As usual these are from the draft notes of a meeting I did not attend
Capital BikeShare: There are now 4000 members and 400 of them are in Arlington. The program averages about 1000 rides/day. There are presently 700 (of 1100 planned) CaBi bicycles. Funding is being pursued through partnerships with various BIDs or individual businesses. Stations cost about $40-50,000 to install plus maintenance and the hope is they can help with this cost.
Lights for Bikes: Day Light Savings Time ends on November 7. Therefore the County plans to distribute free bike lights at a few events. Forty lights were given out in about an hour at the day worker site in Shirlington. The County may also want to include reflectors since this also required by state law since the rear lights being distributed do not include reflectors. The cost of the lights is about $20 per set.
Maintenance Updates: The biggest upheavals caused by tree routes on the Custis Trail have been corrected, however, the tree root problem remains on the rest of the trail. The new snow policy has not been adopted as of yet, so the snow removal policy for Trails has not been changed.
Shirlington Connector Signage – New signs would be ordered this week. The flashing lights for crossing Shirlington Road have also been ordered. The installed cost of the lights is $22,000. The lights will be on both sides of the street.
Trail Connection Priorities – The county receives complaints that trail connector signs don’t exist on roads (white on green) identifying specific trails. The emergency marker system also needs to be updated. The County should also acquire land for trail connections. Specific connectors should be identified. It was suggested that the Lee Highway crossing for the W&OD Trail should be moved in order to eliminate the turning activities by motor vehicles. It was noted that a crossing was needed at George Mason Drive for the parallel bike route for Columbia Pike.
Signal Timing at N. Cleveland and Lee Highway – The timing is off again at the intersection where a bicyclist was killed about a year ago. According to David Kirschner the timing was changed to 14 seconds from the previous 5 seconds. The BAC discussed its concerns that the County adopt a policy for the timing of all intersections that permits safe clearance of any signalized intersection by non-motorized traffic.
Streets Element for MTP – The Streets Element for the Master Transportation Plan will be discussed by Rich Viola at next months meeting. David Patton would like a letter from the BAC to the Board supporting the 110 Trail Transportation Enhancement funding. The cost is $750,000 and the County is short $250,000. 50% of the project has been designed. The County is working with the NPS on the project. David Kirschner needed input on a connector to the Arlington Mill development for the Four Mile Run Trail.
Bike Lane/Sharrow Implementation – Many bike lanes are not striped properly at intersections. Some of the problems are VDOT issues. The question was brought up as to whether there are any consequences to the contractor for the errors. David K. says no, but the contract is up for bid next year and past performance should be considered in selecting a contractor. Grinding is the only alternative for correcting an error. David Goodman said there were 5.5 miles of new bike lanes and sharrows installed this year to make a total of 30 miles countywide. David Patton said the County would be installing racks along Wilson Blvd. at various locations. The work on the Ballston bike rack will begin shortly. Available bike racks at this site will go from 35 to 44. The County has spent $70,000 on bike/pedestrian counting equipment.
Support for Ciclovia in 2011 – there is a need for sponsorship money, and BAC members should help secure that sponsorship.
Vice Chair – A vice chair is needed. They need a volunteer.
Columbia Pike Transit Meetings - Two meetings are scheduled for November 15 and 18.
There is a new manger for the Phoenix Bike Shop, Kelly Auer.
Traffic Calming Committee – Traffic Calming has been funded for $200,000 in 2011. New traffic/speed data is needed to move forward on many projects. The County is getting new data for projects high up on the list.
Is the bike lane not striped correctly (a) if it is striped all the way to the intersection (hence the need for grinding)? or (b) if it is not striped?
My understanding is that AASHTO guidelines specify that the lane stop or be striped, but all the bike lanes I've seen (not in Washington) are solid, even when they are to the right of right turn arrows, so I'm not sure what is considered correct.
Posted by: Angelo | December 14, 2010 at 07:55 AM