TheWashCycle

Take That Kornheiser!

_DSC0715, originally uploaded by Eric Gilliland.

I think the wide part is the lane, and the narrow part is the buffer. There are more photos here.

Pennsylvania Ave NW Cycletracks Being Installed

Photo by Eric Gilliland

More On Street Bike Parking Coming

From a WABA press release:

The Washington Area Bicyclist Association is pleased to announce the installation of the first on-street bicycle parking racks in the city, courtesy of the District Department of Transportation. In front of the WABA office on Ontario Rd. NW, DDOT took advantage of unused curbside space before the intersection with Columbia Rd. and was able to provide parking for up to eight bicycles without removing existing car parking space. This is a pilot project testing the on-street bike rack concept, the first of 25 on-street racks called for in DDOT’s new Action Agenda.

Other progressive cities like Boston, MA and Portland, OR, have had demonstrated success with on-street bike parking of this type. Business-owners in particular benefit from the ability to accommodate 8-10 customers on bicycles in the same space as one car, as well as the removal of parked bicycles as an impediment to pedestrian traffic on sidewalks.

The bike parking is ideally located for Adams Morgan customers, employees & guests of neighborhood residents. The new rack is protected from passing cars by plastic bollards, or barriers and is free and open to the public 24 hours a day. Anyone interested in requesting an on-street bike parking rack for their business or residence can contact Will Handsfield at DDOT at 202-671-2231 ([email protected]).

Met Branch Trail Ribbon-Cutting, Monday, May 3rd

Please join us for a ribbon-cutting to open the Metropolitan Branch Trail!

Time and Location: Monday, May 3, at 10:45am at 4^th and S Streets, NE.    

We could not have accomplished this without your assistance and support.  We look forward to seeing you. 

(There will be another celebration on Saturday June 5^th  as part of National Trails Day.)

Reston Bicyclist Critically Injured

This is a few blocks from the W&OD Trail and there's a bike path parallel to Sunrise Valley Drive.

A bicyclist was struck and critically injured in Reston Thursday evening, Fairfax County police said.

The man collided with a Saturn sedan on Sunrise Valley Drive at Barton Hill Road about 6 p.m., said Officer Bud Walker, a police spokesman. The bicyclist was flown to Inova Fairfax Hospital with life-threatening injuries, Walker said.

Police released no other information about the bicyclist.

The cause of the crash was still under investigation, but speed and alcohol were not believed to be factors, Walker said.

Hopefully the cyclist will pull through.

Arlington's Wakefield High School (if built) will have plenty of bike parking

Arlignton County School Board officials are increasing the proposed bike parking at the new Wakefield High School from 40 spaces to 304.

It is a large number,” noted William O’Connor, who is leading the team planning for the new school.

O’Connor acknowledged that “the demand is not there” for so many spaces at the moment, but he borrowed from an old movie in suggesting that, “if we build them, they may come.”

The spaces, some of them covered, would not all be built at once, but likely would be phased in over time. In addition to racks for students, there would be a 22-space area for faculty members and other staff to securely store their bikes during the school day.

The decision to propose more bike spaces seemed to please some School Board members.

“I’m glad to see all those bike racks,” said chairman Sally Baird, noting that the South Arlington school sits near a number of bike trails.

In the comments, many people seem to think this is a bad idea, that biking is just far too dangerous for children to be doing on cracked and potholed streets during rush hour.

Biking to school at rush hour would seem a little more than foolish for most kids - and these are CHILDREN. Unless all parking is banned on these routes, and safe bicycle lanes are created, I wouldn't allow my child to bicycle to school - and I'm an old cranky, stick in the mud who used to walk to school in 3 feet of snow......

These are children, NOT adults who may be more experienced bikers. There is a BIG difference. Step out of the biking shoes and take a moment to walk in a thirteen year olds shoes...

One person seems to think it's a corrupt one too.

The bike garages and lots are a payoff to the special interest bike lobby that has no real benefit or return for the students or the taxpayer.

Primary routes for biking to Wakefield are (1) the long, steep (and sweaty) climb up from the Walter Reed Dr. Corridor, (2) pedaling down George Mason Dr. where you take your life into your hands biking between Columbia Pike and Four Mile Run, or (3) fighting traffic cutting through on a narrow, twisting, hilly Frederick Street from the west end of Columbia Pike.

The limited number bike riders is indication of the sanity and common sense of today's high school student -- not a lack of upscale parking spaces.

