TheWashCycle

Currently unbikeable, Richmond Highway could get a cycletrack

Since 2015, Virginia and Fairfax County have been studying Richmond Highway and how to make multimodal improvements to it. In November of 2017, Fairfax County planning staff assessed and refined the recommendations of the 2015 Alternatives Analysis for the corridor from Huntington to Accotink Village/Fort Belvoir and created a plan which included continuous bicycle and pedestrian facilities in the corridor. It also has BRT in the center and an extended Yellow line beneath. 

The pedestrian and bicycle networks on Richmond Highway will provide multimodal alternatives to automobile travel and provide important connections to destinations within the corridor and beyond. These networks should be designed, built, maintained, and operated to a high standard in order to attract users, to achieve the transportation goals for the corridor, and to provide residents and visitors with appealing travel options to work, shopping, recreation, or other daily destinations.

The primary bicycle facility is a pair of 7.5 mile long separated bike lanes.

North of Napper Road, 6.5-foot buffered cycle tracks will be built on each side of the road, separated from the road by an 8-foot wide landscaped panel. The cycle track may be constructed at the grade of the roadway or raised to the level of the sidewalk. And it will then be separated from the sidewalk by another 2 foot wide utility Strip. 

South of Napper Road, 6.5-foot buffered cycle tracks will again be built on each side of the road, but separated from the street by a 5.5 wide landscaped panel. The cycle track may be constructed at the grade of the roadway or raised to the level of the sidewalk, and it will then be separated from the sidewalk by another 4.5 foot wide landscaped panel. 

Bicycle facilities are also planned to connect adjacent neighborhoods and commercial districts strung along Richmond Highway to the cycle tracks. Those facilities will be based on what kind of street they're on. On "Major avenues" that should be a 6 foot wide bike lane with a buffer.

On lesser "Avenues", a 5 foot bike lane would be standard. "Livability spines", specialized types of Avenues that will function as pedestrian corridors, will have a shared use path (unfortunately called a "walkway").

On "local Streets", bikes will share the road with cars.  So-called "Ecological Spines" might also have room for bikes. 

The plan also calls for safe, secure, and convenient bicycle parking all along the corridor. 

The planning commission and Board of Supervisors have already had hearings on this and approved it, so I'm not sure if there will be additional opportunities for comments (if so, I might ask them to change the name of the walkways. If biking is allowed, it's not really a walkway). The BRT environmental study isn't scheduled for completion until 2021, so there's likely time. 

This is a completely transformational project and I look forward to riding out that way in 2028.

Update: It could be sooner than 2028. 

The $215 million widening, which is expected to start in 2023 and finish by early 2026, would include bus lanes down the middle of the road, new bike lanes and sidewalks. The process to buy land needed for the widening could start next year.

The first public meetings on the Fairfax County Richmond Highway bus rapid transit project are scheduled for April 17 at West Potomac High School and April 18 at Mount Vernon High School.

Preliminary designs are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2019. 

Oxon Run Trails are complete

This isn't really news, since they had the ribbon cutting and a 5K last month, but the improved and expanded Oxon Run Trails are now complete and open. 

The new trail is wider with a smoother and repaired surface. It is straighter and south of Atlantic, where it used to only be on one side of the stream, it is on both. It also connects along South Capitol Street to the Maryland boundary where someday it will connect via a new trail to the Oxon Creek Trail. The street crossings have been improved and with new trail crossing and wider curb ramps (before and after)

The new trail now has a nice wide, smooth surface with wider areas at the turns, signage and new landscaping. In contrast to it's old appearance (I can't compare this below section to the old trail, because this is a new section that runs from Atlantic to South Capitol along the west bank). 

The trail ends at 13th Street with a sidewalk connection to Southern Avenue. Someday I hope it continues along at least one bank of Oxon Run through the NPS land to the Naylor Run Metro Station.

This is the new crossing at Atlantic Street, trail users in the past had to cross at Livingston Road and then go back across Oxon Run on the narrow bridge sidewalk to connect to the trail again. 

On the west bank, the north end of the trail deadends at 13th Street. Some kind of better transition is needed here, whether it be to the street and a bike lane, or to a continued sidepath along Mississippi to 15th Where the sidewalk picks up.

