TheWashCycle

NOVA Regional Bikeway & Trail Study shows some progress and lots of demand.

VaDOT is working on an update to the 2003 NOVA Regional Bikeway and Trail Network Study, and they released a draft version of that update last month. After studying how much latent demand there was, what level of service cyclists were receiving and what the public expressed as priorities, they've created a draft of a new network that is " more extensive than that of 2003 and reflects the region’s progress in improving bicycle connectivity through on-road and off-road bicycle infrastructure."

20%  of the bike network (108 miles in total) identified in 2003 has since been added in the region. 

The 2015 Network includes 367 miles of off-road shared-use paths and trails, 61 miles of on-road bicycle lanes, 72 miles of “other notable existing” facilities, and 530 miles of proposed regional corridors.

Most of the places they've identified with latent demand are urban and already bike-friendly.

The study of bicycle level of service found that only 19% of Virginia's Regional Roadway Network was "generally considered comfortable bicycle facilities".

These comfortable cycling facilities are typically characterized by low-volume neighborhood streets or roadways with parallel shared use paths. Patrick Henry Drive (Arlington County), below, is a great example of a BLOS “A” facility, as it is predominately residential and equipped with bidirectional bicycle lanes.

58% is considered "tolerable" and the remaining 23% is "uncomfortable."

The study recommends 34 additions to the Regional Bikeway and Trails Network, with several of those being in the Alexandria and Arlington area. Many of these facilities already exist and are just being added to the map.

Alexandria

• In Alexandria, the study recommends adding facilities to Edsall Road between I-395 and Pickett Street and to Eisenhower Avenue from S. Van Dorn Street to Holmes Run as "proposed" in the 2015 Eisenhower West Small Area Plan.
• It also "adds" the existing sharrows on Braddock Road from W. Windsor Avenue (end of existing bike lanes) to King Street.
• On Janneys Lane / Seminary Road / N. Pickett Street / N. Pegram Road the study adds the existing bike lanes as "on-road" and the "proposed" ones from N. Quaker Road to N. Pickett Street and then continuing on N. Pickett and N. Pegram Road.; and then connecting this "proposed segment" with the existing bike lanes on N. Pegram Road, which ultimately connect to the Holmes Run Trail.
• On Braddock Road from Commonwealth Avenue to Mount Vernon Avenue it "adds" the existing sharrows.

Alexandria and Arlington

• Valley Drive/Preston Road/Martha Custis Drive - Add as "other notable existing" along W. Glebe Road, Valley Drive, and Preston Road. Existing shared lane markings. Also add "other notable existing" along Martha Custis Drive/ Shirlington Bridge/ Quincy Street to the Four Mile Run Trail

Arlington

• Army-Navy Driver from Memorial Drive to S. Glebe Drive at the Four Mile Run Trail - Add as "proposed", connecting the existing Army Navy Drive bike lanes to S. Glebe Drive via S. Adams Street and 26th Road
• Boundary Channel Drive from S. Washington Boulevard to the Mount Vernon Trail via LBJ Park - Add connection in Lady Bird Johnson Memorial Park as "other notable existing" and add connection from LBJ Park to S. Washington Boulevard as "proposed"
• Key Boulevard from N. Veitch Street to Kirkwood Road - Add as "other notable existing" since Key Boulevard operates as a bike boulevard, with various traffic calming measures (bulb outs, chokers, and traffic circles). Connect to Kirkwood Road on the west end via N. Jackson Street and 13th Street
• S. Washington Boulevard from US 50 (Arlington Boulevard) to Columbia Pike (Towers Park) - Add as "on-road, existing" from US 50 to S. Courthouse Road and as "proposed" from S. Courthouse Road to S. Quinn Street / Columbia Pike
• S. Abingdon Street/ 34th / S. Stafford / 33rd from 31st Street to N. Quaker Lane - Add as "on-road, existing" from 31st Street to N. Quaker Lane (existing bike lanes). Recommend that S. Wakefield Street become a signed bicycle route