Arlington cyclists respond

Bicycling to Wakefield High School--even via the roadways cited--is neither difficult nor dangerous, and the vast majority of Wakefield students and many faculty and staff could feasibly bike to Wakefield at least part of the time.

Since at least 10 bicycles can easily be parked within the space needed to park a single auto, the cost to provide the bike parking is trivial in relation to both the total project cost and the cost to provide the auto parking, and the bike racks could even reduce project costs if just a few auto parking spaces are eliminated.

As far as I know, the "special interest bike lobby" is nothing more than ordinary Arlington citizens, students, parents, and school employees who support making bicycling a viable transportation option for its health, enjoyment, mobility, energy-saving, environmental, and traffic benefits.

To encourage all forms of alternative commuting by Wakefield employees, the school system should locate Zip cars at Wakefield for emergency and other midday use by employees. These Zip cars could continue to serve nearby residents on evenings and weekends.

No Wakefield student would be forced to bike to school. Arlington Public Schools already offers bicycling education as part of Physical Education at the middle and high school levels, and this program can and should be expanded. If nothing else, sound bicycling education programs result in better young motorists.

Anyone who feels that cycling on the very streets discussed by the other poster is unduly dangerous should familiarize themselves with the literature on the subject. Long story short, the risks associated with cycling are on par with driving; except that cycling provides the additional benefits of exercise.

Regardless, the additional bike parking takes up little space and would take few resources to implement. Notice that the present plan intends on providing the parking incrementally

Lake Frank Trail Continues to Simmer

The campaign to cancel a hiker/biker trail that connects the Lake Frank Trail to a spur of the Maryland portion of the Rock Creek Park Trail is picking up steam. Here's one letter to the editor of the Gazette on the issue.

In attempt to mitigate some of the damage done by the InterCounty Connector, state funds were going to be used to remove pavement from a road and two parking lots on the east side of Lake Frank. The road and parking lots have not been used in more than 35 years.

Trees were then going to be planted where the asphalt had been. But the [Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission] hijacked the money and diverted it to a construction project that will cut down trees in the park.

Now the money that was going to be used for environmental mitigation is going to be used to extend the Rock Creek bike path by a couple of hundred yards. More than $2 million that should have been spent on environmental mitigation is gone. Worse, the replacement project will exacerbate the damage done by the ICC. This is called adding insult to injury.

John Mathwin, Rockville

One quick correction is that the money is coming from Community Stewardship money, not Environmental Mitigation funds, so it is less objectionable in that light, I think.  John Mathwin also wrote a letter to the Post on the same subject. You can read more about the trail here. The new letter includes the new strategy which is to get the money re-re-directed back to the parking lot removal. There is more on the debate here. Jack Cochrane of MoBike adds more context to the debate:

We need bicyclists to start sending letters on this issue! When it became undeniably clear that the community-demanded trail option would be much more expensive and environmentally damaging than the county-supported option, they switched to talking almost entirely about removal of the abandoned parking lots. This is very disingenuous but strategically advantageous. They are furthermore saying that they weren't informed of the decision by the county & state to build a trail instead of remove the parking lots. (Whether they were well notified remains a question). This makes undoing an already made decision appear more legitimate. They are getting ever wider community and politician support. Of course removing the lots will result in making the trail project much more difficult to fund and then they will have more time to fight it tooth and nail.

Multiple letters to the editor opposing the trail have been appearing since March, some characterizing the trail as a useless facility that merely adds pavement. In fact the trail is the first segment of the planned North Olney Trail that will connect the Rock Creek Trail to Olney.

Cheverly Mayoral Candidates Debate

One of the issues discussed at the debate for Mayor of Cheverly was bicycle access to the Metro station

Another resident concern was improving pedestrian and bicyclist safety and access from the Cheverly Metro station to the rest of the town. [Councilmen Michael Callahan (Ward 1)] briefly joked about blowing up the bridge over Route 50 between the Metro station and one of the town entrances and trying again.

[Micah Watson (Ward 2)] suggested an increased police presence to reduce station bicycle theft and said a second crossing, such as an access bridge, is necessary. Callahan said in the past they've had the Maryland Department of Transportation out to the bridge to properly sync the traffic signals where Cheverly Avenue intersects with the bridge.

"We have a bridge that was never intended for the use that it has," Callahan said. "We need to work to improve it gradually and slowly."

Resident Gabe Horchler said the pedestrian access to the Cheverly Metro is "atrocious" and hopes whoever is elected mayor puts pressure on the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to put a camera near the bike racks to prevent theft. Horchler said he has had six bicycles stolen there in the past six to seven years.

