TheWashCycle

NPS Trails Study - National Mall and Memorial Parks

The National Park Service's National Capitol Region (NCR) recently released a draft version of its "Paved Trails Study", which serves as a plan for how NCR sees the paved trail network, both within and outside of the parks, developing in the future and as an update to the 1990 plan. In addition to identifying several high priority capital projects, the NPS Paved Trails Study also identifies some lower priority capital projects which it groups by park.

Comments are open until May 19th.

Here are all the paved trail projects identified for the National Mall and Memorial Parks.

Immediate (0-2 years)

1. (N1.1) Remove stairs at Ohio Drive SW Tidal Basin Inlet Bridge to connect to Ohio Drive Trail; narrow travel lanes on inlet bridge to widen sidewalk; mark bike lanes along East Basin Drive to connect to proposed new cycle track extension on Maine Avenue with connection to 14th Street Bridge Trail - this is a high priority project that was covered in this earlier post. 
2. (N1.4) Coordinate with DDOT for development and installation of signage
3. (N1.5) Install sharrows for shared facility on Jefferson Drive from 3rd to 15th Street 
4. (N2.4) Improve safety of all at-grade trail crossings from the National Mall leading up to the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge; Improve crossing of existing Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway at the Belvedere/ Constitution Avenue extension; Provide new crossing of Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway to connect Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway Trail to volleyball courts and bridge approach; Provide additional signage; Expand trail width on both north and south sides of bridges - this is a high priority projects that was covered in this earlier post.
5. (N2.2) Conduct a feasibility study at Lincoln Memorial Circle to develop set of recommendations to improve visitor safety and reduce conflicts for motorists, pedestrians and cyclists. Alternatives should improved connections across the bridge and along the Parkway and Ohio Drive to trails. - this is a high priority projects that was covered in this earlier post.
6. (N4.1) Provide crossing improvements from existing George Mason Memorial/ Bikeshare station across East Basin Drive SW to Jefferson Memorial and across Ohio Drive to East Potomac Park
7. (N4.2) Develop trail crossing of the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway from F Street NW to Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway Trail (Not sure why this isn't part of the Rock Creek Park portion)

Short term (0-2 Years)

1. (N1.2) Extend cycle track south on 15th Street between Pennsylvania Avenue NW and Constitution Avenue by removing vendor/ street bus on west side of street. Extend cycle track on 15th Street between Constitution Avenue and Maine Avenue in area between existing sidewalk and road/or move sidewalk to accommodate lane. Reclaim a southbound lane of Maine Avenue from Kutz Bridge to Jefferson Memorial and East Basin Drive for cycle track connection/dedicated bike lanes. Will require coordination between DDOT and NAMA for 15th Street ROW between Pennsylvania Avenue and Constitution Avenue. - this is a high priority project that was covered in this earlier post.
2. (N1.6) Implement preferred alternative from the National Mall Walkway Study to improve access, ADA and user conflicts on the National Mall Trails (outer perimeter loop trails). Work with Denver Service Center on study of discrete signage options for future separation of user needs. 
3. (N2.2) Conduct an EA at Lincoln Memorial Circle to develop set of recommendations to improve visitor safety and reduce conflicts for motorists, pedestrians and cyclists. Alternatives should improved connections across the bridge and along the Parkway and Ohio Drive to trails. - this is a high priority project that was covered in this earlier post.
4. (N2.3) Implement signage enhancements and access improvements from Lincoln Memorial Loop to Arlington Memorial Bridge in coordination with DDOT.
5. (N2.4) Implement signage enhancements and access improvements from Lincoln Memorial Loop to the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge.
6. (N3.3) Develop a multi-modal regional trailhead at the MBT endpoint at Union Station.

Mid-term (5-10 years)

1. (N1.3) Analyze route alternatives for a new path between FDR Memorial and West Potomac Park ball fields to include marked or separated bicycle and pedestrian facilities. 
2. (N1.7) Study feasibility for on-street bike facility on west bound Independence Avenue from 23rd Street SW to 17th Street SW. Sign/mark bicycle loop from MLK Jr. Memorial to Lincoln Memorial, to Vietnam Veterans Memorial, north of Constitution Garden to 15th Street NW and down to Independence Avenue and back west to MLK Jr. Memorial
3. (N2.1) Build dedicated bike/ped. trail via new CSX bridge (aka Long Bridge); Connect to Mount Vernon Trail and Long Bridge Drive (Long Bridge Park) and Boundary Channel Drive on west side of Potomac River and to Ohio Drive SW and Rock Creek Park Multi-use Trail on east side of Potomac River. 
4. (N3.1) Develop a local/NPS trailhead which may include signage, bike repair station, water, etc. at East Potomac Park where the 14th Street Bridge is.
5. (N3.2) Develop a local/NPS trailhead at existing Bikeshare station to include bike repair station, water, etc. at the intersection of Ohio Driver and West Basin Drive (study actually says East Basin, but image shows West)
6. (N5.1) Assess options to expand the width of Rock Creek Park Multi-use Trail along Ohio Drive

