TheWashCycle

Wednesday Morning Commute - BMUFL

Good morning. Not much for me to report, but soon I'll be able to start biking again, which I'm excited about.

• The hit and run in Bethesda might not have involved a hit. "There may or may not have been actual contact between the biker and the van," he said. After the accident, the cyclist said the van made a sudden lane change and hit her, Didone said, but preliminary investigations of the damage did not show any signs of the van hitting the bicycle.
• The BAC comes up with some ideas about automated enforcement. 
• Where BMUFL signs are being installed in Montgomery County. I saw some on MD-212 Riggs Road earlier today. 
• There was another possible hit and run involving a cyclist yesterday, this time in Arlington near Westover.
• Livestrong donations are strong
• I'm blogging for the Green Lanes Project about DC bicycle facilities and you can see my first post here.

Tuesday Afternoon Commute - Wolves

Good Afternoon

• FoxDC an NBC4 cover last week's hit and run injury in Bethesda. Jodi Grant, the victim, looks as badly injured as you'd imagine. And lest you think the driver just didn't know about the crash "According to witnesses, the driver stopped briefly and drove away."
• Follow up on NYC's defensive cycling class. Better police enforcement is part of the solution, but so is the Idaho Stop. 
• Lance Armstrong noticing early on that other cyclists seemed to be doping. “I’ve only experienced one Tour de France and it was very, very difficult,” he said. “I’m certain this year’s going to be as difficult, if not more. It seems to be much more difficult this year for some reason. There’s a lot of guys that go much faster this year. I’m just as fit and feel just as good as I did last year, but my strength within the peloton has sort of gone down. A lot of riders are stronger.”

DC Breaking Local News Weather Sports FOX 5 WTTG

Cyclists Ticketed for running stop sign during Reston Century

Reportedly, several cyclists were ticketed during last weekend's Reston Century by the Loudoun County sheriff’s office for failure to stop at a stop sign.

The officers positioned themselves such that they would maximize their opportunity to ticket cyclists and were ticketing as many as possible for minor infractions. One rider reports that as they wrote his ticket they made comments indicating that they were irritated that the ride organizers did not hire them to manage event safety. They reported having requested that the ride organizers route the entire event on the bike trail (which ride organizers deemed far too narrow and dangerous given the number of participants). Their ticket-writing campaign appeared to have been a vendetta against the ride organizers for utilizing the roads.

So, if all of this is accurate, then it appears that the Loudoun County’s sheriff’s office decided that keeping bikes off the road was more important than public safety; they were willing to bully cyclists as payback for the event organizers, and they would target cyclists for a technicality rather than watching for cyclists and drivers who are actually operating their vehicles unsafely.

Why does this sound so familiar.

Tuesday Morning Commute - Supposed to be

Good morning

• WABA calls on DDOT and MCDOT to finish the Metropolitan Branch Trail. "In the District, no one has provided a solid reason why work cannot begin immediately on the northern segment of the trail from Riggs Rd. to the Montgomery County line. It needs to be done.  Idleness is unacceptable.  It is no more acceptable in Montgomery County, where WABA fought to have funding for the trail restored to the budget after it was removed from County Executive Ike Leggett’s original proposal.  The restoration of funding has come with no commensurate sense of urgency to put it to use, however.  Despite the existence of funding and the inclusion of the trail in approved master plans, the Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) has not even begun the design of the critical crossing of Georgia Avenue, much less initiated any form of construction.  Instead, they continue to tiptoe around and negotiate with owners of the historic Silver Spring B&O Train Station, who do not want bicyclists able to travel along the master planned route, which includes an area the group currently rents as event space." Follow the above link to send them a message. 
• CaBi station at Prince & Union St. in Alexandria. 
• The Washington Examiner, among other things, thinks that increasing transportation spending over 1 year by 130% should reduce your commute time by 130%. Which would mean you would arrive, before you leave*. In addition to being bad at math and science, they say that
  
  • "In 2009, the highway trust fund spent $52.7 billion, but only 62 percent of that went to general purpose roads and safety programs. The rest was diverted into pet liberal causes like trolleys, bicycles, buses, scenic byways, historic covered bridges and "community preservation." Yes. Pet projects that help move 15% of commuters in the DC area. Also, even Reason puts that number at 75% of money goes to highways.
  • "And those are the dollars that are supposed to be going to highways." The bipartison transportation bill differs with you - as it has for a very long time. 
  • "Not only would Romney and Ryan stop wasting your transportation dollars on bike paths and high-speed trains to nowhere..." Yes wasting. You do know what the "Blank" to nowhere refers to, right? (Hint: not bike or train infrastructure).
• "The Frederick Board of Aldermen unanimously approved a Maryland Department of Transportation grant Aug. 16 that provides $12,000 to study the feasibility of a bike-sharing program in the city. The city will provide a $3,000 match in the form of in-kind services, according to Tim Davis, a transportation and airport planner for the city."
• Bike the Vote. 
• I've mentioned this before, but still a good story. "[Muhammad] Ali took up boxing at age 12, when his bike was stolen and he wanted to find and whip the culprit." Relatedly, Lance Armstrong took up cycling when he got beat up by a kid and then stole his bike as retribution.

*OK. They don't really say that your commute time would be reduced by 130%, rather that your commute would be 130% faster. So if you average 30mph on the way to work, you'll now average 69mph. Which is still ridiculous, but not as funny.

Buffered bike lane on 5th Street NW

This is for cyclists making the left turn, just north of Howard University.

