Rhode Island Ave Protected Bike lane, WB&A extension to DC and more funded by the TPB

The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments has announced its latest round of Technical Assistance Program (TAP) funding, and of 8 projects that will receive funding, 6 are bike related. Most notable in the immediate DC area are

• College Park – Rhode Island Ave Protected Bike Lane Design - 30% Design ($55,000)
• Montgomery County – Developing Educational Materials for the New Infrastructure in BiPPAs and Bikeways Program ($60,000)
• Prince George's County – Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Trail Extension Feasibility Analysis ($30,000)

And farther out 

• Charles County – Waldorf Urban Area Bicycle / Pedestrian Connectivity Analysis ($50,000)
• Fairfax County – Columbia Pike Bike and Pedestrian Study ($45,000)
• Loudoun County – Engineering Analysis to Improve Bicycle and Pedestrian Connections to Future Metro Stations ($25,000)

It's not a lot of money, but this is the seed money that eventually turns into real projects. 

Here's more details on the projects

Rhode Island Avenue PBL - The project will provide 30% design work for 1.1. miles of new bicycle facilities along Rhode Island Avenue, from Greenbelt Road to Muskogee Street. The project will align with the City's existing efforts on the College Park Trolley Trail. The final deliverable will include 30% design drawings and construction cost estimates. 

WB&A Trail extension - A feasibility analysis will examine the potential for extending the Washington, Baltimore, and Annapolis Trail along MD 704 from MD 450 to the DC Boundary. The report will include a proposed alignment, potential design issues, implementation phases, funding sources, and illustrative sketches of proposed trail sections.

BIPPA's - The county will develop new bilingual/ADA educational training material to alert users of new safety infrastructure planned in Bicycle and Pedestrian Priority Areas (BiPPAs) and the Bikeways Program Areas. The educational training materials will be piloted in White Flint and Silver Spring activity centers.

Waldorf Analysis - Existing facilities will be assessed to determine local needs for connectivity, circulation, and convenience of bicycle and pedestrian travel in Waldorf. The final deliverable will include facility type and design recommendations, a prioritization schedule for implementation, and cost estimates.

Columbia Pike Study - This study will review and analyze the existing bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure along Columbia Pike. It will make recommendations that identify progressive infrastructure improvements. The final report will include a map of recommendations, proposed facility improvements, prioritization matrix, and planning level cost estimates.

Loudoun County Engineering Analysis- Building on FY 2014 TLC study, an engineering analysis will support identified improvements for bicycle and pedestrian facilities within one-mile radius of future Metrorail stations. This project would document site-specific data to advance implementation of improvements to address safety issues across all modes. The final product will be a traffic signal warrant analysis addressing the existing conditions and documenting site-specific data.

The WB&A Trail extension to DC would be fantastic. There's one other project worth mentioning because it might include bicycle counters. 

Fairfax County – Technology Plan for a Travel Monitoring Program in Tysons ($45,000) The project will develop a travel monitoring program for Tysons to include continuous and automated counters to collect volumes for all modes of travel. The program will use the data to identify travel patterns, allow for timely programming and funding decisions, and will suggest system adjustments. The final deliverable will identify appropriate tools and technology to collect and analyze the travel data, work with stakeholders, and estimate costs of implementation and operations.

Comments

[Greenbelt]

Fantastic indeed. A couple years ago WABA did a conceptual study of the WB&A extension to DC here: http://www.waba.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/WBA-Trail-Economic-Analysis-Web.pdf