It's time for a new Crystal Drive

Crystal City is going to be undergoing some radical changes and very soon.* Not only will HQ2 be coming to the area, but there are several large projects in the works including the redevelopment of 1900 Crystal Drive, 101 12th Street South and 223 23rd Street South. All these new buildings, and their new office space, are not only an opportunity to build the protected bike lane called for in the Bicycle Element of Arlington County's Transportation Plan but they almost require it. Improving bike lanes, sidewalks and transit are the only way to deal with all the additional trips. 

The two towers at 23rd Street promise to be bike commuter friendly. They'll include 1,850 square feet of bike storage with room for 276 bikes in one tower and a 1,000-square-foot bicycling parking area with room for 88 bike parking spaces in the other. "Building tenants, including cyclists, can expect to have access to 176 lockers and 12 showers." The Joyce street property, meanwhile, will sit at the southern end of the Long Bridge Park esplanade, offering direct access to the MVT and DC by bike once the new bicycle Bridge (which I'm calling the Lockwood Bridge until someone tells me otherwise) is built. 

But that makes this the time to upgrade Crystal Drive. It currently has discontinuous, narrow and unprotected bike lanes along it, interrupted at times by sharrows. The MTP calls for an upgrade

Upgrade the existing bicycle lanes on Potomac Ave and Crystal Drive through the Potomac Yard and Crystal City areas. Where feasible provide further separation or protection of bicyclists from motor vehicle traffic. Provide for a lower stress route to link the Four Mile Run Trail to Crystal City, Pentagon City and Long Bridge Park.

South of Potomac it calls for a parallel sidepath to the Four Mile Run Trail.

Let's get started on that NOW, so that it's ready when we need it. Construction is likely to result in cuts and pavement damage, so why not follow that by repairing and redesigning the key North-south route through Crystal City?

*Or at least that was the plan last week. 

Update: There's some effort underway to do just this:

At the Transportation Commission meeting Thursday night, the Commission recommended that developer JBG Smith be required to turn the existing bicycle lanes into protected lanes while adding new protected bike lanes to 18th Street S.

“First the Commission recommended that the County Board require JBG Smith to build protected bike lanes on 18th Street either as part of their upcoming 1900 Crystal Drive development or as part of the already-approved Central District Retail development,” Transportation Commission Chair Chris Slatt said in a press release. “Furthermore the Commission recommended that the County Board direct staff to study an appropriate cross-section for Crystal Drive that would safeguard those on bikes and scooters and, if schedules permit, incorporate the results of that study into the public space designs for 1900 Crystal Drive and any other unbuilt development approved along the Crystal Drive corridor.”

The last recommendation from the Transportation Commission was that the County and JBG develop a temporary southbound protected bike lane on Crystal Drive if the public process isn’t completed in time to be incorporated into the 1900 Crystal Drive plans.

Comments

[darren]

Thanks for highlighting this huge opportunity. The entire area has so much excess road space, and so much development going on, that lend itself to creating an entire network of protected bike lanes to complement all the trails. The County just has to say, "Sure, why not."

[HappyRider]

I work in Crystal City. The bike infrastructure isn't bad now, but will get better with these improvements.

But by far the biggest problem is that the bike lanes in Crystal City are routinely used as temporary parking. The worst stretch is at lunch by the restaurants along Crystal Drive. In the Spring and Summer, tour buses use the lanes on Clark Street near the Hyatt as overnight parking. Delivery drivers use the lanes on Crystal Drive near the EPA building as loading zones.

Enforcement or ticketing is rare. Arlington City doesn't seem to care.

[darren]

The County has started an in-house study to come up with plans to convert Crystal Dr (and other bike facilities east of Rt 1) to low-stress protected infrastructure. Yesterday, the County Board added direction to staff to present first drafts to the public and the Board by year-end, incorporate those study designs into the 1900 Crystal Drive development plans, and implement within 4 yrs

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