Friday Morning Commute - Nobody told me

Good morning

• Herndon Town Council discusses the Fairfax County Bicycle Plan and in so doing, obsses over keeping cyclists out of the way of cars and pedestrians. Meanwhile the public is focuses on safety, connectivity and more options. 
• While WABA and Arlington BAC haven't taken a position on the Columbia Pike streetcar tracks, they are concerned about the potential they have for causing bike crashes - as the tracks on H Street NE in DC already have. Personally I support streetcars, but I also worry that the bicycle boulevards won't perfectly address this issue. “If you basically take a piece of roadway that’s a major regional connector for cyclists, and you make it somehow unsafe for cyclists, you’re actually going to be discouraging ridership,” said Farthing. “It’s a challenge that needs to be worked out. You don’t want to invite crashes and hazards, or decrease ridership.”
• More on the controversy over expanding the Washington Boulevard Trail. "Unfortunately, the project has recently encountered a bit of opposition from local civic association members and Arlington’s Urban Forestry Commission. Some of the civic association complaints are the same as those frequently heard about transportation projects in general – “Nobody told me!” And I’ve certainly got some sympathy, as someone who tries hard — yet frequently fails — to keep up with local transportation projects. But that’s simply not a valid complaint in this case. The project has been on the books for years and, heck, anyone who has driven down Washington Boulevard for the past few years has seen an actual sign announcing the project’s future."

Comments

[darren]

I appreciate WABA and Mark getting bikes into the streetcar discussion. But I disagree about moving the streetcar to middle-running. having curbside stations (and relieving transit patrons of having to cross Columbia Pike) is critical to the quality of a streetcar service.

As long as the County does whatever it can to mitigate the hazard on Columbia Pike, and keeps its promise to construct parallel blvds (and not name-only blvds, but routes that cover a long distance, have access controls for cars, and progression through intersections for bikes), i'd prefer to sacrifice quality on Col Pike as a bicyclist to benefit as a transit patron

[xmal]

Middle-of-the street stations are no more of an inconvenience because streetcar patrons will have to cross the street once anyway for their return trip (if they don't cross it when they arrive). Either they cross the street in its entirety when they either arrive or depart (depending on which side of the street their destination is), or they cross half the street when they arrive and half again when they depart.

[Arl]

I just fail to see how the parallel bike boulevards are not far superior to a relocated streetcar for making the corridor bike-friendly.

[MattD]

Regarding the Herndon discussion - if you bike in Herndon at all, it would be great if you could contact the Town Council and advocate endorsement of the Ffx County Bicycle Plan - ESPECIALLY if you live or work in Herndon.

There is also a second Town Council meeting on August 14th when this will be brought up again (and open for public comments).

[Michael H.]

Columbia Pike isn't a great place to ride, with or without a streetcar. The car traffic moves very fast and there really isn't room to add bike lanes.

I suppose the bike boulevards would be nice. I'd also like to see repairs made to the sidewalks, for riding on short stretches along the Pike.

[Penrose resident]

The Washington Boulevard trail part II wasn't presented to the Penrose neighborhood officially until Tuesday, July 17th. The WB Trail Part I was off handedly mentioned by DES staff when briefing the neighborhood about replacing water pipes along Arlington Blvd. Not all of us are blind and we saw the sign, but who would have dreamed the trail would destroy the trees and habitat.

[Kathy]

Encouraging more car use (by not having a viable bike route along Wash Blvd) also destroys trees and habitat.