TheWashCycle

Alexandria's New Complete Streets Repaving Feedback Form

As part of the Complete Streets Policy adopted by the Alexandria City Council in 2011, the Department of Transportation and Environmental Services was tasked with identifying and implementing projects that improve safety and convenience for all users as a part of routine street repaving and maintenance whenever possible.

 

When streets are resurfaced, this provides an opportunity to upgrade elements of the street to better accommodate people of all ages and abilities and improve safety, accessibility, and mobility. 

 

To better plan for these projects, the City is seeking input on changes that can be implemented as a part of repaving projects, such as upgrading curb ramps, adding missing crosswalks, upgrading high priority crossings, and repairing sidewalks. In conjunction with many of the repaving projects, the City aims to implement recommendations from the Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan, Safe Routes to School Program, and the Vision Zero Action Plan. City staff will review all suggestions but will prioritize implementation based on feasibility, safety, repaving timelines, and available funding.

 

The City is currently collecting community input on the following streets. The feedback form will close on April 5, 2019.

• Taney Avenue (North Early Street to North Gordon Street)
• Polk Avenue (North Naylor Street to North Pegram Street)
• Commonwealth Avenue (East Braddock Road to King Street)
• Union Street (Pendleton Street to Franklin Street)
• Dartmouth Road (Crown View Drive to dead end)
• Powhatan Street (North Washington Street to Slaters Lane)
• North Pegram Street (Holmes Run Parkway to Pickett Street)

 

Feedback summaries for each street will be posted online in Spring.

 

Visit the Complete Streets and Repaving page to learn which streets are currently scheduled for repaving and offer your comments. Visit alexandriava.gov/CompleteStreets to learn more about the City’s Complete Streets program.

Design for Eastern Avenue section of Met Branch Trail complete, other trail segment work underway

Last August, DC finished design work on the section of trail from the DC line to Piney Branch Road. It's only about 400 feet, but for trail users it will be nice to not have the trail end midblock. The 10' wide trail will replace the existing sidewalk and curbside lane of unregulated street parking.

This will also require moving or replace some lighting, catch-basins, wires and signals as well as cutting down a handful of trees.  In addition to the trail, the block will get ADA compliant curb ramps and signal buttons, a planting strip between the trail and road that will include a bio-retention facility, new traffic calming curb extensions on the north side sidewalk and the replacement of the concrete street pavement with composite. The trail will be made of permeable material for better draining. 

Pepco is currently working on the Takoma to Sligo Underground project here and this work will be coordinated with that, which should wrap up this spring.

Meanwhile, work on Phase A (John McCormack to Bates Road) of the Fort Totten Section is scheduled to resume in April. Work started last June, but was paused for weather (?) on January 15th. Work on Phases B-D are still scheduled to start this month with all work done by Spring 2020. The final design contract to connect the Fort Totten and Eastern Avenue sections is anticipated for award this spring. 

On the PG County connector side, some very small progress is being made. Last year NPS completed a report on formalizing the desire path between Galloway Street & Gallatin Street, NE in the Fort Totten area. The plan is to build a 10 feet wide, 320 feet long paved path between the two with lighting

Demolition work is underway south of that on Bryant Street project at the Rhode Island Avenue Shopping Center site. That project will rebuild and realign the Met Branch Trail next to it and create a pedestrian plaza entrance to the trail. 

Farther south, we got updated plans for Phase II of the Washington Gateway project between Florida and New York Avenues last summer and those were approved in January, but that approval was then appealed by activist "neighbors" in February. This is the same group "United Market Neighbors" who protested the Rhode Island Avenue Shopping Center project and got the size reduced by 200 units.  This new building will be adjacent to the Met Branch Trail and will include a bicycle lobby (of probably normal power) to connect the trail to the Gateway and Florida Avenue. 

Lastly, there was another robbery and beating on the trail this week.

A man was robbed and beaten at gunpoint late Saturday night as he walked home on the Metropolitan Branch Trail in Northeast Washington, the D.C. police said.

The attack occurred as rain was beginning about 11:30 p.m. near the 300 block of R Street NE,a police report said. An early account indicated that as many as 10 youths may have been involved.

DC to Pittsburgh trails Documentary

A Pittsburgh television station is airing a documentary called, “The Great Ride,” exploring the 335 miles of bike trails connecting Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C.

The Pittsburgh PBS station’s camera crew followed six bicyclist tour guides on both the C&O Canal Towpath, between the nation’s capital and Cumberland, Md., and the Great Allegheny Passage from Cumberland to Pittsburgh’s Point State Park.