DDOT filled two spots in their bike/ped team

At last night's BAC meeting it was announced that DDOT had brought two more people on board with the bicycle and pedestrian team. Michael Alvino will be the Bicycle Program Specialist for Trails filling a role that has been vacant for a long time. And they've filled the Transportation Demand Management position [Update: new hire is Marina Budimir- Transportation Planner-TDM]. This should be a great aid in getting DDOT projects, like the Met Branch Trail, moving along. DDOT still needs to fill the Safe Routes to School Coordinator position. 

TIGER grant awards announced, DC area shut out

I'm not sure if any of the DC area agencies applied for a federal DOT TIGER grant this year, but if they did, they weren't awarded one. The only winner in the extended area is the Southeast Baltimore Port Industry Freight Corridor Plan.

This TIGER grant will provide funding to restore functionality to and enhance a freight network of roads and bridges that connects the Port of Baltimore to regional and national highway systems. The project includes the replacement of the structurally deficient and functionally obsolete Colgate Creek Bridge, roadway improvements connecting freight directly to I-95 to enhance truck movement, and complete streets improvements.

Which does seem to have a tiny bike component via "Complete Streets improvements."

Update: Here are local applications that weren't selected:

• MD 355 Ride On Plus Transit Improvements - Montgomery County Maryland - $17,000,000
• Ager Road/West Hyattsville Transit Access Project Creating a path to safer, healthier and more sustainable living - Prince George's County, Maryland - $10,000,000
• Potomac Yard Metrorail Station - City of Alexandria, Virginia - $50,000,000

So nothing directly bike related, but with some definite overlap. 

 

 

DDOT will add 99 CaBi stations and expand 21 others over 3 years.

If DDOT's expansion plan for Capital Bikeshare is carried out, it will mean 99 new CaBi stations in the District and 21 expanded stations. 

(See David Alpert's write up here)

In a sprawling, data-rich, draft development plan for bikeshare in DC, DDOT set goals for the system, preformed a market study, and considered various expansion scenarios before developing the plan it's now presenting. They set 12 goals for the program, each with a metric they plan to report on. These goals include improving public health and safety, serving tourists, reducing the environmental impact of transportation in the District and making bikeshare an integral part of the city's transportation system. The market study concluded that CaBi could increase system utility by adding capacity in places where high usage has led to empty and full stations, expanding stations to new areas and making a greater effort to inform and serve tourists. All of this fed into a program expansion planning process wherein DDOT first considered two 5-year expansion scenarios, before settling on a 5-year plan with all of the expansion front-loaded into the first 3 years.

The plan is for Capital Bikeshare to add 99 stations in areas that demonstrated a high bikeshare need when considering how a station would meet current demand, garner revenue, improve health and public welfare and increase accessibility to varied destinations. The first 20 stations on that list are stations that have already been promised, but not delivered due to supplier issues. These include stations at St. Elizabeths, the American University Law School and the Capital South Metro, to name a few. DDOT currently expects to add 47 stations in FY2016, 27 in FY2017 and 25 in FY2018. Station additions into new neighborhoods will occur in clusters so as to keep stations within easy biking distance of other stations. 28 stations will be added to the core with 71 in the outer neighborhoods.

In addition, 21 stations will be expanded. In some cases that is because an expansion would be more effective than placing another station nearby. These locations were determined based on a "lost trip" calculation focused on high use stations that also demonstrated high system downtime, because the station was either completely full or empty. Any station with the equivalent of 600 lost trips or less a month received a four dock expansion, while stations with a lost trip rate greater than 600, expanded by eight docks. All expansions are scheduled for FY 2016 or 2017. 9 of the station expansions will within the system core with 12 outside of it. This should improve utility in hubs such as the U Street Metro, Logan Circle at P Street, and Dupont Circle.

