It was 25 years ago this Monday that this article about the Regional Trails Plan ran
A plan before the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments proposes a larger, safer, interconnected network of trails; uniform signs and regulations; better support facilities; and an education program designed to encourage more respect for bicycle commuters.
A key element of the proposal is the completion of 1,000 miles of interlocked, mostly off-road loops and side trails that would link remote suburban trails to the city.
1000 miles. That would be awesome.
Adoption of the plan would mark the first time in the Washington area that bicycle transportation has received official recognition on an inter- jurisdictional level and would open the way for federal transportation funding not available before for bicycle projects.
"There's a great deal of support for it," said Jon Williams, a COG senior transportation planner. "I don't think there's any question there will be a bicycle element in the {regional transportation} plan."
A major objective of the Bicycle Committee's proposal is to get 5 percent of the area's commuters out of their cars and on bikes by 2000, less than a decade off.
Still working on it...
Hey, remember when Congress could still do things?
Many people were surprised when the 101st Congress, which adjourned last month after months of hand-wringing over deficit reduction, set aside $7 million to acquire a 4.3-mile wooded section of the abandoned Old Chessie Railroad spur near the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal in Northwest Washington. That section will become part of a new hiking-biking greenway to be named the Capital Crescent Trail.
If the money hadn't been appropriated, the land would have been sold to developers.
The Park Service took possession of the segment last week, completing public ownership of the 11-mile railway that was built more than 75 years ago to haul coal from Silver Spring to a federally owned power plant in Georgetown.
Happy Birthday (of sorts) Capital Crescent Trail.
As additional funds become available, the vines that cover the rusted tracks will be hacked away and the ties removed to make way for a hard-surface trail. The new trail will provide an off-road route for bicyclists traveling from Silver Spring to Bethesda and downtown as well as an alternative route for bicycles on the crowded C&O Canal near Georgetown.
In another part of the city, a similar campaign has begun to buy the abandoned Metropolitan Branch railway that traces a section of Metro's Green Line from Union Station to Fort Totten before it swings north to Silver Spring. A Metropolitan Branch Trail would provide access to downtown from Prince George's County and complete a loop by joining in-town and Potomac shoreline routes to the outer end of the Rock Creek Trail.
Tell me more about this "Metropolitan Branch Trail" of which you speak?
So what would make a Washingtonian use a bike to get to work? According to a 1989 poll of passengers on Metro's Orange Line, danger from cars is the number one reason for not riding a bike.
Bicycle advocates say the off-road loop system and other items in the COG plan would be major steps toward getting people on bikes regularly.
But that in itself won't do it, says Bill Silverman, president of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association. "We need showers in the workplace and safe, dry places to store bikes," he said. Showers and parking facilities are addressed in the COG proposal.
While the inter-regional plan seems like a huge undertaking, bicycle advocates are optimistic that much of it will become a reality.
"Washington is a bicycle town," said Rich Metzinger, bicycle coordinator for the National Park Service. "It's relatively flat, has a mild climate and wide roads. You just don't find that in many cities."
It'll never work.
Posted by: Crickey7 | November 30, 2015 at 11:09 AM