Alexandria's January 2010 Meetings

Alexandria Transportation Commission meeting on Wed, Jan. 6

The Commission will hold its next meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 6 at 7:30 pm at City Hall (301 King Street) in Room 1101. In addition to reviewing transportation funding and considering updates to the city Transportation Management Plan ordinance, the Commission will hear staff updates on the city's Long Range Plan, Beauregard Corridor Plan/BRAC Interchange Justification report and Complete Streets.

From one of the agenda items for the meeting

A list of potential transportation projects will be reviewed by the City Council Legislative Subcommittee on January 15 and City Council on February 8.

The list includes:

1. Potomac Yard Transitway, $3.6 million (Highest priority transportation project)
2. Eisenhower Avenue Metro Platform Extension, $16 million (Highest priority
heavy rail project)
3. Bike Parking & Bike Sharing Initiative, $2.3 million (Highest priority project
within this item is installation of bicycle parking stations at City Metrorail stops.)
4. Safe Routes to School, $4 million (Highest priority pedestrian project.)
5. Bus Rapid Transit- Van Dorn/Beauregard, $4 million
6. Holmes Run Greenway/Eisenhower Ave East Shared-Use Path Improvements, $7
million
7. Potomac Yard Metro, $25 million
8. Active Transportation Projects and Programs, $36 million
9. Four Mile Run Pedestrian Bridge, $7 million

For more information click HERE

Pedestrian and Bicycle Citizens Group meeting on Mon, Jan. 11

Special guests will be Mr. John Komoroske, chairman of the Planning Commission, and Mr. Jayme Blakesley, vice-chair of the Transportation Commission who will explain how their commissions shape policy and approve projects or plans that directly affect bicyclists and pedestrians in Alexandria.

We will also take time to review 2009 and look ahead at some key projects coming in 2010.
The meeting is at 7 pm on Monday, January 11, 2010 at the Durant Center (1605 Cameron Street).

For more information please click HERE

Comments

[Catherine]

From the Local Motion site:

"Covered bicycle parking is available at King Street Metro and bicycle parking is available at the Boyle Street entrance of Jefferson-Houston Elementary School which is next door to the Durant Center."

This jumped out at me because Durant Center is (most unfortunately) my polling place. I just moved to this precinct (4 years in City Hall precinct, moved 100 stupid feet into Durant). When I went to vote in our gubernatorial election this November, my first time voting at this polling place, I couldn't for the life of me find a designated place to leave my bike. I didn't want to leave it locked to the handrails because it would block the flow of pedestrian traffic, and I generally don't use street signs because they're too easy to steal a bike from. I thought I must have been in too big a hurry, or it was too dark, or I was just being stupid. Now I see that the problem was that there is none!

Now, the directions "oh, there's parking at the Metro and at the school next door" make it sound like they've got it covered, but really, no. I generally don't think to leave my bike parked down the street and around the corner, particularly not when going to a community center. And while the school is next door, the entrance to it (where the bike parking is) is on a street that I, until just now, had NO idea existed and I know Old Town pretty well. To get there, you'd have to bike past the rec center, turn right onto a small, one-way residential street and then another right into this even smaller dead-end residential street.

Really stupid set-up, all around. I wound up locking it to a street sign and one of the people passing out fliers said he'd watch it for me, so all in all it was fine. I just feel vindicated about my inability to find the bike rack at the community center (and a little astonished that there's not an actual solution to this).

[Froggie]

I think I'm gonna try to get to this meeting...

[Froggie]

Made it to the meeting. The Transportation Committee does a pretty good job of posting minutes on its website, but I'll still post some brief notes on my blog...