TheWashCycle

Monday Afternoon Commute - Staple

Good afternoon

• Another Best of DC winner - BicycleSPACE, for best unpretentious bike shop. But which is the best pretentious bike shop? They also won the best bike shop as voted on by readers. The Bike Rack and City Bikes came in 2nd and 3rd. But they have new competition - The Daily Rider just opened. 
• For best bike parking they went with the staple rack. I'd place it below the inverted U, bike valet and a CaBi rack. 
• The 11th Street Recreation Bridge is by no means a done deal, but there is good news about access to the Navy Yard Promenade from the meeting "the Navy Yard now actually finds it somewhat of a burden to open and close the trail every day, and would like to avoid that responsibility. They've also added more security along that edge of the yard, making them more comfortable just allowing public access along that side. He gave no firm details, but it sounds like residents can hope for a 24-hour trail in the future." 
• Let's not get too excited about 2011 regional bike fatality numbers. Yes 5 is down from the previous year's 9, and lower than the average over the last 10 years (6.3 per year). But we're dealing with such a small sample size that it's hard to call it anything other than noise. Let's throw together a few years below 6 fatalities and we can call it a trend. 
• Washington, DC makes Huffington Post's list of Top 10 Cities for Cyclists. We did not come in 10th place though as The Needle implies. They're listed in alphabetical order. 
• GGW has the designs for the L Street cycletrack. It will be one way only and buffered, with bike boxes at most intersections.
• "From 2010 to 2011, bike trips through 20 city intersections surged nearly 21 percent, according to District Department of Transportation data."
• The bike path/emergency access road that is to be built along the edge of the Army-Navy Club is still waiting on more detailed engineering and funding. And probably the end of a lawsuit. While some people worry about the crime the path will bring, others note that it isn't behind schedule because there never was one, nor are the high costs a surprise to county staff. 
• Virginia Commonwealth is a new Silver Bicycle Friendly University. 
• American cyclist Levi Leipheimer was hit from behind by a car while training in California Spain. He had a sore and swollen lower left leg but no broken bones.
• Bike movie. What it needs, looking at movie revenue this week, are some other kids trying to kill him as part of a tv show. 

Fairfax County Parkway repaving meetings

Here

VDOT will be repaving 24 miles of the 32-mile, six-lane Fairfax County Parkwaybetween Route 7 in Dranesville and Rolling Road in Springfield. While the road has been repaved several times, the paved sidepath has never been repaved.

Monday Morning Ride - 2012

Good morning. I hope everyone avoided Y2K+12 related computer bugs.

• Vincent Orange is busted for parking in the 15th Street cycletrack. He issued a twitpology, but without explaning how it happened.  
• Dr. Gridlock has one expected bike facility for 2012 that I left off "construction of a pedestrian bridge between the Minnesota Avenue Metro station and Kenilworth Avenue to the Parkside community." It's not too significant though, because they're just replacing or rebuilding an existing pedestrian bridge.
• Alexandria's Transportation Commission meets on Wednesday. It looks like some budget reductions are coming down the pipeline and as a result, funding for the Backlick Run multi-use paths is delayed. 
• If I'm reading this article about "bizarre" new laws proposed in VA this year correctly, Del James Edmunds (R-South Boston) has submitted a bill that would basically bring the Idaho Stop to Virginia. The reporter doesn't seem to understand the issue very well. "The gen­esis of a bike measure from Del. James E. Edmunds II (R-South Boston) is less certain. He did not return e-mail and phone messages seeking comment. The bill would free bicyclists who approach red traffic lights from the need to — who knew? — wait two minutes before pedaling on." (Update: See the bill here. It is not an improvement)
• More on the plan of Frederick, MD police to stop teenage cyclists from cycling recklessly. "Children older than 10 are prohibited from riding bikes on sidewalks in the historic district, but can ride bikes on Carroll Creek Linear Park as long as they are not negligent, according to city law."
• While there is one report that trail clearing has begun for the South Shore Trail between Odenton and Annapolis, a witness says it looks like brush clearing for the power lines over the old ROW.

2012: Looking Ahead

Before we look back at 2011, here is a look at the facilities and projects that are scheduled to (or may) happen in 2012.