 

The capital costs of this expansion are estimated at $6.514 million, with operating costs rising from $5.8 million in 2014 to $10.8 million in FY2021. But revenues are also expected to increase such that the operating deficit is actually expected to be lower in 2021 than it is in 2014. 

DDOT's study is only the first step in the process, and this is just a draft version of the study - which is accepting comments through November. 

Before any new stations are installed, the agency will conduct public outreach, coordinate with key stakeholders, and procure additional funding for stations. Public involvement will be key for DDOT to finalizing station siting. While this plan highlights recommended areas for stations, public feedback will help determine which specific locations are best suited for bikeshare stations.

[I really wanted to call this post "I got 99 stations and Woodridge ain't one", but I thought better of it]

What's in the Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Act of 2015

Holy mackerel, Cheh's Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Act has a lot in it. In short:

• Lots of data reporting
• complete streets policy
• pedestrian and bicycle priority zones
• stop as yield  Idaho Stop (sorry Crickey)
• dooring language change
• bicycle insurance provisions
• universal street safety education mandate
• targeted for-hire vehicle operator training
• study of a remediation and deferred disposition program
• escalating fines for repeat offenders
• tougher distracted driving law
• a new penalty for aggressive driving
• required side-underrun guards and blind spot mirrors or cameras on trucks
• study of pedestrian alert devices on District-owned large vehicles
• access to video for crash victims
• creation of a major crash-review task force

Thanks to Greg Billing to proving me a link to the bill. 

Unpacking it a bit.

1. DDOT will have to regularly publish crash data, sidewalk closure information and information on citizen petitions for for traffic calming measures on its website, MPD will do the same with moving violations. DDOT will also report annually on dangerous locations. Every 5 years DDOT will report with recommendations on how to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety.

2. DDOT is instructed to create Bicycle and Pedestrian Priority Areas (at least one per ward) where right-turns-on-red can be abolished, speed limits lowered and more TCO and camera-enforcement can be utilized.

3. DDOT will adopt a complete streets policy. [They have one now, but is one issued by the DDOT Director, and thus can be removed by them at any time. This one will be law.]

4. The law will be changed to allow cyclists to treat stop signs as yield signs, just as pedestrians do. DC would adopt an Idaho Stop law. (I had to reread it to catch it) Cyclists approaching a stop sign or stop light will be required to slow down, and if required for safety, stop before entering the intersection. After slowing or stopping, the cyclist will yield the ROW, after slowing and yielding the cyclist may proceed through the intersection.

5. Dooring will be redefined to explicitly include bicycles.  

6. Bicycle insurance will be governed by the same laws as motor-vehicle insurance, and bicycle insurance providers may require policy holders to register their bikes.

7. All schools will have a curriculum available to them on safe cycling and walking.

8. For-hire vehicle operators will be required to learn about issues related to bicycle and pedestrian safety as part of existing mandatory training. And those using digital dispatch will require additional training.

9. The Mayor is required to study a remediation and deferred disposition program for people committing moving violations. 

10. Repeat offenders will see larger fines - up to 5 times as much for 4th time offenses. This will be true for speeding offenses, crosswalk violations, right-of-way violations, stopping or standing violations (including in a bike lane, sorry UPS). 

11. Drivers will no longer be able to use the phone when the car is not moving. 

12. Drivers who commit 3 or more or a set of violations (like speeding or improper lane changes) can be cited for aggressive driving, which carries a penalty of $200 and 2 points and mandatory driver education.

13. All heavy-duty vehicles registered in the District will be required to have side under run guards, reflective blind spot warning stickers and either blind spot mirrors or cameras. This is currently the law for District-owned vehicles.

14. The Mayor is instructed to report to the council as to whether Circulator buses and District-owned heavy duty vehicles can be equipped with pedestrian alert technology.

15. If a District owned camera captures video of a crash all vehicle operators involved in that crash will be informed that the footage exists, the footage will be preserved and the parties will be assisted in acquiring the footage.

