Friday Morning Commute - Micro-trail

Good Morning

• Some lights on the Met Branch Trail are out and DDOT is aware of it. The lights on the Met Branch Trail are solar/LED lights, so it isn't possible to fix them just by changing a light bulb, but they are trouble shooting the issue. Also, DDOT did not install lights under the NY Avenue bridge because of the work that is currently underway on the bridge. But there are lights included in the final bridge design. Also, there will be no more surprise trail closures. From now on DDOT will be notified two weeks in advance of any closures and will notify the public. Trail closures will not occur during rush hour.
• From Just Down the Parkway, the new Telegraph Road bike/ped bridge is not open yet, but the underpass under Eisenhower Ave at Cameron Run is, and the tunnel under the railroad tracks at Telegraph road is permanently closed (rats). "A new trail on the widened bridge will eventually replace the tunnel."

Photo by ajfroggie

• More news on the Rockville CaBi expansion: "It will be implemented around mass transit and employment centers as a pilot program in suburban Maryland," says Matthew Folden, the pedestrian and bike coordinator in Rockville. There's no timetable yet for when the program will start in Montgomery County. CaBi in it's current form is up to over 40,000 members now, who took nearly 140,000 total trips in May.  Meanwhile, GGW asks if Google maps can add capital bikeshare stations to the map.
• “This April I have started riding my bike to work: Mondays and Thursdays I ride from Baltimore to D.C. and take the MARC back, and on Tuesdays and Fridays I take MARC down and bike back to Baltimore at the end of the day. Wednesday is a rest day. Believe it or not, the bike route is pretty nice. Although it takes longer, I get my workout in so that I don’t have to go to the gym over lunch or on the weekends.”
• A 560-foot long, $38,000 micro-trail in Bowie will connect two neighborhoods and be built in about 2 weeks. "The link will also allow residents of Twelve Oaks to more easily reach the county’s new South Bowie Library, which is slated for construction between Hall Road and state Route 214 just south of Devonshire and is due to open next year"
• Tomorrow's Kidical mass ends with a Pool Party.

Comments

[smax]

I'm a pretty strong cyclist and daily bike commuter to PG county from Bethesda. I'm impressed if that guy is really biking to DC from baltimore. A really strong cyclist can do it in maybe 4 hours, but that means he's leaving at 5 AM to get there by 9. I'd be dead after that. Bottom Line: Not sure if serious.

[Early Man]

If by really strong cyclist you mean the Google cyclist then four hours is about right. I think the ride would be closer to 3 hours for a really strong cyclist. If he does this April through October that works out to about 6,000 miles. Impressive but not unbelievable.

[Greenbelt]

At three hours per commuting segment, four segments per week, that's 12 hours bike commuting a week. About the same as me. I'm still jealous though -- Bmore to DC and then to do any work other than examining inside of eyelids very impressive.

[SJE]

That is impressive. I'd like to know the route he takes.

As for the time: he is a gay man in a two income couple, and no mention of kids. That would account for a few hours a day.

[Jonathan Krall]

That micro trail looks like a great idea! I'd love to see trails connecting some the cul-de-sac developments near where I live. In the West End of Alexandria, for example, it is hard to get around without riding on challenging arterial roads.