Work will begin to close the gap between the Anacostia Tributary Trail System in Maryland and DC's Anacostia Riverwalk trail. This is the Kenilworth section of the ART. I also expect the two ART bridges over the railroad tracks to be finished in 2012 as well.

Capital Bikeshare expansion in DC, Rockville, Arlington, and Alexandria

Work might begin on a ramp to replace the stairs that connect the Metropolitan Branch Trail to L Street NE and on the Rhode Island Avenue Metro bridge.

The Downtown BID will organize the Freedom Plaza BTWD event.

The Potomac Power Generating Station along the MVT will be closed. 

DC plans to add 4 miles of bike lane that is ready to go (and possibly more) and Arlington will extend bike lanes on Crystal Drive.

Arlington might build the portion of the proposed cycletrack along Army Navy Drive/Joyce Street that is under I-395; start the Washington Boulevard Bridge over Columbia Pike and complete the improved Glebe Road bridge over Arlington Blvd. The trail on the west side of Arlington/Washington Blvd will be extended to Columbia Pike and work could begin on the Route 110 Trail.

More bike parking at the Rosslyn Metro.

The 2012 Rails-to-Trails Sojourn will once again be along the C&O/GAP route from DC to Pittsburgh.

Also, "Premium Rush" on August 24.

Surely there is more that I've missed.

Arlington Cemetery from the Trail

Sunday Video - Washington Boulevard Path

This video shows quite a few issues on a short stretch of trail. I used to ride this all the time. It needs some work.

Wednesday Morning Commute - Call to Action

Good morning

• On Saturday, MPD is hosting a Met Branch Trail Safety open house.
• On Nov 3rd, WABA is hosting the Regional Call to Action summit. "We need your help in shaping the future of bicycling in DC, Maryland and Virginia region. The Washington Area Bicyclist Association is hosting a regional Call to Action Summit on November 3, 2011 at the Waterview Conference Center in Arlington, VA. The one day summit will be a culmination of weeks of local meetings in all six jurisdictions that WABA represents and it will include a presentation of a plan for the the next five years of advocacy for the region." The speakers are listed here. 
• And one last one: On in November there are 4 Purple Line open houses - which would also discuss the future Capital Crescent Trail I presume. 
• Work begins on a building next to the MBT at the NY Ave Metro station. It should allow for a foot/bike connection from 2nd and N to the MBT trailhead along M.
• Streetsblog - at Rail~lvolution - has some facts on DC biking. "According to a CaBi survey, 40 percent of its members reported a reduction in their use of transit." and "Already the [Union Station Bike Station] has 200 members and an average of 35 trips per day."
• Time to break out the bike lights. 
• Harriet Tregoning calls SmartBike (not Capital Bikeshare) a failure because it started too small.
• Roanoke River Rails-to-Trails announced that construction of Phases II and III of the Tobacco Heritage Trail will begin soon. About 20 miles of the trail has been built or is under construction thus far, but when done the trail will consist of 160 miles of trail in Central Virginia.
• Cars v. bikes

The Potomac Avenue Bike Trail in Alexandria

Without much fanfare, Alexandria and the Potomac Yard development has been building a new 1.8 mile bike trail along the extended Potomac Avenue.[Thanks to Glen for alerting me to it]

The road and trail were to have been completed this past spring, but clearly it is opening late. Still, it appears to be very close to opening.

The road is an extension of Potomac Avenue from South Glebe in Arlington to Monroe Avenue in Alexandria. It crosses over Four Mile Run on one of the four extant railroad bridges and then runs through Potomac Yard Center and the as-of-yet undeveloped portion on the southern end of the old rail yard.

The trail starts at the bridge (in Arlington, Potomac Avenue has bike lanes) on the west side of the road. It passes through Potomac Center on a median (see below) and then crosses to the east side at the extended East Glebe Road. At the end it connects to the paths along the Monroe Avenue Bridge and Main Line Boulevard/Monroe Avenue.

The FMR bridge, being re-purposed, is wider than what is needed. Instead of filling it with more road, the area is nicely landscaped.

This is parallel to a similar path along the east side of Jeff Davis Highway that crosses Four Mile Run on one of the other old railroad bridges, but the new trail has fewer grade crossings, and safer ones where they do exist. Also, the old trail now detours around the fire house.