"There should be 100 bicycles there every day," Horchler said. "If they're not stolen they're ruined [with] people kicking the tires."

We ride across this bridge every year for WAGBRAD. It's not unusable, but it's pretty bad.

MD State Highway Administration’s Guideline for Application of Rumble Strips

In Maryland, cyclists are still required to use the shoulder if one is present and there are many roads where cyclists would choose to do so even without the law, so it can create a conflict when rumble strips are added to the shoulder that don't allow space for cyclists. To address this, the Maryland State Highway Administration is working on a Guideline for The Application of Rumble Strips. Currently they have draft, interim version. You can send comments on the guideline to [email protected].

[Rumble Strips are raised or grooved patterns on the roadway or shoulder that provide audible and vibratory warnings to drivers that their vehicles are leaving the driving lane or are approaching an unusual or unexpected traffic or road condition.]

LAB is working this issue at a national level, and on their blog note an incident this week where an experienced Virginia cyclist, riding in Georgia, reportedly moved into the path of a truck to avoid rumble strips on the shoulder shown in the photo.

Section three includes considerations for cyclists

3. Roadways Where Bicycles are Permitted
Along expressways where bicycles are expressly permitted to travel and along other highways where shoulder rumble strips are desirable, the accommodation of bicyclists must be considered. The following apply to these highways:

Shoulder Widths
· Where the paved outside shoulder is five feet or greater in width, rumble strips are to be installed in accordance with the typicals shown in Section IV.A. of this document.
· Where the outside shoulder is less than five feet in width:

- The installation of rumble strips is to be coordinated with the Bicycle Coordinator within the Office of Planning and Preliminary Engineering, who will provide the needed coordination with the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee.
- Consideration should be given to the need for and benefit of installing minimum width rumble strips (lateral length), minimum depth rumble strips, and/or placed closer to the edge of the roadway.
- Consideration should be given to the need for and benefit of installing rumble stripes.

· Roadway corridors with segments that have deficient shoulder widths should not preclude the use of shoulder rumble strips for the entire corridor. Deficient shoulders are defined as shoulders where the lateral distance from the outside edge of the rumble strip to the outside edge of the shoulder is less than 4 feet or to the face of traffic barrier is less than 5 feet. In these segments rumble strips should not be installed for the length that the deficient shoulder exists. In determining the minimum clear width, consideration should be given to decreasing the width of the rumble strips and/or placing them closer to the roadway edge, and the use of rumble stripes.
· Shoulder widths should be based on actual field measurements and not on reliance of widths shown on plans, as-builts, or inventories.

Gaps
· No gaps for bicyclists are to be provided along highways where the posted speed limit is 55 mph or greater.
· Although safety is maximized by continuous rumble strips, for highways where the posted speed limit is less than 55 mph, gaps for bicyclists shall be installed.
· Gaps should be installed with a 60-foot pattern (12-foot gap following a 48-foot length of rumble strips). This pattern can be adjusted to accommodate specific milling equipment or for other sound reasons; however, the gap should not be less than 8 feet nor greater than 12 feet and gaps should not be spaced less than 36 feet or more than 60 feet apart.

Oprah's No Phone Zone Rally

I apologize about the late notice.

“The Oprah Winfrey Show” and WJLA-TV welcome media and the general public to the D.C. rally to raise awareness and reduce the number of accidents from mobile phone use behind the wheel. Those in attendance may appear on camera during an episode of “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”

WHEN:           Friday, April 30, 2010

Doors open at 9:00 a.m.

9:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. – No Phone Zone rally

10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. – Viewing of “The Oprah Winfrey Show” No Phone Zone Day special episode which airs on WJLA-TV at 4:00 p.m.

WHERE:         Newseum – Atrium

                        555 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.,

                        Washington, DC 20001

WHO:              Sec. Ray LaHood, Secretary of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation

                    Gayle King, Editor-at-large for O, The Oprah Magazine

                    Leon Harris, WJLA-TV Anchor

                    Cathy Lanier, Chief of Police, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department

                    Deborah Hersman, Chairman, National Transportation Safety Board

        Jennifer Smith, President, Founding Director, FocusDriven

WHY:              Nearly 6,000 people died in 2008 in crashes involving a distracted driver, and more than half a million were injured. Washington, D.C. bans the use of all hand-held cell phone while driving, yet a 2010 Washington Post poll reported eighty percent of D.C.-area adults often see distracted driving.

You can sign Oprah's No Phone Zone pledge here. And I think it could apply to distracted biking (I personally don't think it's wise to ride while dealing with a phone).