On the south end, the trail crosses South Capitol and then becomes a wide sidewalk/sidepath until it gets to Maryland at the Winkle Doodle Bridge over Barnaby Branch.

The 2010 Concept Plan (image below, north is to the right) had trails continuing south along the east bank of Oxon Run and then crossing into Maryland and over Barnaby Run onto trails that connected to the existing Oxon Creek Trail, but that was not included in this project, not was the trail from Joliet to Success Avenue.  I don't know if those are on hold or totally dead.

The two images below give some idea how the trails were expanded and moved. The old map is on top.

They're much nicer now. They will be even better if they're expanded to the south and the north, but that needs coordination with NPS and PG County.

 

63 mile greenway coming together in southeast Pennsylvania

Trail officials are are seeking a $5 million grant under PennDOT’s Transportation Alternatives Program to rehabilitate the 1/3mile long Safe Harbor Trestle in Safe Harbor, PA which will then close a gap on a 63 mile greenway - one that could get even longer and more extensive. This isn't exactly in the DC area, but it's close enough to make for a nice weekend trip. 

The 62.7-mile proposed greenway corridor would include the Enola Low Grade Trail as well as the Northwest Lancaster County River Trail and the Chester Valley Trail in Chester County. And that could eventually link with the Conewago Recreation Trail near Elizabethtown and the Lebanon Valley River Trail to the north and the Schuylkill River Trail in Chester County, which goes all the way to Philadelphia, to the east. The Northwest Lancaster County River Trail could be extended someday to Harrisburg, too.

Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn, who already travels to Lancaster County to bike and birdwatch on the trail, told assembled Lancaster County and Manor Township officials that “I think this is our Chesapeake Bay, right here.”

Maryland: "We already have one of those."

A couple of these trails are still being developed, but work should complete in 2018.

In December the Enola Low Grade Trail got a $500,000 Recreation and Conservation grant from the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. It will be used for a trail surface and other improvements on 9 miles from the eastern end of Quarryville to the Chester County line.

According to the article, PennDOT was to announce the grants in January, but the website still shows the 2017 press release. 

Tweaking the Montgomery County Bike Plan

It's been a month since I checked in on the Montgomery County Bicycle Master Plan, and in that time, they've been busy. They held a public hearing on February 25th and three additional work sessions, as well as posting the documents from work sessions 1 and 2 in February.

There's just too much material to put into one post. I'll hit some of the highlights, but if you care about biking in Montgomery County, I recommend poking around on the website and submitting comments. 

WABA comments

Most of the responses have been positive, and WABA is highly supportive of the plan so far. But they do have some criticisms that I'll highlight.

They're concerned that the Plan relies too heavily on sidepaths for separated bikeways on major roads. They don't think these will be attractive to most users and want the plan to recommend protected on-street bike lanes instead, wherever possible.

Planning Staff respond that these won't be like sidepaths they've built in the past

Since the main issue of concern is the quality of sidepath construction, the focus should be on improving sidepath quality, not on constructing separated bike lanes, which are likely to cost more than sidepaths. Pages 121 – 122 of the plan recommends that Montgomery County improve its sidepath and trail design standards. MCDOT will be revising their road design standards over the coming months and sidepath quality will be an important issue to be addressed.

WABA also worries about access to schools. 

The Plan also falls short in the area of access to county schools by bike. The Plan instructs the schools to provide parking for bikes, but in over half the elementary and middle schools full buildout of the Plan will not increase the percentage of students who can bike to school. While some schools will see a slight increase in low-stress bike access, too many will remain inaccessible. The same is true for 8 of 21 high schools and 13 of 30 County Recreation Centers. The Plan must do better, especially for school age children in the county.

The planners point out that the reasons so few schools have "bicycle connectivity" is that the standard is so high. For example, neighborhood sidewalks are not considered bikeable by children. And many schools are near high speed roads. 

To address this concern, the Planning Board could consider recommending a Safe Routes to School policy: "Safe Routes to School: Develop a Safe Routes to School policy that permanently (not just during school hours) reduces posted speed limits in front of schools and provides traffic calming features and/or traffic control, such as pedestrian median refuges, adjacent to schools to facilitate safe crossings."

