steal a term (hey, they stole it from physics first) - to push for real change. A carbon tax or the Bicycle Commuter Act - which will be helped by Blumenauer's new position, hopefully enough to counteract the co-sponsorship by Mark Foley (you did hear about him, didn't you) - would really push bike commuting to new levels. It's the next big step, in my opinion.

Addendum: Montgomery County is also going to be encouraging (though unlike DC, not mandating) Green Buildings.

Longing for the Bike Station

This letter to the WaPo about the sad state of bike parking at Union Station reminded me how critical getting the bike station up and going there is.

The parking area at the train station in the capital of the richest country in the world has room for about 30 bikes. Usually twice that number are shoved between the rack's odd, U-shaped metal bars. Some of the bicycles have been there a long time, judging from the orange rust covering them. Others are missing wheels and seats. Scooters -- even an occasional baby carriage -- make it nearly impossible to park a bicycle there.

There was supposed to be a meeting about it this month, but it was canceled because it was the same night as the election.

The area presently used for bike parking is often used as a staging area for construction in the area. This makes parking unpredictable, unreliable and inconvenient. Basically what Union Station is saying is "we'd put bike parking on a less valuable piece of land, but we can't find one."

It's not like there aren't parking lots around, it's just that bike parking isn't deemed as important as automobile parking. So rather than remove 5-10 car parking spaces, they inconvenience 60-90 bike commuters.

Another way they treat bike parking as less important is, as the writer mentions, not removing abandoned bikes. Now one must use a gentle touch when removing bikes, and I think they should be cautious about what they deem abandoned and what's just old, but I think a locked up, stripped down bike frame can be safely deemed abandoned. Cut it free, store it someplace for a reasonable time - do not cut it up into pieces - and then donate it if still not claimed. How long would they let an abandoned car sit in their parking lot?

Capital Cross Classic & Stop Swap and Save

Two events coming up. The first, as the comments point out, is a cyclocross race.

Off Road: This year's Capital Cross Classic is scheduled for Dec. 3 at Lake Fairfax in Reston. The mountain-bike [sic] race covers a trail covered with grass and dirt with man-made and natural obstacles. For more information, visit http://www.potomacvelo.com.

Barter System: The 10th annual Stop Swap and Save event is scheduled for Feb. 4 at the Carroll County Ag Center in Westminster, Md. The event, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., features all sorts of bicycle vendors selling bikes, helmets and jerseys.

Shoppers can also trade their old cycling equipment for new stuff. About 350 vendors are expected. See http://www.stopswapandsave.com.

Interim CCT closed for safety

The interim Capital Crescent Trail (CCT) has had a rough go of it over the last year. Back in February the Coalition for the Capital Crescent Trail, WABA, MoBIKE and other trail advocates called on Montgomery county to fund the paving of the interim CCT east of the Rock Creek Trestle because of the extensive erosion of that portion of the trail. On July 1st it was regraded, but the July rain storm completely destroyed those repairs and by July 4th the trail had failed.

The recent rainstorms have continued to pound the trail and this past weekend the interim CCT was closed (I can't permalink to the CCCT website so this link may be out of date depending on when you click it).

DPWT has placed barriers and yellow warning tape across the trail to close this section of the Interim CCT. Trail users can get by the barriers, but deep ruts and exposed rocks make the trail hazardous to use. Trail users must take care.

The storm drain system that serves the industrial area adjacent to the trail in Lyttonsville regularly overflows. When this happens, the storm water overflow uses the trail bed between the Lyttonsville Place bridge and the Rock Creek trestle as a drainage ditch.

Trail users can expect the trail between the Rock Creek trestle and Lyttonsville to remain in miserable condition until the drainage study is complete and the storm drain problems are corrected, except for occasional minimal repairs.

I'm not a clever west coast water engineer or anything, but it seems that neither regrading nor paving is going to do the trick. They need to find a way to move the water through the area without it going on the trail. They need a series of tubes. Where's Ted Stevens when you need him?

Dahlgren Railroad Heritage Trail

This came up once before but it was mentioned in the the Fall issue of Rails to Trails so I thought I'd mention it again. Here's the article and my summary below.

David Brickley acquired the rights to the DRHT in Virginia's King George County. It's a 15.7 mile railbed starting in Sealston, VA and running north. He first saw the railbed in 1999 when working with the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. When he couldn't convince the County to make it into a trail, he bought the rights. He then started negotiations with two opposed groups - a church whose land the railroad bisected and a gun club whose shooting range is near by. With the institution of a couple of detours and some safety measures by the gun club he still hopes to work out a deal with both. Volunteers have already started clearing the area and removing railroad ties to prepare the trail. 

They have a wonderful website. Really - a lot of trails in the area don't even have one - and this trail isn't even official yet.  Right now the trail is private property, but by visiting the Friends of the Dahlgren Heritage Trail Web site, anyone can apply for a user permit.

In the same issue of RTC, there was a blurb on the opening of the Big Savage Tunnel which officially opened on May 26th - though one lucky bidder was able to ride through on April 8th. (I happened to be up there last fall and rode through it - so I don't know why the official opening was so late. BTW it's really cool. On the trail to it I saw a baby bear, so you're really away from the city. On the way you go through one tunnel and, if your used to the Daleacarlia on the CCT, it seems long. Then you get to Big Savage and it takes forever to bike through it. The far side is just a tiny dot of light when you start - it's a bit unnerving).

Bike Friday Yahoo Group

I found this yahoo group for Bike Friday - that's a type of folding bike - owners in DC. I have a Dahon. I hope that means I'm still cool enough to hang out with them.