Inaugural Bike Corridors

Driving into the District on Inauguration Day is going to be an absolute nightmare; even Metro is telling people not to take Metro and walking is fine if you live close enough, but only a small percentage of likely attendees do.  No surprise, I'm predicting that biking is going to be the way to go.

But biking into the city is just not something everyone will do. Many people lack the experience to know how to go. Others lack the confidence to deal with the traffic.

What if bike-only routes were established? This would allow people to find a way (by following the route) that doesn't scare them. There are many people who are confident enough to ride in BikeDC, but not confident enough to ride the 50 States Ride or even on Bike to Work Day.

Here's an example of a route, but not one I've studied too much. The goal is to close a few roads that provide a straight connection - but not major roads (if there's no traffic, a two lane road can easily handle whatever bike traffic there might be).

From Silver Spring, close 13th St NW between the District line and Geranium; Geranium between 13th and 8th St NW, 8th between Geranium and Aspen; Aspen between 8th and 13th St NW; And then 13th all the way to Pennsylvania Avenue. That may not be the best route, but you get the idea. The District (and other jurisdictions) could come up with 4-8 such corridors. It won't slow car traffic too much - how much slower can you go than gridlocked? - but it would relieve pressure on roads and rail.

This is no Ciclovia, it's transit.

Whether this happens (unlikely) or not, WABA should try to set up some bike caravans, marshals and all,  a.la. Bike to Work Day, to help our less confident neighbors (Bike to Inauguration Day? - Chains We Can Believe In?). The apparatus from BTWD is already there (same downtown location basically).

Maybe Tommy Wells will lead a caravan himself (looks like Fenty won't).

“Tommy would love to ride his bike to the inauguration,” says Allen, “he just doesn’t know what the situation will be yet."

Fenty supports the idea of cycling to the inaug but won’t be breaking out his Cannondale to lead by example. “He might not bike to the event,” said mayor’s office spokesperson

Photo by themikebot

Comments

[tpjim]

8th St. is one-way northbound from Elder past Geranium all the way to Eastern Ave. and one-way southbound from Elder to Butternut. Of course DDOT could override this for a couple of days, but you have the signage to consider. As someone who lives in the neighborhood I have mixed feelings about the one-way arrangement; on the one hand, it keeps commuters from blowing through the neighborhood, but on the other it makes biking inconvenient. To go south legally between Geranium and Fern you have to choose from among Blair Road, Georgia Avenue, and the sidewalk.

[Washcycle]

I figured I'd have some errors in there, but the point isn't really the route, but the idea of routes.

One way streets are often a pain.

[tpjim]

No, I do approve of the idea, it just reminded me of the minor beef I have with DDOT itself: 8th St is a signed bike route all the way from New Hampshire Avenue in Petworth north to the Maryland line (including that little jog at Piney Branch/Aspen), but in point of fact you can't bike its full length in either direction without running into a "Do Not Enter" sign, and the available alternatives aren't always that great.

David Alpert often refers to the anti-walkable problems of one-way streets, but I couldn't find a place on the site that summarizes the arguments.

[David Ramos]

Problems with one-way streets? The problems with walkability come from less-attentive drivers and higher traffic speeds.

Curiously, one-way streets harm business health, car-centric or pedestrian oriented. A number of cities introduced one-way streets in the 70s and 80s, in the hopes of unsnarling traffic and perhaps bolstering the remaining storefront businesses.

Instead, the businesses withered. It turns out that drivers on one-way streets are less likely to park and shop. Weybosset St. in Providence, R.I. was a major shopping street, but one-way traffic finally killed it off.

[washcycle]

After talking with a friend of mine about this they pointed out the biggest barrier to this is getting the police support it would need. On a day when law enforcement will be overwhelmed, it's probably unworkable.