In addition WABA requests several additional facilities such as a separated bikeway on East-West highway from downtown Bethesda to Beach Drive. One key piece of the plan is the system of "breezeways" that will connect key areas over long distances in the county - think intercity travel. Breezeways are a combination of Trails, Sidepaths, Separated bike lanes and Neighborhood greenways depending on the conditions. In many cases WABA would like those extended. When the plan calls for a sidepath, WABA wants one on both sides of the street which is the norm in the Plan. 

On the East-West Highway bikeway, staff writes

Adding a separated bikeway on East West Highway between Wisconsin Ave and Beach Drive will be challenging and costly. The Capital Crescent Trail is under construction and will serve many of the same users that would benefit from a bikeway on East-West Highway.

The SHA on the other hand is concerned that the Plan gives too much space to cyclists.  "The Bicycle Master Plan proposes two-way bikeways on both sides of the streets on many of the County’s major highways. SHA questions whether there is sufficient demand to support this investment, whether there is sufficient right-of-way and whether it will take away space from other elements of the roadway."

The County's position is that 

By providing a two-way facility on each side of the street, Montgomery County will enable bicyclists to complete trips to their destinations with minimal conflicts and delay and encourage more "Interested but Concerned" riders to consider bicycling.

Too much parking (for bikes)

Another interesting issue is the MCDOT thinks the plan calls for too many Bicycle Parking Stations (33 of them), so planning staff is removing two of them - at Gateway Center Station and Manekin Station.

CO2 reduction

The total calculated yearly reduction in emissions as a result of the implementation of the Bicycle Master Plan is between approximately 15,500 and 33,000 metric tons of C02e, which is equivalent to removing between approximately 3,300 and 7,000 cars from the roads each year. Based on staff’s judgment, we believe the reductions are closer to the higher end of the range.

Speeding tickets (for bikes)

The plan originally proposed speed limits of 10 mph on shared streets and 15 mph on neighborhood greenways . MCDOT pointed out that this would mean that a lot of cyclists would be speeding. So they've raised that limit to 20mph. 

A connection from the Capital Crescent Trail to Broad Street (where the Glen Echo Trolley once ran)

MCDOT recommended connecting the CCT to the C&O Canal towpath by providing a short trail between the Capital Crescent Trail and the Broad Street in the Brookmont community (Bicyclists would then use an existing connection between Broad Street and the C&O Canal Towpath), and staff thinks its a good idea - contingent upon evaluation of potential impacts to park land. This would also create a connection to the Trolley ROW (the same one that could build a trail from the Palisades to Georgetown). 

There are dozens of other goodies in the working section staff reports for those who have the interest to find them. 

The next work session is scheduled for April 19, 2018.

Advocate Training for extending the WB&A Trail to DC.

WABA announced today:

Prince George’s County is taking the first step to extend the WB&A (Washington Baltimore & Annapolis) Trail to DC along MD 704 to complete a 6+ mile missing spoke in the region’s trail network. We have two upcoming opportunities to build momentum to make it happen. 

Training: Next Steps to Extend the WB&A Trail

Join WABA, trail advocates and neighbors to learn about the trail, the emerging opportunities to extend it, and get involved in building the community and political support to keep the momentum going.

Saturday, March 31 11am - 12:30pm

Glenarden Library

8724 Glenarden Pkwy, Glenarden, MD

I can't make it, but selfishly this is a route that I occasionally have to ride, so I'd love to see it improved.

Crystal City Connection and DCA Cabi Station could make biking to the airport easier

Two changes, one in the short term and one in the long term, could make DCA an even easier airport to bike to. 

In the short term, Capital Bikeshare is planning a big expansion in 2018, one that will include a bikeshare station at National Airport.

Capital Bikeshare is slated to widen its reach in 2018 with the addition of more than 100 stations, hundreds more bikes and a larger coverage area — investments that are worth more than $5 million of federal, local and private funds. 

next year’s expansion, officials say,  [will] put Capital Bikeshare’s distinctive red bikes in new territory from National Harbor to Hyattsville in Maryland, and Reagan National Airport and Falls Church in Virginia. 

In Prince George’s, officials say they are reviewing vendor contracts before putting in an order for up to 325 bikes and 35 stations that will roll out in the spring.