Monday Afternoon Commute - Slackwater

Good afternoon

• This is your usual Level 1, "cyclists are a menace" editorial. I like how current behavior is labelled a "recipe for disaster" followed by a sentence pointing out that it isn't actually a disaster. Perhaps people modified the recipe. Anyway, Ockershausen calls for cyclists to be licensed, required to wear helmets and follow the same laws as automobile drivers, as appropriate. She'll be happy to know that 1/3 of her wishlist is done. This is all followed with a lot of erroneous helmet data. She adds "It's time for cyclists to be held accountable in the same way motorists are." Done. Cyclists are basically not held accountable, just like drivers.
• This presentation about Arlington's Capitol Improvement Program has a lot of information about transit projects, at least one cool photo of the excavations done to build the new elevators at Rosslyn Metro and the first look at the new, stylish Clarendon metro plaza that I've seen. In addition there are some updates on cycling projects. Highlights:
  • The Boundary Channel Drive Interchange, which should create a new connection across the GW Parkway, will begin federally-required Interchange Modification Study in FY 2013
  • Construction of the Columbia Pike parallel bike boulevards will begin at the western end in 2013
  • Army-Navy Drive Two-Way Cycletrack funding 
  • Potomac Yard/FMR Trail Connection funding
  • CaBi expansion to Shirlington and Columbia Pike in FY 2013/14
  • Colored bike lanes in Pentagon City
  • Bicycle parking at Clarendon Metro
  • Bicycle parking at Ballston Metro
  • The removal of the last 2500 parking meters by 2016
• Alexandria begins installing CaBi stations. Photos here. Discussion here.
• Repairs to the Big Slackwater section of the C&O Canal National Historical Park will be completed soon and the park might reopen next month 

New American Legion Bridge being considered

Montgomery County and Fairfax County are considering the future of the American Legion Bridge.

The span is approaching its 50th anniversary. It opened Dec. 31, 1962, completed at a cost of $2.8 million.

In the early years, it was called the Cabin John Bridge. The name was officially changed to American Legion Memorial Bridge in 1969.

Opened with six lanes, the bridge now has eight through lanes, matching the configuration of the Beltway on either side of the Potomac, though the highway narrows farther north. Traffic is more than four times heavier than in the early years. In 1965, the bridge was used by 47,990 vehicles a day. By 2010, that number had grown to 232,000.

Long-term options outlined in a Maryland State Highway Administration study include widening the bridge to make it part of a managed-lane system that could stretch west up I-270 and link up with the Virginia express lanes to the south, but there’s no financing in place for any such construction. The Maryland study, completed in 2009, estimated that widening the Beltway and the bridge would cost at least $800 million.

If the bridge is widened, this may be an opportunity to add a bike crossing. Such a crossing could connect the C&O Trail to Live Oak Drive. Ideally, it would include a connection to MacArthur Blvd.

Cyclist Injured in Hit and Run in Bethesda

If anyone has any information on this, that would be great

A woman was struck by a car while riding her bike on Massachusetts Avenue in Bethesda Friday morning, officials said.

Montgomery County Fire and Rescue personnel responded shortly before 10:30 a.m. to Massachusetts Avenue and Cromwell Drive, where the woman was struck.

She was transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The driver fled the scene, leaving her bleeding and unconscious in the road. She had to have facial surgery Friday and will require major oral surgery and further reconstructive surgery.  In addition she has a neck and back fracture.

Police are describing the vehicle as a "newer model mini-van, dark blue in color, [with] damage along passenger side." The van was last seen heading south on Massachusetts Avenue towards Washington, DC.

Anyone with more information is asked to contact Montgomery County police.

I can't believe that there isn't some camera that caught the van somewhere along the route. If you know anything, it's case number #12041932.

Monday Morning Commute - Strollers

Good morning. 

• The police have arrested the Dupont Circle Groper "a man who authorities say struck fear in the Dupont Circle area by grabbing and groping female pedestrians as he rode by them on his mountain bike." He was charged Friday with four misdemeanor counts of sexual abuse. He admitted to 8 such encounters.
• The MBT has branding signs in Eckington.
• The BicycleSpace bike tour of DC Murals.
• Specialized ran a contest as part of the Tour de France this year, and someone local won it "Congratulations to Michael P. from Washington, D.C. and the 21 Prevail helmet winners! Michael won the Tarmac grand prize and received a professional Body Geometry fit performed at CycleLife."
• Some identified safety issues with the Bethesda Trolley Trail Bridges.
• Students earn bikes with good grades.
• Broadneck Pennisula Trail work underway.
• Patrick “Scunny” McCusker, owner of the popular Mexican restaurant Nacho Mama’s in Baltimore Canton neighborhood was killed this weekend in Ocean City when he, on a bike, was hit by a bus. "It happened about 8:40 p.m. Friday at Coastal Highway and 132nd Street. Police say 49-year-old Patrick McCusker of Cockeysville was riding a bicyclist [sic] and collided with a bus. McCusker died at a local hospital. The accident is under investigation." It sounds like he was riding in the bus/bike lane and was hit from behind. There have been quite a few fatal crashes on the coast this year.
• New River Gorge National Park in West Virginia might get some new bike trails.
• Bike sharing creates jobs.
• Amen
• I'm not sure anyone was actually going to cry.
• This guy does not like cyclists.

Also, I have another post on my other blog.

New Bike Parking at Brookland Metro