The 1990 Paved Trails plan calls for improving several facilities and widening trails, some of which I assume has happened and others (like widening the shoreline trail beside the Kennedy Center, or the sidewalks along Ohio Drive through the underpasses) have not. But in general, they've done a good job either doing these things or rolling them forward

There's one good idea that is missing

• Encourage the Architect of the Capitol to establish east-west bicycle routes past the Capitol, connecting Mall traffic to East Capitol Street.

Update: Here's a map of the Lincoln Memorial Circle idea from 1990. I like the trail along the loop ramp between the Memorial Bridge and Ohio Drive and the similar one on the loop ramp from Ohio Drive to the Circle

Not really something that's appropriate any longer, but interesting is that one of the recommendations was to repave the roads of the Ellipse as they "are periodically used for bicycle races and rallies." Also, one of the projects on the list, widening the Kutz Bridge sidewalks is just now finishing up - though it is to address ADA compliance, not to "relieve pedestrian and cyclist congestion."

In addition, I'm disappointed not to see more mention of bikeshare and where NPS would be willing to allow stations. Granted this is a paved trails plan, but how one rides them is nearly as relevant as where they go. 

DC begins operation of the Georgia Avenue bus lanes - with sharrows

On Monday, DDOT initiated operation of the Georgia Avenue dedicated bus lanes. The dedicated bus lanes are not just for buses though as taxis and bicycles are allowed to use them too. While nice, it's only four blocks. 

Although it’s a short third-of-a-mile stretch of transit lane, officials say it should help speed up bus travel in what currently is a clogged portion of the route served by Metrobus routes 70 and 79.

Within a few months the plan is to paint the lane red. Does anyone ride this route regularly. How are these lanes? Are they useful? Is this section of Georgia Avenue now - as my optometrist might say - better, worse or about the same?

 

Arlington's Pershing Drive as a Complete Street

Last summer, the Arlington Division of Transportation began to study N. Pershing Drive between N. Barton and N. Piedmont Streets in order to develop a preliminary concept plan for the Pershing Drive Complete Streets Project, which they have since developed and are accepting comments on. 

The project consists of installing high priority spot improvements along N. Pershing Drive from N. Barton – N. Piedmont Streets to improve safety for all street users.

The project has several elements that should lead to a better pedestrian experience and even add traffic calming, but from a cycling standpoint it is basically limited to sharrows (which is not nothing, but it's not protected bike lanes either. Below is the typical changes proposed at each intersection.

(though I prefer the other alternative to this one in which the weird stub road on the NE side is made into greenspace)

An exception is that on the Cleveland to Danville section. It currently has bike lanes (as does the Barton to Cleveland section), and those would remain with more solid lines in places where they are currently dashed. 

I can count on one hands the number of times I've been on Pershing and probably not in years, so I can't really weigh in. Perhaps, as some suggest, a bicycle boulevard on 5th makes more sense - especially when coupled with an improved Arlington Boulevard Trail. I see these proposals as an improvement, even if only a small one. 

You can sit your comments at the county's website.

Celebrating life's small victories: Canal Road/Reservoir Road intersection redesigned

Anyone who's ever tried to cross Canal Road from Reservoir Road in northwest DC knows that it's a bit sketchy. There's no crosswalk and traffic on Canal - where speeding must be required - doesn't have to (and probably won't) stop. That is until now. Recently, DDOT installed a traffic light, a crosswalk, a sharrow-like thing (I'm actually not sure what that is), and a little painted space for peds and cyclists protected by some plastic flex-posts which should make the intersection safer for pedestrians and cyclists crossing over to the trails along the C&O Canal. The light is a beg button, and the flex-posts are, well, flex-posts, but as a friend of mine said about her first job "It's like a training bra, you wish there were more there, but it's still exciting and hopeful." You can see the new intersection (including the bike thing) above and the old one below.

And here's the pedestrian space (I don't think we can call this a sidewalk).

And a view of the same space from July 2014

The beg button, which looks like a custom job.

 

But all kidding aside, I think DDOT did about as good a job as they could with this difficult site. Anything more would have gotten much more expensive and would have been much more difficult to fit into NPS's constraints. Still, I hope that WHEN the palisades trolley trail gets built it includes a grade separated connection (either over or under Canala) to Fletcher's Boat House. 