As the bicyclists pedal past breathtaking scenery, viewers will meet a pair of military veterans, a Civil War buff, a naturalist-photographer, a volunteer who helped build the trail and a local trail ambassador.

“The Great Ride” debuts at 8 p.m. and lasts one hour. A companion website at wqed.org/ride includes a history of the C&O Canal Towpath and the Great Allegheny Passage, which runs along the Youghiogheny and Monongahela rivers in Pennsylvania, through the Laurel Highlands and Ohiopyle State Park, past the Hays Eagles Nest, to the Hot Metal Bridge on Pittsburgh’s South Side.

Also, I got an email about a bike hostel at the far end of the route called South Side Traveler's Rest. I can not vouch for it, but I think it's a good sign of success when businesses start to cater to trail users. 

Planning Board considering redevelopment plans along the Willett Branch Greenway

The Montgomery County Planning Board is considering the redevelopment of the Westwood Shopping Center strip mall, its parking lots, and the area across the street.  The shopping center is more immediate with the sites across the streets submitting only preliminary plans. Staff has recommended they approve the plans, which are being presented today.

The project, located just west of the Capital Crescent Trail, will include separated bike lanes along Westbard Avenue and conveyance of land along Willett Branch for the future Willett Branch Greenway. The project will also realign Westbard and Ridgefiled Roads near River Road, contribute land towards the Springfield Neighborhood Green Urban Park at the Westwood Shopping Center, include easements to allow for access to the Greenway from Westbard Avenue and contribute $500,000 towards construction of the Greenway. 

For the Greenway

The areas to be conveyed now are undeveloped, while those under covenant are currently improved with buildings and parking and will be conveyed at a future date. The Sector Plan envisions the Willett Branch Greenway as an accessible, walkable, ecologically improved and naturalized stream corridor. The creation of this Greenway will naturalize areas of the concrete lined channel, improve the ecological functioning of Willett Branch, and thus Little Falls and the Potomac, Chesapeake Bay, and provide greatly needed pedestrian and bicycle linkages across the plan area and between the two existing linear parks. Once a critical mass of land is acquired for the Greenway, the Parks Department can begin detailed design and implementation, including planning for the historical and cultural resources stewardship of all parcels conveyed.

The Greenway will eventually connect to the Capital Crescent Trail. 

The project is also required to provide over 100 bicycle parking spaces, some in a bicycle room and others outside, and shared use facilities on the new internal streets. 

Separated bike lanes are in blue in the image below.

And the profile where the road has two PBLs is below.

And then where it only has the one.

Is Capital Bikeshare less reliable? And the rule about questions in headlines.

A real journalist once told me that the rule about questions in headlines is that the answer is always "no" or else it wouldn't be a question. Like "Is the Prime Minister dead?" would be "Prime Minister Dead" if true. 

Which brings us to today's Washington Post article "Is Capital Bikeshare becoming less reliable? Some users grow frustrated with glitches." Which is frustrating because I'm not sure where the article is coming from. There's not a new survey or a FOIA of CaBi's complaint system or any fact to build on. There are just some examples of people complaining and the statements of some frequent users. The only measurable facts come from CaBi

Capital Bikeshare said there have been isolated station outages but no widespread problems. The bike network did, however, have a significant software glitch last month that affected about 10 percent of its stations. Capital Bikeshare officials said operations returned to normal within two days.

On a recent day, 99 percent of the system’s 532 stations were fully operational, a program spokesman said, noting that a handful of stations could have been undergoing maintenance.

So it would seem that the answer here is also "no". They counterbalance "someone tweeted about a problem" with CaBi statistics showing nothing unusual. Is ridership down? Are there more bikes out of commission? I feel like that information is publicly available. I mean there could be a reliability program, but you won't be any closer to knowing it after reading this article. 

I've not noticed any problems. Yes, they moved my station a block away for construction. Sometimes stations are blocked or empty. And sometimes I can't get all three numbers on they keypad to work so that I can unlock a bike; but none of that has occurred with any greater frequency. 

The system IS getting older. The oldest stations are coming up on 9 years old. I'm not sure when they will start replacing them, but I'm pretty sure that average station age has been going up since day 1 and will continue to go up for some time now. So, I expect there to be more technical issues with each passing day, at least until equilibrium is met.