I'm often worried about sidepaths, but the southern part of this one has only one grade crossing - at a driveway for the building along the railroad tracks (anyone know what that is) across from Scarburgh Way.

There is no direct connection to the Four Mile Run Trail (yet?) but there is a desire line from one to the other. I would not recommend biking down it though - you should probably walk your bike down. It also doesn't connect to the Potomac Center parking lot until you've gone most of the way to Reed Avenue, but it should really connect along the north side as well.

Alexandria should have a ciclovia on the road before they open it.

Updated Status of Arlington Bike and Trail projects

Arlington County recently released an updated status of the items in the Bikeway Facility Project List from the County's Master Transportation Plan. You can read it here, but I have some of the future highlights below. I've attempted to put them in chronological order (except for the bike lane projects, there are just too many of them).

• The first implementation of the Columbia Pike Parallel Bike Route is planned for late 2011.
• Installation of bike parking at Clarendon Metro station in 2011 and Rosslyn Metro station in 2012.
• Extension of the bike lanes on Crystal Drive from the existing lanes at 23rd street to Potomac Avenue. in late 2011 and early 2012
• Addition of bike lanes to the reconstructed Jefferson Davis Highway between 12th and Boundary Channel Drive as part of the first phase of the Long Bridge Park project which is to be completed in 2012
• Construction of a bike trail on the east/south side of Arlington Blvd From N. Pershing to Rolfe street has started. They studied the possibility of extending that south, all the way to Columbia Pike, but deemed it infeasible. However, the trail on the West side of Arlington/Washington Blvd is being extended to Columbia Pike with Construction planned for 2012
• Arlington would like to build a trail around the Boundary Channel basin that would connect on one end to the Humpback Bridge underpass and the MVT and on the other end to the Columbia Pike at S. Rolfe Street. They are negotiating with DoD and FHWA on the Humpback Bridge connection.  In the meantime, they have re-envisioned the project as a cycletrack along Army Navy Drive/Joyce Street. The portion under I-395 is under design with construction planned for 2012.
• The county has sent to VDOT for review a new 50% design of the Rosslyn Circle Area. This will include the elimination of a travel lane on Lee Highway westbound, the widening of the Custis Trail between Oak Street and Fort Myer Drive, and improvements at Fort Myer and N. Lynn Street. VDOT has expressed concern about removing the travel lane. Design does not include a tunnel.
• The Route 110 Trail project is currently at 50% engineering design and requires and Environmental Assessment. The project requires complete trail reconstruction, new highway ramp crossing and a new retaining wall.
• The county needs approval from DoD and VDOT to build a 1.2 mile trail around Arlington National Cemetery from Memorial Drive south to Southgate drive (near the Air Force Memorial)
• Hoffman-Boston Connector needs funding
• Arlington wants to build a sidepath along Wilson Blvd to connect the W&OD trail at Bluemont Park to Upton Hill Park, but the Dominion Hills Recreation Association won't grant the needed easements.
• Widening the Mount Vernon Trail requires NPS approval.
• The Potomac Yard-Four Mile Run Trail connector

Unfortunately, there is no update on the Iwo Jima Memorial Connection to the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge, the Mount Vernon trail extension north to the Fairfax County line, The MVT-Roosevelt Bridge southside connection (which is even listed twice B-24 and B-37), and many other sought after projects. Patience.

Wednesday Morning Commute - ReCycle

Happy Pi Approximation Day Whoops, one month early. It's actually Anti-Fascist Struggle Day in Croatia.

• "The non-profit Old Takoma Business Association commissioned 7 sculptures made mostly out of old bike parts to be installed along the sidewalks of creating a self-guided walking tour. You can see photos of the sculptures here."
• We'll see more of this in the future. "[The new building will feature]...a bicycle entrance to a sizeable storage room separate from the three levels of underground parking."
• Eisenhower Avenue trail underpass - not so open.
• Maryland cyclists, take this survey.
• The first public meeting for the Meade Street Bridge Study - which is in Rosslyn is scheduled for tomorrow evening.
• Here's an AP video for a story on bikesharing. It's a national story, but it focuses a lot on DC.