Who knows it might even slow down car traffic and save the lives of motorists. Thanks to Brett for the photos.

Alexandria's Draft Recommended Bicycle Network

As part of its Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan Update, the City of Alexandria created a Draft Recommended Bicycle Network Map.

It shows a bike trail along the eastern end of the old W&OD Trail railroad right of way, along with segments along Cameron Run and in the far northeast.

South of King, the network will add many miles of bikes lanes which are included on the full length of King, Duke, Braddock, Seminary, Howard, Jordan, Fort Williams Parkway, North Besuregard, Van Dorn, Prince, and a few other smaller roads. North of King, Glebe, Prince, and Cameron are the main bike lane routes. 

North of King, the network relies more on sharrows, with major corridors like Mount Vernon, Cameron Mills, N Columbus/Powhatan, Russell, Reid, Lafayette, Royal and Oronoco getting the shared street treatment. 

New sharrows on Dinwiddle next to Wakefield HS in Arlington

Photo by Geoff Gee

Bike lanes around Stanton Park

Back in 2011, DDOT kicked off a process to improve pedestrian safety along Maryland Avenue. Two years later that resulted in a plan and in 2013 a pilot project was implemented at 7th and Maryland NE. Not much has happened with it since, but I'm not sure that I wrote about this then.

One of the things that project included was filling in the gap in the 4th and 6th Street bike lanes along the Park, as well as adding a bike land to C Street south of the Park.

It would also add sharrows for the length of Maryland Ave from 3rd to 15th Street. No word on when any of this will be done though. 

I bike around Stanton a lot and a bike lane on the south side makes a lot of sense. In fact, I was once yelled at by a driver to get in the bike lane there; so after many years, I will finally be able to comply. 

Bike lanes reduce the severity of injuries, especially if you're not in them

According to a recent study of New York City bike-car crashes, 

bicyclists on roads with bike lanes who were riding outside the lane had lower likelihood of severe injuries (OR, 0.40, 95% CI 0.16 to 0.99) compared with bicyclists riding on roads without bicycle facilities.

In fact riding outside of a bike lane, on a road with bike lanes had the lowest ratio of severe injuries to total injuries of the 6 scenarios considered. That doesn't mean they were "safer", since it doesn't say anything about how certain facilities might help avoid crashes in the first place. But it might lead to safer design. Ranking the 6 scenarios (after adjusting for confounding variables and ignoring hit-and-run crashes) from highest to lowest severe injury ratio (worst to best) creates this list:

1. No bicycle facility

2, Sharrows

3. Riding outside cycle track

4. Riding inside cycle track

5. Riding inside bike lane

6. Riding outside bike lane

But that isn't really what this study is about. The study is really about how police crash report forms aren't properly designed to capture bicycle crash data. So the researchers grabbed a selected sample of police crash reports from New York City, pulled out the data they think should be included and then created the above analysis as more or a demonstration of the utility of better forms.

On current forms used in 51 states, the only data consistently included was whether or not one party was a "pedal-cyclist" and whether or not they had a helmet on. 

Our research suggests that new bicycle crash-scene variables might be informative for analysis including: 4 bicycle environments (roads, sharrows, bike lanes and cycle tracks); 18 motor vehicle potential impact points including opened car doors and mirrors; 4 bicycle potential impact points; whether in or out of the bicycle environment; 10 bicycle-crash-scene patterns (turn/impact); and motor vehicle types relevant to bicyclists. Having these new variables revealed higher crash frequency on motor vehicle fronts, bicycle fronts, no bike facility, sedan and as sideswipes.

It should be noted that New York City isn't exactly representative. Many of the crashes there involved taxis - hence the prominence of sedans - and I feel like NYC has far more taxis per capita then most other places. But with better forms adopted nationwide, these kinds of local oddities could be accounted for. Anther thing their analysis revealed:

Compared with bicyclists hitting the back of the motor vehicle, opened motor vehicle doors and mirrors resulted in higher risk of severe injury

These results should be taken with a grain of salt. They used a non-random selection of crash reports, with a small sample size, in a city that is very different from the American norm; but the point is that better forms will lead to better data and that better data will lead to better conclusions and designs.

If these new bicycle-crash-scene variables were entered into the existing spreadsheets, bicycling could be analysed with minor injuries as the control and severe injuries as the case. Though not as ideal as a comparison between no injury and injury, using the data in the spreadsheet at least enables a comparison between minor injury and severe injury.

