I Can Already Hear Some Cyclists Groaning

A new sidewalk was unveiled to make cycling safer on Route 29 (aka Colesville Road).

It was just another bike ride in Silver Spring for Dr. Karen Weiss until she approached the "mile of terror."

Weiss commutes 18 miles by bike from her Rockville home to her job at the Food and Drug Administration's White Oak complex, passing by Rock Creek and Silgo Creek parks. But last December, a car struck her as she biked in the area of Lorain Avenue along Route 29 in Silver Spring.

"I was hit from behind," Weiss said. "Before I knew it I was on the ground."

Weiss escaped serious injury. She said that the car was more banged up than she was and jokingly expressed relief that her bike was not damaged.

Last week, Weiss spoke at a county celebration on Lorain dedicating the completion of a new sidewalk along Route 29. She said the new segment will make it safer for bikers to navigate the area, which she said was plagued by fast cars and lack of a shoulder along the road.

The 2,750-foot sidewalk stretches from University Boulevard to Oak View Drive. It connects to existing sidewalks between Lorain and Northwest Branch and complies with the American with Disabilities Act.

Admittedly, it does not look bike friendly.

And there are other sidewalks going in too.

For eight years, efforts to install a missing stretch of sidewalk on the west side of Connecticut Avenue faced the same dilemma as walkers there: They would amble along fine for a while and suddenly find nowhere to go.

Now $200,000 set aside by the State Highway Administration to design the half-mile sidewalk between Washington Street in Kensington and Saul Road in Chevy Chase View has supporters hoping this time the project will get some footing.

"The sidewalk will help because if you go to go down to Rock Creek Park you can ride your bike on the sidewalk."

What they really need to do is fix the fog.

Comments

[think a little]

Compared to what was there----a hard uphill climb on a no-shoulder expressway its a big improvement

[SJE]

There was a shoulder: that white line at the edge of the road, provides enough space for skinny tires. That's a shoulder.

/St Mary's police/

[Jimmy]

What really gets me about that stretch is that across the street from that sidewalk there is still a Metrobus/Ride-On stop poking up out of the bushes on the side of the road. To see it look between the two utility trucks parked on the side of the road: http://is.gd/4u5lT

[W]

wait a minute- you people on this blog are supposed to be AGAINST cycling on sidewalks...

after all- you all have hounded me mercilessly about it whenever I advocate separated bike facilities and riding on sidewalks as being safer than riding in auto traffic...

HYPOCRITES !!!!!!!!!!

[Richard Layman]

In my interactions with staff at the MD SHA in my job as a bicycle and pedestrian planner in an unnamed MD county, thus far I have found them to be pretty committed to dealing with these kinds of issues.

2. Although the county DPWs aren't necessarily equally enlightened. So it really matters if you are dealing with a state or county road.

3. But in either case there isn't enough money to fund everything very quickly.

4. WRT Jimmy's point, I do want to have a transit/station environment "element" in the bicycle and pedestrian plan to cover this and similar kinds of issues about the quality of bus stops, whether or not they are connected, the quality of transit stations, etc. as it relates to walking and bicycling.

5. w - the issue with appropriate or inappropriate riding on sidewalks has to do with the relative speeds of the "traffic". In the core of the center city and other places where there are many pedestrians, mixing traffic, be it cars and bikes, or people and bikes, can be problematic. I have been riding the sidewalk on N. Capitol from Kennedy St. to Rock Creek Church Road... rather than the road. But there are only a handful of people bunched up at a couple bus stops, or at Gallatin St. wanting to continue their walk to Ft. Totten Station.

[W]

for the past 40 - or so years I have been riding my bicycle on the sidewalks in DC- and w/ the single exception of an old DC Transit Bus coming up on the sidewalk corner at 11th & E streets NW and taking my bike out from under me when I was 8 years old- I have - luckily- knock on wood- never had any real troubles using the sidewalks.

IMO-

where there is heavy traffic and no designated or dedicated bikeway- the sidewalks should be open to cyclists- simple as that.

It would be incredibly easy for the DC DOT to just paint a portion of of our super wide sidewalks for bicycle use. This could be simply done on a major artery like Pennsylvania Avenue- and it should be done- there is NO EXCUSE not to do this.

Placing bike lanes in roads with cars is an open invitation for disaster- but I guess if no one is willing to look elsewhere for other examples- this is better than nothing.

It sure is easy to get doored using these on -street bikelanes.

It is the cheapest possible way out for the "planners".

Otherwise it is only the most daring and wreckless athletic-oriented daredevils that will bicycle.

Every "vehicular cyclist" that I know of in DC has either been injured or gotten into an accident ...

[Tom]

W

What is your problem with Pennsylvania avenue? Traffic is controlled by a light on almost every intersection and the street is wide enough for all uses.

I have successfully navigated this street with my 13 year old daughter a couple of times without any stress. Believe me, if it were even moderately scary she would be on the sidewalk walking her bike.

BTW, she was wearing a helmet. It's the law.

[Paul]

W
You don't know many people.

I am a "vehicular cyclist" and never been in an accident.

>8,000 miles ridden in the past 3 years.

[Kevin]

I ride this section of 29 pretty frequently and while it is an improvement over what was there, it still kinda sucks to ride it. Even though you are up out of the road surface it is still intimidating to ride next to traffic moving that fast. For me, it is more of a personal comfort thing really. I would be much more comfortable with a smooth blacktop sidewalk there with some sort of guardrail or barrier to prevent traffic from coming onto the sidewalk or you from going into traffic. Getting run over by a car doing 50-60-70 miles an hour is only a fall away. I have no problem riding with traffic on other roads and I ride local roads and DC roads frequently.

That and a house along there put their trash and recycling bins out in the middle of the sidewalk (not that they have another place to put them).