TheWashCycle

Sunday Video - Hains Point 100

Saturday Morning Ride - Blog Bankruptcy

For long time readers, you've probably noticed a drop off in both the quantity and quality of posts. I just don't have the free time I used to have. As a result I have amassed dozens of open tabs, highlighed emails, half-finished blog posts and general clutter. I have accpeted that I will not get to all of this, and that some of these posts are over a year old - so who will really care? So over the next few days I'm going to be literally dumping all of this stuff on the blog so I can enter the new year with a clean slate. Think of it as me declaring bankruptcy, or an old-fashioned jubilee.

• The L Street cycle-track makes the Post's list of top 10 transportation stories of 2012
• WABA seeks board members. And they support bikesharing in MoCo even with the current facilities - they just think the county should commit to better facilities.
• An image of the detour to what WABA calls the "Roosevelt Bridge Bike Path", but I call the Potomac River Trail. Detour starts on January 2nd. The Kennedy Center really has made a Herculean effort to let cyclists know about this and deserves an A+ for outreach.
• A proposed GWU dorm would "include 132 bicycle parking spaces but no vehicle parking."
• "Montgomery Lane was planned to be a pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly path to the Bethesda Library and the Bethesda Metro, but the street is rendered impassable when vehicles are parked illegally." Not to pedestrians and bicyclists, it isn't.
• "One element frequently left out of bike and pedestrian plans is a discussion of maintenance, and setting level of service standards for maintenance, especially for the winter months, in those parts of the country where snow is likely."
• That's Sir. Bradley Wiggins to you.

Friday Afternoon Commute - Incentives

Good aftenoon

• Congestion pricing works (and probably gets more people to bike). 
• My latest GreenLanes blog post - on the L Street Ribbon Cutting. Please excuse the amateur film making. I'm an amateur. 
• An interview about the 11th Street Bridge Park.
• Montgomery County bike commuting map. 
• This year, a driver who hit a cyclist in Southeast DC was convicted, in part thanks to a "black box" - Airbag Control Module (ACM) - on board his SUV (oddly, he was the 2nd driver to hit him, the first left the scene and was never found). It turns out that most cars have these devices "They’ve been around since 1996, and NHTSA says about 96 percent of 2013 models have them. The agency wants to make that 100 percent, starting in September 2014," but they don't always trigger when a person is hit. "Sensors mounted around the edge of the car might detect a person there, but if the crash isn’t forceful enough to set off an airbag deployment, the black box probably won’t record it."
• Just as was done in DC, Chicago is funding most of its bike sharing startup costs with CMAQ money. Also, they have a new awesome bike plan. I miss Gabe Klein. 
• The complete CaBi proposed/planned station map. 
• Shooting fish in a barrel.

Friday Morning Commute - Nice Bridge

Good morning

• Metro studies stations where customers are driving from 1-3 miles away and asking "So why are so many people from this area driving?"
• More on the Nice Bridge Replacement that will not come any time soon. There are a lot of people pushing for a new Potomac crossing, unfortunately, it's not this one.

Painting Lines

Lane / Markings by Ranpuba

Thursday Evening Commute - Designated

Good evening

• We were discussing gun control recently and a friend of mine mentioned gun insurance. The idea is that gun owners would pay insurance and that would pay for any damage that guns did, there would even be a fund for people who were shot, but the gun used wasn't identified. That isn't what I want to discuss, but I thought "what if there were a tax on car insurance that would be used to pay the medical expense of bicyclists and pedestrians (and, I suppose, property owners) who were injured in a hit-and-run situations - where no driver, and thus no car insurance, can be identified? Why should health insurance, home owner's insurance, etc... have to subsidize that?" Anyway, don't know if there is any place that does that, but it seems fair.
• Hyattsville got an update on its bicycle and pedestrian improvement plan. Bike lane implementation could start this spring.  
• From a DC DMV e-Newsletter last month: 
  • "On November 4th, the time changed and with it, the rising and setting of the sun. While it's light out at 7am, it's dark at 5pm, a time when children are playing outside, bicyclists are in their designated lane, and pedestrians are crossing streets. And, oftentimes, they are hard to see. Be alert. Be safe. Be focused. With vehicles, cycles, and people sharing the same pathways, it is important for everyone to obey the road rules" 
  • I'm glad that they asked drivers to be on the lookout for cyclists, but they could also be in lanes not designated specifically for cyclists. Nitpick.
• Contribute to WABA's Women and Bicycles program. 

