1st Street NE Protected Bike Lane extension now open

This is also part of the Metropolitan Branch Trail. Photo from Zack

Comments

[Brett Young]

Looks Great!

[John Henry Holliday]

Good job, DOT. I've really been enjoying this stretch this week; it makes getting to the Ist St cycletrack from the south much easier, and I think 1st St will now be my permanent link to the MBT (shifting from 2nd St - induced demand ;-).

But as I posted elsewhere, I'm not sure how well vehicles will respect the cycletrack, given the gap in the barrier midway up the block. So far this week, around 8:30 am each day:
Mon: no vehicles in cycletrack
Tue: emergency responder vehicle parked in cycletrack
Wed: mechanical repair vehicle parked in cycletrack

[Jon]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CMPAw_wUYAIvewZ.jpg:large

This afternoon around lunchtime.

[omg]

This really is unbelievable. Like literally anywhere you don't put protection, even for a small gap, vehicles will seem to automatically fill-in to that area.

[DE]

Jon, was that a cop car? Whatever it is, with the curb, that looks far worse than parking in an unprotected bike lane because you have to hope the curb to get around.

[John Henry Holliday]

@DE: good point.

But as chance would have it, the same sort of thing happened to drivers on 1st St yesterday evening: there was a police response to something in two locations along the west side of 1st St (which is one lane each way) between G & H St. The police had parked their vehicles in the southbound lane, blocking that lane, and no southbound cars could go around because of the cars in the northbound lane - which could not go anywhere because drivers on H St trying to turn onto 1st St southbound were blocking the box at 1st and H. It was one of those occasions where I felt a little sorry for drivers as I maneuvered through the traffic jam.

Thu morning: cycletrack was clear at 8:30ish am. So, clear 50% of the time around 8:30 am the first four days.