Alexandria is planning to submit a $650,000 order for equipment this fall, including 10 more docking stations to be installed next spring. The city has funds for 50 stations through 2020, but officials say they will evaluate bike-sharing needs next year before proceeding.

Montgomery, which will have 73 stations at the end of the year, is planning about $660,000 in program expansion in 2018. That includes eight stations in the White Flint and Twinbrook areas and a seven-station network planned for the Rock Spring area of North Bethesda.

And Arlington is moving to acquire 15 more stations next year, including one for the airport. 

At this month's DC Bicycle Advisory Committee someone announced that CaBi at DCA was going to happen by the end of the summer (I think. I'm going by memory.)

In the long term, but perhaps more consequential, is the possibility of a new bridge or tunnel to the airport from Crystal City first mentioned last summer. The two best paths between Crystal City and DCA are currently the tunnel and trail connection and a route across the unfriendly Airport Access Road. Both are longer than they need to be. A bridge or tunnel could shorten that route considerably.

In both options the facility would link to the Mount Vernon Trail (or at least "could").  Neither facility looks like it's designed for cycling (more pedestrian oriented) but it may be that cycling will be allowed. I don't expect the connection to be as crowded as the photos show.

There are no renderings of the MVT connections, but it looks like maybe they would be elevators (sigh).

The presentations also notes some possible upgrades to the current MVT spur (which would be "investigated" in the short term, but built ????). These improvements include widening the MVT spur's CSXT underpass, widening the George Washington Parkway underpass with a new tunnel adjacent to the current underpass, and adding a spur from the MVT to the airport garage.

The planning, design and environmental review process is scheduled to take 6 years so don't get too excited about this now. 

A new, better connection between the MVT and DCA would be great as the current one is a little hard to follow. And I would love some better bike parking. Perhaps a cage or "pod" like this. Combine that with bike share and a bridge and it could be an easy bike trip for many. 

Protected bike lanes for I Street SE

In November, DDOT held a public meeting on the I Street SE Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Improvements Project

DDOT has been working on plans to reconfigure I Street SE between New Jersey and South Capitol to better handle the large amount of vehicle, bicycle, and pedestrian traffic

I street currently has traditional bike lanes but would get protected bike lanes under this plan. 

From the existing colored bike lanes west of South Capitol, the bike lanes would continue across the intersection as dashed sections with "ride-a-way" light green coating.  On the east side of South Capitol, the eastbound bike lane would transition from lane-adjacent to the curb side behind the parking.

The westbound bike lane would also be protected by parking, but it would emerge from behind the parking about mid-block to allow for the right-turn lane. In both cases a line of flexposts would separate the bike lane from the parking area.

At the intersection with First Street SE, the bike lanes would transition back to the existing, unprotected bike lanes via dashed green lanes in the intersection.

Not sure how that meeting went or where this project currently stands, but it's not listed on the 2018 Bikeways plan, which means it's unlikely to happen until 2019 as I understand it.

 

Veirs Mill Corridor Plan includes improved Henson Trail Crossing and bicycle corridor

Montgomery County has been working on the Veirs Mill Corridor plan for over a year and presented the working draft earlier this month. It aims for a more bike and pedestrian friendly corridor with an improved (though not grade separated) Matthew Henson trail crossing, a continuous separated bikeway on Veirs Mill and a combination of bike facilities on intersecting streets. A public hearing on the plan is scheduled for April 26th.  

Matthew Henson Trail Crossing

Frequent readers here know that this trail intersection with Veirs Mill was where two cyclists died in two separate crashes within a year. Since then, the state added a HAWK signal at the crossing. The plan calls for making the crossing safer by adding a full traffic signal, relocating the existing high-visibility crosswalk to provide a direct connection across Veirs Mill Road that will reduce crossing distance and install additional lighting. I've seen it elsewhere, but I can't think of any other place in the DC area where a trail crossing gets its own traffic signal. I'd rather have a bridge - which is listed as a long term solution - but this is an improvement. 

Corridor bicycle route

The plan also calls for creating a safe route for cyclists traversing the corridor. In the short term this means creating an interim continuous bicycle network along Veirs Mill Road that provides a combination of facilities, including new sidepaths, neighborhood greenways on parallel streets, contra-flow bike lanes on residential access roads and connections to existing trails.