Progress in Arlington - December 2012 Update

This is by no means a complete list of what Arlington has been up to with respect to their bicycle programs, but this is from an update to Appendix B of the county's Master Transportation Plan's Bicycle Element. 

• Arlington Blvd. - South Side Trail and North Side Trail Improvements - Construction on track for a 2013 completion. 
  
• Arlington Boulevard, South Side Trail Extension Study - Extending the east side/south side Arlington Blvd trail to Washington Boulevard and continuing the trail south along Washington Boulevard to 2nd Street S. and Columbia Pike was deemed infeasible by the study, so funding was shifted to the west/north side of Arlington Blvd. An extension to Columbia Pike along Washington Blvd is in design with construction planned for 2014.
• Boundary Channel Bridge Underpass Trails - A trail to Boundary drive was constructed as part of the Humpback Bridge Project, but completion was halted due to DOD security concerns. Possible construction of roundabout interchange at I-395 and Boundary Drive in conjunction with the Long Bridge Park aquatics center could provide a DOD-acceptable trail connection.
• Crystal Drive and Potomac Ave. Bike Lanes - Crystal Drive bike lanes to be extended in 2013
• S. Joyce Street Bike Lanes from Columbia Pike to 15th Street - Bike lanes from Army Navy Dr. to 15^th St complete as part of FHWA project under I-395, which will be completed in January 2013.
• Old Jefferson Davis Highway Bike Lanes - First phase implemented along Long Bridge Drive in 2012.  Extension to Boundary Drive will be done in conjunction with Phase II of the Long Bridge Park project.
• Rosslyn Circle Area Improvements – Street Level - Currently at 60% design and undergoing VDOT review
• Route 110 South Trail Paving - Project requires a complete reconstruction of trail, new highway ramp crossings and a retaining wall. This project is currently at 50% engineering, with design to be completed in 2014, followed by the NPS required Environmental Assessment (EA)
• Washington Blvd. Trail – West Side Trail - Phase I completed in 2010.
  (0.3 mile)  Phase II currently being redesigned to reduce tree canopy impact. Approximately at 90% design. Construction planned for 2014
• Columbia Pike Parallel Bike Routes - Designed as “bike boulevards”. First implementation planned for 2013.
• Pentagon Area Trail - DOD security concerns have forced the project off of the Pentagon Reservation, so it has been re-envisioned as the Army Navy Drive/Joyce Street cycle track project. Phase I design, including provisions for streetcar, will occur in FY 2013-2014 with construction in 2015. 
• W&OD Crossing at Columbia Pike - Designed as at-grade intersection improvements. In 2013 construction queue.
• Arlington Boulevard Trail Renovation - Sections between Irving & Filmore Streets under design or in queue for construction.
• Four Mile Run and W&OD Trail Connector -North and south approaches partially rebuilt in 2011. Requires bridge replacement to complete.  Design planned for FY2014.
• Four Mile Run Bridge - Currently under design.  Source of construction funding needs to be identified.
• Potomac Yard – Four Mile run Trail Connector - Currently under design.  Railroad viaduct to be demolished in 2013.
• Rosslyn Circle Area Improvements - Tunnel - West Bound lane reduction and other safety improvements approved by VDOT at 50% design, but tunnel is not included in the Rosslyn Circle proposal.  Short-term elements implemented 2012.
• Washington Boulevard Sidewalk Upgrade - Route 110 overpass being redesigned by VDOT.  Complete corridor requires VDOT & DoD approvals.
• W&OD Trail Crossing at Lee Highway - Ramps and trail alignments to be revised in 2013.  Signal modifications also under consideration.
• 15th and 16th Streets N. Bicycle Route  - On bike network map.  Possible future bike boulevard.
• 15th Street S. Bicycle Lanes - Bike lanes marked Hayes St. to Eads St.  Eads St to Crystal Dr. incomplete.
• 18th Street S. Bicycle Lanes - Partially complete.  Bell St. to Crystal Drive incomplete.
• Fairfax Drive Bike Lanes  - Arlington Boulevard RSTP enhancement study will address bike facilities.
• Fairfax Drive Bicycle Route - Possible uphill bike lane to be marked after completion of Route 50/Courthouse Rd interchange project.
• Fort Myer Drive Bicycle Lane -Will proceed according to Rosslyn Transportation Study recommendations.
• Kirkwood Road Bike Lanes - To be evaluated in 2013
• Military Road Sharrows - To be implemented after Five-Points project. 2014.
• N. George Mason Drive Bicycle Lanes or Sharrows - Bike lanes and sharrows added in 2012.
• N. Pershing Drive Bicycle Route - Placed on bike map in 2011. Possible upgrade to bike lanes with “nub shaving”.
• S. Courthouse Road Bicycle Lanes or Sharrows - Active project. To be implemented 2013.
• S. Lynn Street /S. Arlington Ridge Road Bicycle Lanes - Uphill bike lane to be incorporated into next paving
• Virginia Square–Cherrydale Bicycle Route - To be implemented after installation of HAWK signal on Washington Blvd. at Nelson St.
• N. 26th Street Bicycle Boulevard - Added to bike network in 2013 map revision.
• N. Harrison Street Bicycle Boulevard  - Continuity improvements planned for 2013.
• Washington Boulevard Wide Curb Lanes/Sharrows - Bike lanes implemented between Westover and N. Harrison St. in 2012
• N. Carlin Springs Road Bicycle Lanes - Bike lanes and sharrows implemented in 2012. Southward extension pending bridge rebuild.

