TheWashCycle

Trail Oriented Development

Along the W&OD trail, the Crescent Falls Church condominium building is being built.

Developers also plan an "oversized" bike room - intrepid residents could even ride the W & OD and Custis trail into DC.

I don't know if that's far enough to qualify as intrepid...

More Cycletrack photos

Here and here.

Saturday Morning Ride (10/31/09)

Rethink College Park had an EXTENSIVE post on UMd's Campus Bicycle Plan. It would cost over $1.1 million to do everything in the plan, but the University doesn't have that kind of money. RCP thinks that closing Campus Drive to cars should be the first step.

Progress on the Woodside Trail.

Baltimore hosts its first Sunday Streets on 1 mile of a residential Street.

Garbage cans for passing cyclists.

The Bike Sharing Blog covers the NPS bike fleet here in DC.

Humana donated three automated rental stations to the NPS which they’ve used to connect three of their employment sites in and around downtown D.C. While their employer bike fleet is only for staff, the NPS expressed interest in growing the concept of automated bike rental for visitors throughout the National Park system as well as bike-sharing on the National Mall.

The City Fix DC has a See.Click.Fix page available.

GGW writes about the opportunity to improve pedestrian and bicycle access within a Fairfax City development that a reworking of the plan presents.

With a few tweaks, the new residences could be better connected to the trail network and Old Town, and the new trail could provide better pedestrian and bicycle access for surrounding neighborhoods. Several city council and planning commission members pressed Jaguar to work with surrounding landowners to ensure that the trails are connected and flow into nearby destinations such as the Post Office.

Adam Voiland writes about the word "accident." I avoid the word here, but it doesn't really bother me. Most crashes are accidental - as in not intentional - and I don't think it means no one is to blame. But it's just as easy to call it an incident or crash and then I don't annoy anyone who doesn't like the word.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is hosting a ride on the Mount Vernon Trail on Nov 14th to highlight water quality issues, CBF’s Cyclist for the Bay program, and their current Federal initiatives to help restore the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay downstream

Turning Vehicles Yield

photo.jpg, originally uploaded by Eric Gilliland.

Cyclists May Use Full Lane

photo.jpg, originally uploaded by Eric Gilliland.

I think this is for northbound traffic.

15th Street Signs up

15th, originally uploaded by Eric Gilliland.

Oxon Hill Farm Hiker-Biker trail repaving

I guess that opening the Wilson Bridge has taught a lot of cyclists where Oxon Hill Farm National Park is, and now Jonathan Krall reports from the comments that they're repaving part of the Hiker-Biker trail - which was in desperate need of some work. This is also part of the Potomac Heritage Trail.

I just want to be loved, is that so wrong?

Not much love out there for cyclists, from a couple of links on GGW this morning.

Montgomery County cut 100% of the $100,000 bikeways maintenance budget, but cut only 0.5% of road maintenance. On street bike facilities will continue to be maintained.

Some Fort Washington residents don't want a bunch of walkers and cyclists in their neighborhood.

Talk of mass transit expansions took a backseat to discussions of land use for the extension of the Potomac Heritage Trail. The trail crosses the Woodrow Wilson Bridge in Oxon Hill and straddles roads through Accokeek. The preliminary master plan includes a proposal that would rescind land easements needed to extend the trail along private properties abutting the Potomac River.

Residents opposing the trail said it would cut through the backyards of private properties, degrade property values, threaten personal security and cause pollution along the river.

The easements were approved as part of the deal to build the homes in question. So before ground was even broken, people knew the trail would pass through the back yard they didn't yet own. Trails have been found to raise property values and do not bring crime. And you know what really causes pollution along the river - houses. Maybe you shouldn't have a built your house so close to it if polluting the river is offensive to you.

"Public recreational trails do not belong on private property," said Fort Washington resident Punitha Kelly, whose property could be used for the trail if it is extended. "We're not against biker trails, we just don't want them in our backyards."

