The National Park Service (NPS) and Federal Highway Administration are studying the safety at intersections on the southern section of the George Washington Memorial Parkway. The study is looking at potential ways to improve safety on the Parkway between the City of Alexandria and Mount Vernon. They had a meeting last summer where they presented current conditions and solicited input and another meeting in December where they presented alternatives they're considering. Because the Mt. Vernon Trail runs in the same corridor and in places crosses the road or the roads that connect to it, the project is of interest to cyclists.
The parkway, they noted is not meant to be a high-speed commuter route and they'd like to slow traffic down (this is the same thing they've said about Beach Drive in Rock Creek Park, but the constituency for the status quo is powerful). They heard a lot of ideas and have begun screening them for things they can do and what they think are appropriate. Pedestrian safety and bicycle safety were #1 and #7 on the list of concerns they heard about.
Some of the candidate alternatives that will matter to cyclists are:
- A road diet (see above)
- Roundabout usage (see below)
- Intersection widening for median islands
- Reduced speed limits
- Speed tables
- Marked and enhanced crosswalks (see below)
- Manual and automatic speed enforcement as well as impaired and distracted driving enforcement
- Adding Capital Bikeshare stations
- Better intersection lighting
- Education campaign
- Upgrading signs to current standards
The public comment period ended last month, but they'll review the comments they've received and perform some more study and design before issuing a final report. They'll then make some final selections and seek funding.
Is it me or does the suicide lane in the bottom picture make zero sense? There's no where to turn to.
Posted by: Daniel Robinson | February 27, 2020 at 10:06 AM