All-powerful bike lobby swoops into Alexandria, demands bike lanes

From a LTTE in the Patch. 

The sudden appearance of outsiders lobbying to install bike lanes on a dangerous section of King Street is unwarranted interference. Together with the local bike lobby’s twisted reporting of the recent Traffic and Parking session, they create undue animosity. But this is what lobbyists do… stand in the way of change that does not wholly benefit them alone.

I don't normally think of speaking at a public hearing as "lobbying". That's usually a back-room kind of thing that usually comes with political contributions. And I'm pretty sure that lobbyist have to register as such. I doubt that Aimee Custis of CSG or Greg Billing of WABA are registered lobbyists. Maybe I'm wrong. Who cares when lobbyist is such a good way to make the opposition look bad? [What happened here was advocacy, but we like advocates]. Nor would I call these groups outsiders since they have members from Alexandria.

the bike lobby and others conduct a, perhaps unintended but nonetheless disruptive campaign targeted at people who are simply trying to get where they’re going, either on foot or in a vehicle. Like an invasive species pushing into spaces successfully occupied by natives. In Alexandria we are trying to create a new space that accommodates everyone.

Are the cars and pedestrians the natives, and cyclists the invasive species? Regardless, yes we are trying to create space that accommodates everyone.

Under cover of the mostly untried “Complete Streets” policy, lobbyists’ rhetoric was used to obscure the real difficulty of mixing multiple modes (cars, trucks, buses, pedestrians, bicycles) while ensuring safe passage for all. Despite attempts around the world, mixing modes can produce new accident patterns and many near misses. This happens most often in places like this small section of King Street. Here, a high incidence of traffic accidents, narrow roadway, limited sidewalks, and steep hill, all combine. 

You know what would help reduce the mixing? Bike lanes.

The number of lobbyists from outside the city was surprising

And that number was how many?

but about how to change this small and very dangerous section of King Street to accommodate everyone. Safely executing this for all three modes may not be possible without greatly increasing all around risk.

I fail to see how removing parking and replacing it with a bike lane decreases safety. 

Finally, it was stunning to hear the bike lobby characterize cyclists as “traffic calming devices” or “buffers.” The ethics of this rhetoric, which advocates deliberately putting cyclists in the way of harm, is immoral and irresponsible. As an early speaker, a safety expert testified: the goal of situations like the King Street renovation is to reduce—not increase—risk to ALL users.

I wasn't there, but this doesn't sound right. Bike lanes are traffic calming devices (or so the theory goes), not bicyclists. 

What's most amazing about this article is that she only mentions parking once and never in the context that this is what residents are fighting for. No, residents on King Street are concerned most about safety and the safety of cyclists. This is why they oppose the bike lanes. Bold.  

Comments

[Emily]

Interestingly, opponents of bike lanes close to AU also brought up biker safety as a reason NOT to add the bike lane. I guess the thinking goes that bike lane = more bikes on a road that they think is unsafe for biking no matter what the redesign. This ignore the fact that bikes are going to be there anyway, though.

[ACyclistInTheSuburbs]

On the one hand

Complete Streets, bike lanes as traffic calming, support for mixing bikes and cars, etc are all things that the City of Alexandria is committed to. It may feel better than arguing for the value of the parking spots, but I think its a weaker argument in defending the T&P board from the accusation that its not fulfilling the mandate of the elected officials of Alexandria. That suggests the way forward is to reach out to elected officials, and to change the make up of the board

2. OTOH - ultimately if we override local opposition, no matter how ignorant that opposition is, we will make it harder for our friends in local govt to support needed change. I would suggest instead the next step is to create a task force, including reps of the cycling community, City of Alex staff, and reps of the King Street homeowners, to review real expertise on cycling safety, and how that can be applied to this location. Walking tours of suggested alternate routes can demonstrate grade issues, etc. That will be costly for City of Alex (which would have to donate staff time) but I think could be ultimately more effective.

[ACyclistInTheSuburbs]

Note, I say the above, as a resident of FFX - we have a bike master plan in process, and we have dozens of potential "king streets" places where old thinking folks will oppose needed improvements. And recent "compromises" on several issues makes me worry that faced with such opposition, even our supportive elected officials will cave. We need to spend enough (friendly, positive) time with these people to cure the ignorance, if ignorance it is, or if its not ignorance, to put them in the position of admitting that these are the right things for safety, and its all about parking.

[MM]

"But this is what lobbyists do… stand in the way of change that does not wholly benefit them alone."

This is a perfect description of what the bike lane opponents are doing, masterfully projected onto the bike advocates. Freud would be proud.

[Froggie]

Mentioned in one of the Patch comments, but this particular LTTE is especially comical in that it was the bike lane opponents who first brought in "outside lobbying", in the form of the articles in the Wall Street Journal and the American Spectator. Ms. Papp completely destroyed her credibility by citing the "outside lobbying" right away in her letter without acknowledging that the bike lane opponents did exactly the same thing.

[Brendan]

I bike to work from Huntington through Old Town M-F and I've never had any issues on King street. Traffic is usually so slow on King Street, that a bike lane seems unnecessary at best, and an expensive boondoggle at worst. I'd rather see designated bike lanes to increase cyclist safety on Washington and Duke streets.

[cyclistinthecity]

Brendan,

The section of King Street where bike lanes are being proposed is just outside of Old Town, up Shuter's Hill past the Masonic Memorial. It will allow a connection the lanes on Janney's Lane and beyond.

In Old Town, I agree there is no need for bike lanes along that section of King. That section ought to be closed off to motor vehicles entirely.

[Catherine]

@Brendan--

This is not King Street in Old Town. This is King Street taking out out of Old Town--west of the Metro station up the hill towards TC Williams etc. That is the only east-west route in that part of the city and is supposed to connect Old Town and the Metro to the new lanes on Janney's.

The problem with Washington (I believe--please correct me if I'm wrong here) is that it is the GW Parkway and does not belong to the City of Alexandria. Ditto with Duke Street west of the Metro--it's a VA State Road there.

If you need to get east in Old Town, you can use Prince, and west you can use Cameron (though that is a bit out of the way if you need to be on Duke), or King itself within Old Town.

[Froggie]

Catherine: Washington St belongs to the city from the Hunting Creek bridge (just south of the Beltway and Hunting Point) to 1st St (the signal north of Montgomery St/Powhatan St).

Officially, King St is also a "VA state road" (Route 7), but aside from the Beltway and I-395, the city has overall jurisdiction over the primary routes within the city (including Route 1 north of the Beltway interchange).