4th Street SW Bike Lanes

Riding around this weekend I noticed that the section of 4th Street SW that was rebuilt north of M is finished, though not yet open to through traffic. In addition to being a bike route, it's also got bike lanes.

Other things I've noticed lately

1. On Friday night, while riding home from Silver Spring where I saw Hot Tub Time Machine [funny], I took the signed Interim Met Branch Trail for the first time ever. Usually I Fleetwood Mac it (I go my own way). The interim route is way better.

2. On the way I took the hill down to the trash transfer station north of Catholic U. There was still snow on the road. I guess it was a snow storage spot. 

3. An inordinate number of bad drivers go to see the Cherry Blossoms. Or Cherry Blossoms make people drive poorly. Not sure which.

Comments

[Wayne Phyillaier]

One quick fix that will make the Interim MetBranch route safer when going south - get the counterflow bike lane installed on Gallatin Street.
The situation has not changed since I wrote about it last fall at silverspringtrails.org. Gallatin is one way westbound, and signed with "Do not enter" "Except bicycles" for eastbound trail traffic. But there are no signs to warn motorists travelling westbound that cyclists can ride against traffic on this street. Motorists keep to the center of the lane because they have no reason to expect counterflow bike traffic in the street. A few signs where traffic enters the street, and lines marking a bike lane and/or sharrows to show a counterflow bike lane exists here can fix this.
I've contacted Heather Deutsch in DDOT on this recently, and she says they are looking into this.

[JTS]

How'd you like the way the snow smelled? I haven't smelled something that foul in a long time. Love that I get to pass it on my way to work every morning.

[Jeff]

Sure, the Met Branch is maybe great going South, but not so going North. I tried following it North a few weekends ago -- it was mostly uphill and I got lost. I wont' be taking it again anytime soon. There is still a lot of work to be done on it!

[Wayne Phyillaier]

Jeff:

For me, the "critical mass" for making the MetBranch a really attractive route will be reached when the trail is extended north along the Metro/CSX corridor to the Fort Totten Metro station. That will eliminate the nasty hill up Bates/Fort Totten Drive. All the rest is small stuff that even an old geek like me can easily handle.

[John]

There is still plenty of (soot covered messy looking) snow under the Wilson Bridge too.

As for driving around the Cherry Blossoms, some of that traffic is just folks trying to get home. It took my wife 2 hours to get from Woodley Park to Mount Vernon. She expected to see heavy traffic but was practically kornheisered at the bicycle rickshaws taking up entire traffic lanes and stopping in the travel lanes to let customers take pictures. I do believe she has a point.

[washcycle]

Taking up entire traffic lanes - meh. Stopping to let people take photos - beyond rude. The tour trolleys do it too. Drives me crazy.

[darren]

4th St lane is nice -- i do hope they continue it past I St up to Penn sometime soon. And striped the length of the intersecting I St, which only has striping for a couple of blocks near Amidon Elementary School (a SRTS site).

[crin]

You should look closer at those new buildings on 4th in Southwest. DC is moving a bunch of agencies there, but they only built like 6 bike parking spaces on the sidewalk. There's no dedicated bike parking in the garage that I know of.

[washcycle]

I'd be shocked if there were no bike parking in the garages. I think they're required to have it.