I really wish DDOT could update its list of projects regularly and make it publicly available as Arlington does.

It's a shame about the Pentagon Ares Trail. That project is described as "an on‐ and off‐street bikeway to link Columbia Pike at S. Rolfe Street with Southgate Road, the Pentagon, and Boundary Drive. At Boundary Drive, a connection would be made to the trail and underpass [Humpback Bridge stub] that leads to the Mount Vernon Trail and the 14th Street Bridge. The project would provide a safer and more direct route for commuting through federal property]. It really is unfortunate that they've deemed a bicycle and pedestrian trail a security concern. Maybe someday we'll be more hardy again.   

Thursday Morning Commute - Blast

Good morning. They're getting criticized for it, but Western Kentucky ran the percentage play last night.

• SW section of Anacostia Riverwalk Trail takes tiny step forward, menwhile, the Navy Yard section was closed due to a turnstile outage.
• Blasting to continue along the Capital Crescent Trail. "Blasting — designed to clear dense hard rock on the site of what  used to be a popular parking lot at Woodmont and Bethesda Avenues near the Barnes and Noble — began Dec. 5 and is expected to continue daily for the next two to three months, according to an advisory from Montgomery County officials."
• Purple Line price tag goes up again. Capital Crescent Trail completion is tied to this project.
• Four pedestrians were killed by trains in Hyattsville last year. Perhaps some new underpasses or overpasses are needed. 
• Bike Arlington's top 10 of 2012.
• Arlington bike lanes - now with more counters. 
• Montgomery County gets safer for pedestrians following 2007 Pedestrian Safety Initiative.
• The Montgomery County Department of Transportation held it's first meeting on the construction of a bike path along MD-355 that would connect Clarksburg to Germantown.
• Montgomery County Executive Isiah Legget has requested $1 million be added to the fiscal 2013 capital spending plan to fund studies of the Corridor Cities Transitway. One of the studies planned will look at pedestrian and bicycle access to stations.
• To the list of major Maryland projects (Red Line, Purple Line, the Corridor Cities Transitway) for which there is no money, one can add a replacement Nice Bridge. Planning studies for a new four-lane bridge to replace the existing Potomac River bridge are complete. "The new bridge will include a shoulder for disabled vehicles and a path for pedestrians and bicyclists, both of which are lacking now. The sidewalk and roadway will be separated by a barrier to protect walkers and bikers." Currently the Wilson Bridge has the Potomac River's farthest downstream bicycle crossing, but the Nice would take that honor if the new one is built as planned.

Franklin's Bike Parking

Franklin's Bike Parking by Mr. T in DC

Bicycle parking has recently been installed outside of Franklin's Restaurant, Brewery and General Store, at 5121 Baltimore Ave. in Hyattsville, Maryland

Wednesday Afternoon Commute - No one dreams of a white Boxing Day

Good afternoon

• Alexandria's Union Street Corridor Plan includes bike corrals to provide parking, but the chair of the ABPC is concerned that part might not be implemented because the Waterfront Commission thinks they "sound ugly".
• Mother of a 13 year old child asks Abby how to get him to wear a helmet. She suggests logic, apparantly unaware that the mind of a 13-year old boy is a logic-free zone.