Other news:

If I didn't mention it, Motivate, the company that operates CaBi, was bought by Lyft and Jump was bought by Uber. Both of those stories are from last year. 

Also, CaBi is going to increase the number of e-bikes in its fleet from 100 to 600 real soon, giving them more e-bikes than Jump; and "The District is also planning to launch an adaptive Bikeshare program that would make recumbent tricycles, hand tricycles and cargo tricycles available."

Also, Jeffrey Long, who died in a fatal crash in July of last year, was reportedly riding a Capital Bikeshare bike making him the first bikeshare fatality in DC.

Latest version of the Arlington Bike Plan drops some facilities

It's not available on line just yet, but ArlNow is reporting that the soon-to-be released version of the Arlington County bicycle plan will drop a few facilities that were included in the draft. 

During this latest revision, the county dropped its proposal for an off-street, half-mile trail connecting 6th Street S. to S. Quincy Street in the Alcova neighborhood at S. Oakland Street. The trail became a point of controversy because it could mean 6th Street residents lose some backyard privacy, and the county would cut down some important trees.

That's the green dashed line from the map, below

Another nixed idea was to extend the Four Mile Run Trail a half mile to connect with Claremont Elementary and Wakefield High. The Audubon Society wrote a letter in January warning that the proposal could cause “potential harm” to the rare magnolia ecosystem in the area.

Which I guess is, again, the green dashed line, but seems more like a path beneath the power lines at Chesterfield Road

Another plan that became bogged down was a Glencarlyn/Hospital Trail connecting Glencarlyn and Forest Hills neighborhoods via the old site of the Northern Virginia Community Hospital. The half-mile project was envisioned by Viola’s team as a “low-stress route” between Arlington Boulevard and Columbia Pike because it could link up with other bikeways on S. Lexington Street, S. Carlin Springs Road, and 5th Road S.

The Audubon Society wrote that a trail passing through the old hospital site would “destroy valuable natural resources” in the conservation area that protects Long Branch Creek.

That sounds like the green dashed line in this part of the map

As a compromise, Viola’s team suggested instead widening the sidewalk on the east side of Carlyn Springs Road, so bikes and pedestrians can share.

None of these losses are to be celebrated, but the plan as a whole is still very good. 

Zoo fencing will remove Rock Creek Trail entrance

The National Zoo is planning to add several thousand feet of fencing that will reduce the number of entrances to the Zoo from 13 to 3, and one of the closed entrances will be the one from the Rock Creek Park Trail via the North Road Bridge. As GGW notes

From the various materials, it's clear the zoo sees this not as a real visitor access point but just a staff access from the Research Hill facility, on the other side of the creek and trail. That's because going into the zoo here takes you to more of a back section that the zoo doesn't really mean to be a front entrance.

Despite this, the Zoo claims that "Vehicular entrances to the NZP grounds will remain unchanged, as will the bike trails adjacent to Research Hill" which I suppose is true if bicycles aren't vehicles. This is a minor issue, since I don't think many trail users used this entrance to get to the zoo, but the number wasn't zero. Trail users will still be able to cross on the North Street Bridge and travel around on it to the lower zoo entrance.

The other big issue with the trail near the zoo is the night time closure of the trail around Research Hill. Improvements to the tunnel have made the bypass more pleasant, but the tunnel is still below standards. On this, there will be no change.

During the July 2018 review of the previous draft, the DDOT and NPS requested additional follow-up to see if the new checkpoints and fencing would enable the Research Hill bicycle/pedestrian trail section to remain open past normal visitor hours. NCPC staff followed-up with the Smithsonian Institution on this request, which indicated that secure, unobstructed access is still required from the hospital at Research Hill to the animal collection at the park, so the nighttime closures are still required.

The other, very minor, impact is that the zoo will look different from the trail. If you're bothered by that, I don't think there's anything I can say to comfort you. This is the world we live in now.

Assuming that the entrance is to be closed, access can't be made 24/7/365 and the view will change, there is one more thing that would be great - albeit totally unlikely. Currently the trail connects to the neighborhoods on the west side at Porter, Klingle and Cathedral/Shoreham. But a trail connection from the zoo side of the North Street Bridge and up the hill to Hawthorne Street would probably be very useful and pleasant. It would also cross the perimeter gate and so would be closed at times the other trail section is, but it would still be useful.  

Little Paint Branch Trail extension should finish this month

In December I said that the Little Paint Branch Trail extension would finish by the end of the year, but that didn't happen and now the website says it will finish this month, so we'll see. In the meantime here are some photos taken by scott.