In some cases cyclists would be on a separated bikeway along Veirs Mill and other on parallel streets using shared roads.  The plan also recommends rebuilding the pedestrian and bicycle bridge over Joseph’s Branch Creek between Valleywood Drive and Moline Road.

In the long term, as they add in BRT, the plan calls for building a sidepath on the north side of Veirs Mill Road that transitions to two-way separated bicycle lanes and a sidewalk at areas with commercial land use; a combination of two-way separated bicycle lanes, sidepaths and sidewalks on the south side of Veirs Mill Road, and bikeways on priority residential streets s (Twinbrook Parkway, Aspen Hill Road, Weiss Street, Parkland Drive, Bayne Street, Havard Street, Colie Drive, Barbara Road, Randolph Road, Bushey Drive, Selfridge Road, Connecticut Avenue, Dalewood Drive, Valleywood Drive, Claridge Road, Parker Avenue, and Newport Mill Road)..

It also recommends that prior to commencing construction of Montrose Parkway East, that planners modify the project to include sidewalks, crosswalks and bikeways; that the county explore new trail connections to the Matthew Henson Trail from the communities to the east, and that the Rock Creek Trail be relocated out of the floodplain for Rock Creek.

Other crossings

In addition to the improvements at Turkey Branch Parkway/Matthew Henson Trail, the plan calls for additional signalized intersections with pedestrian-activated signals at the following locations to provide additional safe crossing opportunities for pedestrians, bicyclists and transit users. These intersections are listed in order of priority, following the signal at the Matthew Henson Trail crossing.

• Veirs Mill Road and Valleywood Drive.
• Veirs Mill Road and Norris Drive.
• Veirs Mill Road and Arbutus Avenue.

Introduce pedestrian hybrid beacons at the following unsignalized pedestrian crossings:

• Veirs Mill Road and Pendleton Drive.
• Twinbrook Parkway and Halpine Road
• Twinbrook Parkway and Vandegrift Avenue

Bicycle and Pedestrian Priority Area expansion

The plan also calls for expanding the Veirs Mill Road and Randolph Road Bicycle and Pedestrian Priority Area boundary to include the area between Robindale Drive and the eastern plan boundary; and updating the 2015 Veirs Mill Road – Randolph Road BiPPA Report to consider the priorities identified through this master plan process, including continuous sidewalks, safe crossings, bikeways, improved connections to community uses and improved maintenance of the right-of-way.

Protected Intersections

The plan recommends that the state incorporate protected intersection treatments into the design and construction of street
improvement projects. Protected intersections improve safety by extending the physical barrier of separated bicycle lanes and pedestrian crossings into intersections, reduce the speed of turning vehicles and improve sightlines, resulting in improved safety for all road users.

Join Ward 3 Bicycle Advocates (W3BA) to Improve Cycling in Our Ward

Hear About and Comment on DDOT’s Bike Infrastructure Plans for Ward 3 - 6:30pm on Thursday, March 22​nd​ at the Tenleytown Library.

Please join fellow Ward 3 cyclists to hear from the DC Department of Transportation’s (DDOT) Bicycle Program Specialist, Mike Goodno, about plans and aspirations for better cycling infrastructure in the ward from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM on Thursday, March 22, at the Tenleytown Library. FYI: Mike was instrumental in the application to have the League of American Bicyclists bestow upon DC “Gold” status as a Bicycle Friendly Community.

● There will be plenty of time for questions for DDOT during the session, but more importantly, we want to bring attendees together to help determine the community’s priorities.
● We’ll discuss the process of making things happen in DC, including how best to interact with DDOT, local Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, the City Council and the Mayor’s Office. Many of these groups support the goal of improving the bicycling infrastructure but need voices in the community to back up those efforts.
● Our goal is to emerge from this meeting with a list of short- and long-term priorities, and a game plan for getting things done. We also want to develop an approach to tap into all those voices in Ward 3 who want these types of changes.

The event is sponsored by Ward 3 Bicycle Advocates (W3BA), which is a new group being formed to focus on improving Ward 3 cycling infrastructure. We hope that many attendees will be willing to join our group to advocate actively for the changes we all hope can come to Ward 3.