16. A Major Crash Review Task Force will be established to review every crash investigated by the Major Crash Investigation Unit and as a result, recommend changes to reduce the number of major crashes.

17. The Kitchen sink

This would represent a major improvement in the safety of DC streets for vulnerable users and put DC at the forefront of American cities with respect to pedestrian and cyclist safety. It's ambitious, but everything on here represents something for which consensus existed among the Bicycle and Pedestrian Task Force (which was co-chaired by the Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA) and AAA Mid-Atlantic).  

From the archives: DC's Bicycle Coordinator abolished in 1991

I've been going through the Washington Post's older bicycle articles, from before the blog and even before I moved here. Some are pretty interesting, like this one about Mayor Sharon Pratt Dixon's 1991 decision to let the bicycle coordinator go as a cost-saving measure.

The post, created by the D.C. Council in 1985 and funded almost entirely with federal highway money, has been filled for six years by Tom Pendleton, a professional bicycling specialist. Pendleton's last day of work was Friday.

Public works officials defend Pendleton's firing, saying it will free up federal dollars to be used for more bicycle paths and programs.

But bicycling advocates, buoyed by the mayor's reversal on staffing the city's tree maintenance division, have flooded the offices of public works officials and D.C. Council members with letters denouncing the layoff.

It sounds like Pendleton did a good job

They also credit Pendleton with major contributions in bicycle access and expanded routes for two-wheelers, including ongoing negotiations with landowners to make way for the Metropolitan Branch Trail bicycle path that would run alongside the CSX train tracks to link Union Station and Silver Spring.

Pendleton, who sat on various city and regional planning boards, also was involved in ensuring that bicycle lanes were included in major street resurfacing projects and in plans for the Barney Circle interchange proposed to link the Anacostia Freeway with Interstate 295.

It's interesting to hear that "at least 10" other major cities had a bicycle coordinator at the time. I'd bet there are few that don't have one right now. And that the position was then a part of the Public Works Department. 

Because 86 percent of his $42,000 salary is federally funded and the city must pay Pendleton 18 weeks' severance pay for abolishing his job, he could stay in the job for two more years for what it costs the city to fire him, Nathanson said.

"That's the kind of shortsightedness that led them to eliminate the tree people," said D.C. Council member William Lightfoot (I-At Large). "They've eliminated another amenity that makes it worthwhile to live in the city."

"There's a significant lack of interest {in bicycles} in the rest of the department, which is why we fought so hard to get the bicycle coordinator position in the first place," said Bill Silverman, president of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association. "His loss would be enormous. Removing Tom is a big blow."

[I was wondering what happened to Thomas Pendleton. It looks like he got involved in the founding of the East Coast Greenway and then...well...hopefully not this (even though the name, age, interest in biking and residency in Michigan match).]

Maryland Highway projects to improve Route 1 and build lots of shoulders, a bike lane and a path

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan recently killed Baltimore's red line transit project, and in this case Baltimore transit users loss is (to a very small extent) Washington-area cyclists gain. The governor announced $2B worth of highway projects, some of which have a varying amount of bicycle benefits. Most notably will be improvements to Route 1 in College Park.

The US 1 College Park Pedestrian, Bicycle and Safety Improvements project will spend $30 million to reconstruct US 1 to a four-lane divided highway with a raised median and enhanced bicycle and pedestrian accommodations from College Avenue to MD 193.

And just outside the immediate area, near Fort Meade, Annapolis Road (MD -175) between Reece Road and Disney Road will be expanded from two to six lanes, with a median, on-road bicycle lanes in each direction, a 5-foot sidewalk on the north side and a 10-foot, shared-use path on the south side of MD 175.

Additionally, the I-270 interchange project in Montgomery County (which does not represent new funding) will include bicycle and pedestrian improvements along Watkins Mill Road within the project area and to the Metropolitan Grove MARC station.

