TheWashCycle

Greater Lyttonsville Visioning Workshop– Monday, September 29th

Lyttonsville is the eastern end of the Georgetown Branch Trail, where the future Capital Crescent Trail extension will go. But the plan goes farther than that as seen on the bikeway map below. Rocke Creek Park Trail and Ireland Drive Trail are in the area as well as the Eas-West Highway Side Path and several bike routes.

The Montgomery County Planning Department, part of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, is inviting anyone who lives, works or has an interest in the Greater Lyttonsville community to participate in a community visioning workshop on Monday, Sept. 29 starting at 5 p.m. at the Planning Department Headquarters (8787 Georgia Ave. Silver Spring, MD ). The event will provide attendees an opportunity to share their vision on how the Greater Lyttonsville area can be improved over the next twenty years. RSVP's are encouraged but not required.

Building on the success of the last community meeting held in July, and a series of outreach events that reached out to the business community and families, the Greater Lyttonsville team has scheduled this second workshop to further encourage the community to help define the vision for the sector plan area.

The workshop, which will be held from 5:00 to 8:30 p.m., will have an open house format, with the presentation being given at 5:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m., and 7:30 pm. At each one, Staff will present the planning process, recent feedback that has been provided regarding constraints and opportunities, as well as next steps. The workshop will also include an interactive exercise to explore community character as it relates to open spaces, streetscapes, environmental elements, land uses, buildings, and community facilities.

The Planning Board will receive a briefing at their regular meeting on Oct. 16 that will summarize the outcomes of theSept. 29 workshop. All are invited to attend. The summary will also be available on the Planning Board website online one week before the Planning Board briefing.

Details: 
Greater Lyttonsville Sector Plan Visioning Workshop
Monday, Sept. 29, 2014
5 - 8:30 p.m. 

Planning Department Headquarters (8787 Georgia Ave. Silver Spring, MD 20910)

All community members and children are invited. Snacks will be provided

REGISTER HERE FOR THE EVENT

To get up to speed on the progress so far on the Greater Lyttonsville Sector Plan, view these videos below:

-The GreaterLP recap video from the July 15 community workshop

- Check out this video segment with planners Erin Banks and Melissa Williams and learn how to get involved with the future of shaping the #greaterLP area.

-Watch the GreaterLP Needs You short promotional video

Learn about the progress of the Greater Lyttonsville Sector Plan and how to get involved with shaping the future of this community.

DDOT now responsible for Metropolitan Branch Trail lighting near Metro

Since the Met Branch Trail's Eckington section opened, there has been some well-documented problem with lights. One problem has stemmed from jurisdiction issues between DDOT and WMATA, but DDOT recently reported at the latest BAC meeting that that problem has been solved, as WMATA has transfered the statiom area trail structure to DDOT which will allow them to maintain those lights themselves. They're trying to get those lights added to the current maintenance contract. 

Wakefield High School bike rack check II

Following up on my post from last May

Back in 2011, the editors of the Sun Gazette wrote about the bike parking for 300 that was to be installed at Wakefield High School

"We’re dubious that even a fraction of those spaces will find themselves filled on any given day, once the new school is constructed.  Cut out (or print out) this item and save it for 2013 or 2014, when the new school will be up and running. We’ll see how this prediction turns out."

Anyway, I asked for photos and it looks like, so far, I'm wrong and the Sun Gazette is right. Admittedly, these photos are not from Bike to School day. 

Thanks to Henry for the photos.

I blame the parents. 

CaBi bikes waiting for repair

Another photo from my tour. These are all the bikes waiting for repair (and some of the Capital Bixi bikes mixed in too). Many of these are tires that need to be changed, and the mechanism that prevent wheel theft apparantly make that so onerous that they need to come into the shop. This is not an unusual number to have in the shop at any time I was told. 

Cannibalizing Capital Bixi

Last month I got a chance to tour the Capital Bikeshare warehouse. Readers will recall that at the July Bicycle Advisory Council meeting, DDOT announced that they had procured 10 more stations and that they would be installed by the end of the month, so I was surprised when I saw so many stations still sitting in the warehouse. You can see the bases and towers in the photo below.

Since then, DDOT has more widely announced the additional stations and included a map of where they're to be placed.

In the above photo you can see the TELUS ad on the dock facing the camera. That's because, as has now been widely reported, these pieces of hardware came from Ottawa, which had a deal with Telus.