Here's one of the new bridge over Little Paint Branch just a few feet east of the Paint Branch Trail.

And another of the trail

The 2.2 mile long trail will connect over the Beltway to Little Paint Branch Park. 

Long Bridge proposed bike crossing might not need switchbacks, depending on Coast Guard

In my last few posts about the Long Bridge bike component, I didn't reference the DEIS which has some interesting tidbits.

One is about whether the bridge will need a switchback to reach the Mt. Vernon Trail or not (hopefully, not).

Four bike-pedestrian crossing options have been retained for further analysis (Note: since then they've chosen a preferred option). Options shown at the public and agency meetings in December 2017 did not show the crossing connecting across the GWMP to Long Bridge Park. However, following significant feedback received from the public and agencies (CFA, NCPC, and Arlington County) that each emphasized the importance of a connection to Crystal City, the potential to cross the GWMP will be evaluated as part of all four options.

The ramps connecting to the Mount Vernon Trail in Virginia and to Ohio Drive in the District will begin sloping down to existing ground once the crossing reaches land on either side of the river, or may begin sloping down while still over the river, which would minimize the need for ramp switchbacks. The determination of whether the bridge can begin sloping downward while still over the river channel will be made in consultation with the USCG regarding the minimum allowable vertical clearance over the channel.

The presentation in November showed switch backs on both sides. Sad face emoji.

Here's who likes the bike-ped bridge and who likes it less:

Cooperating and participating agencies also addressed the potential bike-pedestrian crossing options in their comments. CFA stressed the importance of connections between activity centers, and encouraged FRA and DDOT to explore extending the crossing over the GWMP to Long Bridge Park and Crystal City. NCPC noted that any bike-pedestrian connection should maximize utility and enhance experience for all users, and should consider future connections to Crystal City, the Mount Vernon Trail, East Potomac Park, Maine Avenue, and the Southwest Waterfront, including connections to the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail (part of the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail). Arlington County expressed support for constructing a bike-pedestrian crossing as part of the Project, and expressed support for providing a direct bike-pedestrian connection to Long Bridge Park. However, DRPT noted that the primary focus of the Project is increasing rail capacity, and expressed significant concerns regarding safety and constructability of any combined-mode structure. VRE also expressed concern over the safety and security implications of any combined-mode structure.

NPS expressed support for carrying the potential bike-pedestrian crossing options forward in the DEIS. However, NPS expressed possible concerns related to impacts to the Mount Vernon Trail and the need to evaluate potential impacts, including congestion, visual challenges, and loss of vegetation and trees.

The public submitted 1,604 email comments in support of a bike-pedestrian crossing as part of the Long Bridge Project, and one email comment against it. Of the 1,604 email comments in favor of a bike-pedestrian crossing, 98 percent of commenters supported extending bike-pedestrian landings across the GWMP to destinations in Arlington and across the Washington Channel to destinations in the District.

Washington Boulevard repave in Westover could extend bike lanes

This summer, VDOT is going to repave Washington Boulevard between N. Frederick Street and N. McKinley Road and might extend the bike lanes on Washington a block west. Bike lanes on Washington currently extend from Harrison to Longfellow, and the section up for extension is between Longfellow and McKinley where the road currently has a brick paver centerline. The project is still accepting comments.

Brick pavers at crosswalks and in medians are currently being phased out in Arlington County because the materials are costly to repair and require frequent maintenance.

To use the space currently occupied by the brick pavers in the median, the County is considering several restriping options, including high visibility crosswalks, bike treatments, and a limited change option. The goal is to provide better access to the Westover Library, Post Office and retail areas.

There are three concepts for that block, two of which add bike lanes. Concept 2 had front-in parking and concept 3 had back-in parking. The back in parking is expected to increase driver's ability to see oncoming bikes, pedestrians, and vehicles; but will result in the loss of 6 parking spaces. 

The engineers seem to be saying that option 3 is the safer option, but provides less car parking. So I don't even know why that's a decision. 

There's an opportunity to improve things east of here too. Between Longfellow and Patrick Henry there may be room to reconfigure the street and put the bike lanes between the parking and the sidewalk. Those are wide bike lanes after all. 

It would also be useful if they could figure out a way to extend the bike lanes east to Frederick, though that would also require removing parking. But there is a CaBi station at the corner of Washington and Frederick and it makes sense for the bike lanes to extend to that.

Comment here.