Farther from DC the projects will build many "bicycle-compatible shoulders.

• In Queen Anne’s, Talbot, and Caroline Counties, MD-404 will be widened from a two-lane road to a four-lane divided highway with a median and shoulders to accommodate bicycles and pedestrians;.
• In Worcester County US 113 will be widened from two to four lanes with a median and shoulders wide enough to accommodate bicycles from Five Mile Branch Road to north of Public Landing Road, a distance of 4.6 miles; and
• In Baltimore County, northbound MD 140 will be widened from Painters Mill Road to Garrison View Road to accommodate an additional third travel lane and a bicycle-compatible shoulder.

6 out of 9 of the 2016 TLC Technical Assistance Program recommended projects are bike related

The TPB initiated the Transportation/Land-Use Connections (TLC) Program in November 2006 to provide technical assistance to local jurisdictions as they deal with the challenges of integrating land-use and transportation planning at the community level. The TPB’s FY 2016 Work Program budgets a total of $420,000 for this program. Of this total amount $160,000 is committed by the Maryland Department of Transportation from its Technical Assistance program element in the TPB’s Work Program.

The TPB received a total of 15 applications for FY 2016 TLC technical assistance including one from the District of Columbia, six from Maryland, and eight from Virginia. Applications included proposals for planning projects as well as for 30% design. Funding requests ranged from $30,000 to $80,000. The total amount requested for all applications was $749,000.

The TLC Project Selection Panel met on July 7, 2015 to develop a list of projects to recommend for funding in the FY 2016 round of TLC technical assistance. The TLC recommends funding 9 programs of which 6 are bicycle related. 

Arlington County – Low Stress Bicycle Network Mapping ($45,000) Arlington County requests assistance in planning to increase bicycle use among the “interested, but concerned” user group. Working off research from Northeastern University, the County hopes to implement a network mapping methodology that will identify areas of low traffic stress to direct future bicycle facility investments and encourage more residents to consider bicycling. The final plan will include a GIS database of high-priority missing connections in the County to guide the ranking of capital projects.

District of Columbia - K Street / Water Street Bikeway and Pedestrian Connectivity Enhancements ($60,000) The District of Columbia requests assistance in addressing connectivity issues in Georgetown between the Capital Crescent and Rock Creek Trails. The project will create a safer, more accessible link between the two trails, as well as improve public space between 34th St and Aqueduct Bridge. The plan will address these present concerns and future multimodal issues with the anticipated expansion of the DC Streetcar.

College Park – Citywide Bicycle Boulevards ($30,000) The City of College Park requests assistance in the creation of a plan to design bicycle boulevards along neighborhood streets. The plan will work to identify routes and detail specific elements of roadway retrofits to improve safety and traffic stress for existing and potential cyclists. The final document will map and identify key City destinations, bikeshare stations, and cost estimates for proposed facilities.

Fairfax County - Vienna Metrorail Station Area Bicycle Improvements ($45,000) Fairfax County requests assistance in planning to prioritize and design improved on-road bicycle facilities along streets that access the Vienna Metrorail Station. The project will help the County identify and evaluate potential facilities, and develop planning-level cost estimates to guide future funding.

Gaithersburg – Improving Access to Transit ($30,000) The City of Gaithersburg requests assistance in improving first and last mile connections to the city’s three major transit stations. The plan will borrow techniques from the TPB’s TCSP funded “Access to underutilized rail stations study” and identify low cost and high investments to improve station access. The final plan document will include facility recommendations, financial cost estimates, to be implemented by the City in the short- and mid-term.

Prince George’s County – Central Avenue Connector Trail 30% Design ($80,000) Prince George’s County requests assistance in designing the first segments of the proposed Central Avenue Connector Trail, linking the Capitol Heights, Addison Road, Morgan Blvd and Largo Town Center Metrorail Stations. The trail is divided into five priority segments, and this project will help design facilities for the first segment near the Addison Road Station.