The report notes that such data to could help us decide between bike lanes and cycle tracks and

If environments and crash patterns were coded for motor vehicle/ bicyclist crashes, intersections might be better understood and designed to lessen the looked-but-failed-to-see-errors. Better data leading to better analysis would also inform bicyclist and driver education efforts

They call for something I first heard mentioned years ago - police should use a tablet-computer to enter data on a digital form that asks questions based on what information has been entered so far and provides drop-down lists to make entry better. Is one person a cyclist? then ask about a bike helmet (Instead of asking about safety equipment and including the helmet on a list with car seats) At night? Then ask about lights. Etc...

As one who's poured through FARS data (post forthcoming I swear) and I can attest to the fact that the forms do a terrible job of dealing with bicycle data and are in need of a rewrite. I've spent less time with DC police reports - but even there, there is much room for improvement. (via NextCity)

Florida Avenue reconstruction to include bike lanes

Late next year, DDOT plans to perform a complete reconstruction of the two blocks of Florida Avenue between U Street and Barry Place. In addition to pedestrian, stormwater, traffic signal and utility improvements, the project will add bike lanes. Depending on how accurate a 2012 presentation on the area is, the design will include bike lanes on Vermont between Florida and V, bike boxes on Florida at Vermont, and and a combination of bike lanes and sharrowed lanes on Florida Avenue and Sherman. Combined with the work at Florida and 15th, it should lead to bike lanes on the entirety of Florida Avenue between 9th and 15th. Right now the project is awaiting ROW acquisition and won't go out to bid until June, with construction scheduled to start in October and end in May 2016.

DDOT has been planning to improve this part of Florida Avenue for over a decade now. A couple of plans, the 2004 Duke Plan and the 2007 Great Streets plan, had designs for this area which included among other things, reconnecting W and Bryant Streets and adding a traffic circle in at the intersection of Florida and Sherman Avenue. Those items do not appear to be a part of this reconstruction project. A more modest redesign was on the table in 2008, but that did not include bike lanes and it appears that the work was never done. 

In 2011, DDOT presented 3 options for redesigning the area, which by 2012 they'd narrowed down to one. In the 2011 design, you can see that one option included bike lanes on Florida and on 9th, but those were later dropped. 

One of the 2011 designs, via GreaterGreaterWashington (south is to the left)

The only image included in the Ward 1 update is for Green Infrastructure improvements, and doesn't show striping. But it does look similar to the 2012 plan, so it appears that much of the design will remain the same.

If the 2012 plan is followed, then 9th between U and V will have sharrows. Florida between V and Vermont will have southbound sharrows and northbound bike lane. Between Vermont and W, Florida will have a northbound bike lane and combination of a bike lane and sharrows in the southbound direction. None of these bike lanes will be next to parking, and the northbound section shown above will be separated from most traffic by a landscaped median (though parking and a traffic lane will also be east of the median too). North of W, the bike lane will be painted green to Sherman Avenue and placed between the turning lane and the thru traffic lane. The bike lane/sharrow combination will then continue to Barry Place. Bike lanes will also be added to Sherman between Florida and Barry Place. 

DDOT Ward 7 and 8 project updates

DDOT recently presented status updates on projects in Ward 7 and Ward 8, Below are some of the bike-relevant highlights not covered elsewhere:

• The status of the South Capital Street Trail is listed as "continuing preliminary/conceptual design".
• The Oxon Run Trail is going through the final design phase, to be completed in August 2015. Construction is anticipated in 2016-2017. (more on this later)
• The Anacostia Riverwalk Trail's Kenilworth section should be completed in spring 2016. Though there are some other parts of this section that will be completed later.
• The Benning Road Transportation Improvements project, which should improve biking in the corridor, is scheduled to produce a final NEPA decision document this year.  
• The 11th Street Bridges project will wrap up this summer. I don't know if this will include a bike facility along the temporary Southeast Boulevard between 11th and Pennsylvania or not, but turning this into a Boulevard with bike facilities appears to be part of a separate project. The last piece of the bridge path, down to the east side Anacostia Riverwalk Trail, is being built as part of DC Water's Mother of All Tunnels project. 
• While not necessarily bike related, there's a pretty cool project to retrofit several streets with Low Impact Developments that absorb stormwater. These including Fitch Place and the Fort Dupont &Q intersection in Ward 7; Erie Street in Ward 8 and E. Beach Drive in Ward 4 with Biorention bulbouts and other green improvements. The Oxon Run Green streets construction will do similar things. 
• DDOT is in the process of repairing 6 bridges over Watts Branch, most of which interact with the Marvin Gaye Park Trail in one way or another. Improvements include new deck, wider sidewalks, replaced guardrails and upgraded sidewalk ramps.
• Sheriff Road NE and 49th Street NE are undergoing traffic calming and safety improvements which will wrap up early in 2015. These should include sharrows on both streets with bike lanes and bike boxes on 49th near Sheriff. Widened medians and curb extensions should slow traffic.