We have 3 priorities as a group, and want to hear about yours:

1. Improved access for bicyclists from Ward 3 to the downtown core.
2. Improved cycling experience within Ward 3
3. Improved connections to the city’s parks.

Interested in how to improve conditions for bicyclists in our neighborhoods of upper NW DC? If so, we'd like to invite you to join the Ward 3 Bicycle Advocates (W3BA). We intend to be a grassroots group whose membership will collaborate with other groups and advocate on bicycle related matters that affect quality of life issues for all residents of Ward 3. Our mission is simple: create critical mass of those in support of better cycling so that DDOT and local politicians hear our voices so that improvements can and will happen. 

We're focused on both short-term and long-term goals within Ward 3. Examples of short-term goals include (there are likely others that you can suggest!): 

• Broad Branch reconstruction to include bike lane 
• Trolley Trail in Palisades connecting to Georgetown University. Potential 5 mile trail 
• Missing link bike route from Ward 3 to Calvert Street Bridge and downtown 

We envision the long-term goals as being aligned with much of what was include in the Move DC Master Plan http://www.wemovedc.org/, that would include: 
A protected cycletrack on Connecticut Avenue Completion of the Palisades Trolley trail to Georgetown Nebraska Avenue protected cycletrack 

In the near future, we intend to have a group meeting to better define short, medium and long-term goals for the group, divide up work, and determine advocacy strategies. We are very excited to get W3BA off the ground and hope you will become an active member. Ask questions, provide ideas, identify opportunities, participate. We can be a strong presence here in Ward 3, but only if you lend your voice. 

To get started, please join the Yahoo Group: w3ba-[email protected]mailto:[email protected] [w3ba-subscribe @ yahoogroups dot com]. Looking forward to the work ahead.

Andrew Aurbach, Chevy Chase DC 
Josh Rising, Chevy Chase DC 
Steve Seelig, Chevy Chase DC 
Brett Young, Palisades DC

NCPC's Draft Federal Parks & Open Space Element Open for Public Comment

The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) released the draft policies for the Parks & Open Space Element Update of the Comprehensive Plan for the National Capital for public review and comment through Monday, May 7. Public comments may be submitted online or by mail.

The draft has a whole section on trails that reflects recent changes and the new Paved Trails Study

As the area continues to grow, trail usage has increased, encouraging federal and local governments to address challenges associated with meeting commuter and visitor needs and expanding the trail network. Although the region has hundreds of miles of trails on the ground, they are not all connected in a cohesive, easy-to-navigate network. Administered by multiple jurisdictions with different design standards, trail segments were built at different times when funding was available.

The Capital Trails Coalition (Coalition), a collaboration of public and private organizations, agencies, and citizen volunteers, is an effort to unify the region’s trails by advancing the completion of an interconnected network of multi-use trails in the region. The Coalition’s goals include closing gaps, improving trail access, and creating a network that links communities and major destinations in the region; promoting health and physical activity; and helping spur both economic development and trail tourism.

More on the draft

Last updated in 2004, the element establishes policies to protect and enhance the many federal parks and open spaces in the National Capital Region and promote improvements to the regional open space network. NCPC uses these policies to guide agency actions, including review of projects and long-range plans that affect federal parks and open spaces.

The update introduces policies that address current issues, such as adapting designed landscapes or balancing commemorative works with active uses in parks. The element includes information and policies referencing the Capper-Cramton Act that provided federal funding to acquire parkland in the region and authorized NCPC to review development projects in these parks to ensure their protection. It also incorporates information from recent planning studies such as the Small Parks Management Strategies Study completed by NCPC and the National Park Service.

The proposed Parks & Open Space Element is structured around six guiding principles that create a cohesive vision through improved stewardship, utilization, maintenance, planning, and design, as follows:

1. Protect the Parks and Open Space Design Legacy
2. Provide Stewardship of Natural and Cultural Resources
3. Provide Access to and Connections between Parks and Open Space
4. Balance Multiple Uses within Parks
5. Balance Commemorative Works within Parks
6. Build Partnerships and Coordination among Multiple Landowners and Jurisdictions

NCPC will host two public open houses for the public and the media to learn more about the updates:

• Wednesday, March 21 (6:00—7:30 pm)
• Thursday, April 12 (10:30 am—noon)

Both meetings will cover the same content.