All projects are to be completed by June 30, 2016. Here's a list of previously completed projects. 

In addition, under TAP, the following projects will be funding for Maryland

Montgomery County, North Branch Hiker-Biker Trail ($2,000,000) - Construct a trail connection between Rock Creek Trail and North Branch Trail.

Montgomery County, MD 355-Clarksburg Shared Use Path ($523,416) - Create a link in the existing trail network along MD 355 between Little Bennett Regional Park Trail and the Frederick Road Bike Path

DDOT is hiring a new Bicycle Program Specialist

Ever since Heather Deutsch left, the DDOT bike team has been trying to get their work done with one fewer pair of hands. But at the end of last month, they put out a posting for a replacement. Filling this job will help to speed up the development/redevelopment of the Met Branch Trail, South Capitol Street Trail, Oxon Run Trail and all of the other projects Heather was working on when she left. The job posting is here.

Reviews technical, regulatory and legal materials concerning bicycling in the District in order to develop diversified programs, making appropriate consultations to ensure feasibility.  Develops a multi-use trail program adhering to local guidelines, the needs of various stakeholder and user groups, and in coordination with other District agencies Coordinates with Maryland, Virginia and Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments officials to identify and determine anticipated development of multi-use trails within their jurisdictions.

• Prepares position papers, grant and operational proposals, letters, and reports based on technical analysis of proposed bicycle routes, needs and requirements in the District of Columbia.
• Plans and designs new multi-use trails based on the DC Bicycle Master Plan.
• Makes presentations of recommended bicycle routes to officials and interested Personnel demonstrating routing feasibility and participant safety features.
• Assists others in the analysis of District transportation and land development plans, which identify and assess the planning and economic implications of external transportation conditions.
• Recasts complex planning data and/or engineering information and presents it in a less technical written form for release to others as well as to the general public, paraphrasing technical engineering terms and jargon so that it is easily understood by non- professionals.

Attends a variety of meetings, conferences and seminars relative to transportation systems route design and implementation of bicycle safe guards, equipment and traffic rules, regulations and requirements.  Develops annual bicycle facilities budget requests for inclusion in the Department's Capital Improvement Program; accounts for bikeway project expenditures; oversees incorporation of bicycle facility design details into design and construction documents.

FHWA Separated Bike Lane Planning and Design Guide

The FHWA recently released a design guide for protected bike lanes. Streetsblog has an excellent write up on it. In a local nod, the cover photo of the guide is of the L Street protected bike lane (by WABA's own Alex Baca) and there are a few other photos of the M and L lanes as well. It also calls out DDOT for money saving techniques and introducing bike-sharing in 2008.

Municipalities often consider more affordable, temporary materials for their flexibility and ease of installation. Washington, DC, built two of its newer separated bike lanes along L and M Streets NW, using flexible delineator posts and reduced use of green paint in order to save money on implementation while addressing neighborhood concerns about design. The District’s Department of Transportation estimates that separated bike lane construction costs on L Street may have been reduced by upwards of 50% as a result.

It includes a definition of separated bike lanes and some reasons for installing them, as well as some compelling safety data.

The analysis conducted as part of the preparation of this guide studied data from 17 separated bike lane corridors in 8 States (refer to Appendix C). Based on this analysis, separated bike lanes were generally associated with a decrease in total crashes and an increase in total bicycle crashes, however, when accounting for changes in bicycle volumes on facilities that provided sufficient pre- and post-implementation bicycle volume data, the per capita crash rates for cyclists appeared to decrease in most facilities after separated bike lanes were installed. Additionally, the analysis found that increases in bicycle crashes after separated bike lanes were built were especially pronounced at intersections.

Then there's a lot of wonky discussion of design elements, maintenance issues and funding mechanisms - among other things. That the FHWA has come out with such a document is a very positive development.