Below are the rows of docks awaiting disbursement throughout the area. It's taking much longer than a month to place all of these stations, and some of these have been sitting at the warehouse since January I was told (which would mean they predate the Ottawa deal), but it's good to see that equipment is ready for placement. Adding more stations downtown will go a long way to providing better service to current users and will make rebalancing much easier. 

One nice thing about reusing the Capital Bixi bikes is that they're already red, so that Alta doesn't have to strip off all the paint. They are, however, a slightly different shade, so you'll be able to spot the immigrant bikes amidst the natives. 

Of course, the next batch of CaBi bikes could be even more different than these are. 

the manufacturer of the software and circuitry for our Capital Bikeshare stations has committed to producing an all-new, enhanced bikeshare station that will work seamlessly with our existing system. We haven’t yet had a chance to test this new station, and cannot commit to a larger-scale expansion of Capital Bikeshare in the District until we are fully satisfied that this new hardware meets or exceeds our requirements. However, our hope is that by Spring 2015, we will be announcing the arrival of 40 or more new stations that will bring Capital Bikeshare to many more DC residents, workers, and destinations.

I hope they steal some ideas from other bikeshare companies. Things like GPS and more basket-like baskets.

2nd annual boundary stones bike ride - September 20th, 2014

Are you a history buff? Biking enthusiast? Regular old adventure seeker? Join us Saturday, September 20th for a bike ride around the oldest federal monuments, the DC boundary stones.

The 2nd annual event is bound* to be bigger and better than the first!

You can ride 1, 2, 3 or all 4 sides of the DC perimeter. Last year we started at the East stone (check out last year’s route), and many people only completed the first side, so this year we will start where they left off: the South stone, in Old Town Alexandria.

Meet at the Jones Point Lighthouse at 9am.

Boundary Stone Public House will once again be sponsoring the ride with t-shirts and beer specials after the ride.

Mark your calendars and check the Facebook event for details!

DC wins TIGER VI grant for Long Bridge; could pay off for cyclists

The US DOT announced the winners of 72 TIGER  (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery)  grants on Friday and DC won one for the Long Bridge NEPA documentation. It's a $2.8 million grant for project planning. From the fact sheet:

TIGER funding will be used to complete a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) study for the long-term replacement of the Long Bridge over the Potomac River.

Though the fact sheet focuses 100% on railroad enhancement, nearly half of the Long Bridge study proposals (for which it appears the website is dead) included bicycle facilities on a new bridge. 

Sunday Video: The real video from that song from the Metro video

This comes via Dr. Gridlock. The ad produced by WMATA to promote the opening of the Silver Line used a song entitled "Escapee" by an Austrailan band named "Architecture in Helisinki." The real video for the song is a bit enigmatic to me, but it does feature a kid on a bike (and someone stealing a bike, or something?) Anyway enjoy.

Architecture in Helsinki - Escapee from Architecture in Helsinki on Vimeo.

Maryland TIGER grant will widen Route 175, add bike facilities and trail

Maryland is reportedly getting a TIGER grant to wide Route 175 where it passes through Fort Meade. 

Work along Route 175 between Disney and Reece Roads will widen the road to six lanes, as well as adding sidewalks, on-road bicycle facilities in widened right lanes and a multiuse hiker-biker trail. 

The trail will go farther south than that via another project

The state has already approved $27.9 million to improve the intersections of Route 175 at Reece Road and Mapes Road in Odenton. That work will include stormwater improvements, new turn lanes, a raised median and a hiker/biker trail. 

It appears the project will add 5' bike lanes and a 10' hiker/biker path along the south side of Rotue 175.

Make biking cuter - Kidical Mass DC and Arlington meet! THIS Sunday

There are those times in life when two forces rocket towards each other, only to meet in the middle with an incredible explosion of AWESOME CUTENESS and CUPCAKES. On Sunday, September 14th, the incredible adorability of Kidical Mass Arlington will cross the bridge and join forces with the amazing delightfulness of Kidical Mass DC to ... circle the Washington Monument. And eat cupcakes. It will be awesome.

When: Sunday, September 14, 10:00am (roll out 10:15am)

Meet & End:

Arlington:  LBJ Grove, on the Pentagon side of the wooden bridge  (Right by the Columbia Island Marina)

Parking: Either in the Columbia Island Marina / LBJ Memorial parking lot, accessible from the southbound GW Parkway OR in the LBJ Grove Parking lot accessible from Boundary Channel Drive on the Pentagon Reservation.

DC:  Stanton Park on Capitol Hill (West side, about where the Google Maps dot is)

More info at  kidicalmassarl.blogspot.com  and kidicalmassdc.blogspot.com .