The frustrating thing about this - that the grate is aligned so that skinny tires can get trapped - is that I asked about it at least a half dozen times and was told this would not be an issue. And yet here is a photo of the grates along the new streetcar tracks on Firth Sterling. I've not noticed this on H, but then I usually ride H on a CaBi so I might not.
Photo by ColinTBrowne
Granted the grate is not a good idea but what about the tracks. Not fun either.
Posted by: Tim | April 11, 2011 at 07:12 AM
street cars are not bike friendly
Posted by: Tom | April 11, 2011 at 08:25 AM
Did I remember this right?I recall there was an easy fix when the issue was addressed months ago on another blog (Frozen Tropics blog, maybe?). DDOT can invert the grates - the underside is slatted perpendicular to traffic.
Posted by: Read Scott Martin | April 11, 2011 at 08:57 AM
To cross rails in the road on any sort of tire, even a CaBi, requires a fairly acute angle. Riding between the rails would by definition I think be counter indicated. Perhaps we should view these particular grates as bikes prohibited signs.
Posted by: Riley | April 11, 2011 at 09:04 AM
I got the hang of crossing the track slots while riding along H Street with a few seconds of experimentation, and now it's no more of a problem than any other minor street irregularity (and a lot less of a problem than most potholes, heaved pavement, etc.). To be sure, I'm doing this on my hybrid; I haven't tried my skinny-tire road bike on H yet.
Posted by: davidj | April 11, 2011 at 09:48 AM
Who or what the Hell is "Firth Sterling"? Is that in the suburbs somewhere?
Posted by: oboe | April 11, 2011 at 10:42 AM
Firth Sterling is a road in SE. It's named for a steel company (I think) that used to have a mill down there. The company is still in business, but the mill is gone. It's the only street in DC I know of that's named for a company - but in Hanover, MD there's a Coca-Cola Drive where I assume the bottling plant is.
Posted by: washcycle | April 11, 2011 at 10:49 AM
The gravel right by the curb looks awesome, too.
Posted by: Jon Renaut | April 11, 2011 at 11:02 AM
Firth Stirling was a British company that specialized metal plating and knives. They had a U.S. subsidiary company in McKeesport, PA. They made the first commercial stainless steel in America.
Right before WWI they broadened their metal-work expertise into making armor-piercing shells for the U.S. Navy. They built a plant near where Bolling AFB is now. As a result the Congress Heights neighborhood boomed for a short time.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rock_creek/887016971/
If you want to totally geek out, this law suit between Firth Stirling and Bethlehem steel has diagrams of the armor piercing shells: http://tinyurl.com/6h59g6n
Posted by: Brendan | April 11, 2011 at 11:47 AM
Here's the post from Frozen Tropics on this topic.
http://frozentropics.blogspot.com/2010/05/test-post-this-ones-from-3rd-and-h.html#comments
The construction company came through changed the existing problem grates on H street around that time. (not sure if they flipped them over or welded in a cross-bar but whatever they did suits me)
I don't know whether subsequent grates that are being added on H have this problem or not. The fact that the bad grates are being installed in SE makes me suspicious.
I usually ride on I or G streets which are much more bike friendly, but I have noticed a big increase in bike traffic on H - especially since the CaBi stations opened.
Posted by: Jeff | April 11, 2011 at 12:51 PM
Grr, I wrote about this almost a year ago: http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/5863/ddoht-streetcar-grates-pose-unnecessary-danger/
Sad to see the issue remains. It's an easy fix.
Posted by: Stephen Miller | April 11, 2011 at 01:49 PM
For those who are interested in the topic:
http://www.apbp.org/event/Apr-11_webinar
Webinar: Integrating Bicycles with Streetcars
Wednesday, April 20, 2011 - 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. Eastern
Posted by: Stephen Miller | April 11, 2011 at 02:07 PM
Re streets named after companies: Oronoco street in Alexandria is named Oronoco and not Duchess because Oronoco was a business that used a dock at the end of that street.
Posted by: Jonathan Krall | April 12, 2011 at 01:36 PM
Being from Philadelphia, which has current and legacy streetcar tracks, riding on them is a challenge initially. As Riley and Davidj said, if you can learn, it's not a big deal.
Posted by: Uno000 | April 12, 2011 at 02:25 PM
Agree that the grates are bad. But overall, streetcars and bicyclists can coexist easily. Amsterdam and Zurich have extensive streetcar networks and tens of thousands of bicyclists.
Posted by: rg | April 14, 2011 at 09:24 AM
The inverted grates are rough too. I lost a tire on one last night : (
Posted by: Kate | July 05, 2011 at 09:39 AM