Again, the county owns easements to build this trail, so it's not exactly like private property.

Kelly added that she fears for the safety of her three children while they play in the backyard because of access to the trail.

Oh good gravy. Does she fear for the safety of her children when they play in the front yard because of access to the road? That seems more dangerous than a trail. 

The Planning Board will allow mail-in comments until Nov. 2. The County Council is scheduled to vote on the plan by Nov. 20

You might recall that they attempted to pass a law making the easements difficult/impossible to use, but it didn't go anywhere.

Here's the rest.

But trails advocates fired back during the meeting, telling the council that public land easements existed on the private properties for trails long before subdivisions were built and that the land was already frequented by hikers and cyclists before the housing boom in Fort Washington during the past decade.

"Nobody owns the views," said Donna Warren of Fort Washington, referring to the views of the Potomac River from the trail. "I understand that people have concerns about safety; a trail is not a magnet for crime."

Fort Washington resident David Turner, chairman of the county's Historic Preservation Commission, spoke against extending the trail along private property and said the debate over a trail throughout Fort Washington goes back to the 1960s, when federal planners wanted to extend a commuter trail from Washington, D.C., to Charles County, bisecting private property in Oxon Hill, Fort Washington and Accokeek. But a coalition of farmers, civic associations and property owners thwarted the plan, Turner said, adding that the trail currently being discussed would pave through historic properties in south county, including Livingston Road in the Broad Creek Historic District.

The trails "can't just be anywhere. They have to be carefully placed," Turner said, suggesting that trails could be placed along service roads closer to Indian Head Highway.

Jim Hudnall, a trail advocate and Fort Washington resident, said trails help beautify the community, lessen road congestion and give residents more commuting options by allowing them to ride bikes to work.

He said residents who bought land along the Potomac River knew the land would be used for future trails because those were conditions put upon the developer by county planners.

"Park and Planning needs to have flexibility in having a trail between National Harbor and Fort Foote Park," he said. "We think people who stay at the National Harbor and come across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge would like to walk to Fort Foote Park."

Other community members said they were torn between the two sides.

Carter Farrington, president of the Tantallon Citizens Association, said he favors the trail along wide roads, such as Fort Washington Road, but wonders if there is enough space for trails to intersect smaller rural roads, such as Livingston Road.

"My community has mixed fillings about this trail," he said.

College Park Seeks Grant for Bike/ped bridge

This past summer the city of College Park applied for a $425,000 grant to pay for design, engineering and construction of a bicycle/pedestrian bridge across Paint Branch that would connect the Paint Branch Trail to Route 1 near the yet-to-be-built Starview Plaza. (The bridge is not on the site plan at right).

"It's to make trail connection similar to the pedestrian bridge at University View, which gets lots of use, and now that it's in place, a lot of students use it and it's their fastest way to campus," Vitale said.

The midtown bridge would be the final connecting piece for the city, which has another planned bridge adjacent to North Gate Park at the University of Maryland, College Park's main entrance.

Establishing greater pedestrian/biker access through the city was one of the stated goals of the city and Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission when developing the Route 1 sector plan in 2002, Vitale said.

"We hope this will get people out of their cars and hopefully give people a safe and convenient bike/pedestrian route," she said.

Starview Plaza, will also feature "bicycle storage facilities with a minimum of 40 bicycle parking spaces" as part of a compromise that allowed them to reduce the on site parking requirement. 

I couldn't determine when those grants will be awarded, but it may not be until May. And with $25-30 million worth of requests statewide seeking only $4.2 million, it may be a long shot.

It's been a good few months for Rockville

In addition to being a Bicycle Friendly Community Honorable Mention, they also won Montgomery County's Advocates for Alternative Commuting Excellence award.

The award is recognition of the city's efforts to mitigate traffic congestion and poor air quality by promoting commuting alternatives like Bike to Work Day and providing a Zip Car in Town Center.