Woodrow Wilson high school cycle track

Comments

[Charlie]

Looks good but I think they should have used bike lane symbols instead of sharrows!

[UrbanEngineer]

What makes this a cycle track?

[washcycle]

Maybe it technically isn't since there is no separation for the facility, but then I'm not sure what I'd call it. Maybe it is a bike lane with a contraflow cycletrack - the contraflow lane being separated from car traffic by the other bike lane.

[jaime]

seems legit...

[Joey]

How bout "two-way bike lane on one-way street"?

The way I'm used to hearing it, "cycle track" requires the idea of physical separation. Grade-separation being the ideal (or maybe separate parallel facilities in less urban places). If there is car parking, usually it should be between cars and bikes.

There is the idea of a buffered bike lane, with spaced separation indicated by paint, but no physical separation.

[Aside:I personally think it's a stretch to say that a buffered bike lane with occasional bollards spaced so widely even a car can easily pass between qualifies as true physical separation, but, um, ok. It's certainly cheaper, but I submit, perhaps short of the true ideal.]

But this lane does not even have a painted buffer.

It's just a one-way street with bike lane and contraflow bike lane. Or better, with a two-way bike lane. (...since I guess the former really sounds more like the bike lanes could be on opposite sides on the car lane.)

But during busy times, I fear it will actually be used more as a pick-up and drop-off lane, and that contraflow riding may prove challenging.

Anybody ride through here regularly? Thoughts?

[Crickey7]

I know the spot. It's one block long, right in front of the main entrance. During pickup and drop off, it will be used by cars unless there is a physical barrier.

[turtleshell]

This cycle track is maybe 2 years old and should be renamed cycle park. Its only about 100 meters long and when there is an event nearby it sometimes fills up with parked cars. Especially on weekends. There is only room for cars to park on one side of the driveway and for some reason cars usually park in the cycle track side and not on the other side of the driveway (the photo has a car on the opposite side which is also illegal, unless they are "standing"). Its not really an issue for cyclists since if a car is parked in the "bike lane" there is plenty of room to go around and cars can't really move very fast so its pretty safe. However, it sort of sets a precedent that its OK to park in the bike lane. I'm guessing its DCPS property so I'm not sure DC's ticket writers can write tickets there? In any case I have never seen a car ticketed for parking there.

[Fong Fong]

This "bike lane" is like a cruel joke. It goes nowhere, really. DDOT has had plans for a year now to link this path to something, but due to its institutional inertia has not yet put them in place. Sadly, Mary Cheh did not hold DDOT's feet to the fire on these projects during her hearing last month.