Arlington Master Transportation Plan

The Interim Draft of the Arlington Master Transportation Plan came out in June and is available for public comment. This plan was written to guide transportation planning in Arlington through 2030. It's pretty extensive - and bold. It breaks transportation into 6 elements, one of which is biking - which is pretty good considering that only 0.69% of all commutes in Arlington are by bicycle (in DC it's 1.16% and in Richmond it's 1.09% - who knew Richmond was so good).

The five objectives of the Bicycle Element of the MTP are to:

    1. Complete the Primary and Secondary Bikeway Networks;

    2. Increase bicycling use to a level where 50 percent of residents report using a bicycle for transportation purposes at least occasionally;

        3. Improve bicycling safety and bring public perception about the safety of bicycling in Arlington in line with actual conditions;

        4. Manage and maintain the existing and future network of bicycle facilities and services to ensure that it can safely accommodate greater demand; and

5. Make intermodal trips involving bicycles convenient and time efficient

At first glance these goals lacked a way of being measured, so I was unhappy with them. But later in the report they give pretty specific metrics (miles of bike lane swept per month, League of American Bicyclists Silver and Gold standards, number of bikes on buses, etc...) so they've thought about that too.

I don't bike in Arlington as much as I do in DC, but it was hard for me to find any holes in their plans. The Appendix has a list of projects (funded, priority one, county, network, etc...) and it includes everything I've ever wanted out of Arlington (except a direct connection from Memorial bridge to Arlington Boulevard, which would involve crossing Arlington National Cemetery and Fort Meyer).  Here are the priority one projects.

This includes projects I've asked for, like the connection to the North Tract and a connection from the TR bridge to the Iwo Jima memorial (with clever framing, you could line this up so that the trail heads directly for it - that would be fantastic). Included elsewhere are the Mt. Vernon Trail extension, the Four Mile Run Trail-Shirley Highway crossing, the Boundary Channel Bridge underpass, and pushing trails through some of Arlington's biggest cycling barriers like the Pentagon, Army-Navy Country Club, the Cemetery, Shirley highway etc. In fact reading the plan is almost enough to make one giddy.

Except...plans have a way of not being followed through on. It's easy to promise the sun and the moon when it just goes on paper, but when the rubber hits the road the money can be hard to find. That's when the project starts becoming a victim of what Richard Layman calls "satisficing."  All too often "a plan is just a list of things that never happen." Let's hope in this case, that's wrong.

Ten for Tuesday - Thor is 83rd

1. I went on a ride around the Anacostia recently, to see where the Riverwalk would go in. One part of the Riverwalk will go along the Navy Yard Promenade.  I took this photo of one end of the promenade (under the 11th Street Bridge). It'll be a real miracle if this opens to bike/ped uses. Since 9/11 everything has been closing (I used to run around the portico at the Capitol), and this will be first thing I can think of to really buck the trend.

2. DC is continuing its Street Smart campaign. This article (Taking Steps to a Pedestrian-Friendly D.C.) focused mostly on pedestrian issues, but it also discusses cycling safety.

Two years ago, the city launched Street Smart for Kids, which uses volunteers from the Washington Area Bicyclist Association to train schoolchildren in pedestrian and bicycle safety. Part of the training is done at intersections and sidewalks near schools, Branyan said.

3. This article (Rock Creek's Scenic Drive Battered) about how the July 3rd flooding impacted Rock Creek Park, features a quote from frequent Wash Cycle commenter - and fellow bike blogger - Joel Gwadz.

"Euphoric" is how Joel Gwadz described his Beach Drive bike commute this week. Gwadz, 39, lives in Mount Pleasant and works in the computer department at CBS News at 20th and M streets NW. The prospect of Beach Drive being closed to traffic was so alluring that he went north -- in the opposition direction of his downtown job -- to spend additional time on the road.

"Everyone was smiling and grinning," Gwadz recalled. "People were waving to each other. Everyone was really enjoying it."

The closure of the road offered a glimpse of what would happen if the National Park Service shut down segments of Beach Drive during off-peak weekday travel periods, as the Washington Area Bicyclist Association has been lobbying for it to do for years.

"I know the people who drive that road have been really ticked off, but I've loved it," said Samantha Smith, 38, who rode her bike this week between her Adams Morgan home and the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, where she works as a psychologist.

"It's like a dream come true," she said, describing the joy of rolling down an empty exit ramp onto a vacant Beach Drive. "It is really like my fantasy world. No cars, no noise."

I was surprised to find that Gwadz could talk in normal sentences instead of his signature, stream-of-conciousness writing style.

4. Did you know that a bike trail caused Howard Dean to change religions?

In 1980, Dean, then a practicing doctor in Burlington, caught wind that a local real estate developer was planning to build a pair of high-rise condominiums on the shore of the lake. Along with a Burlington lawyer named Rick Sharp, Dean began to campaign against the project, proposing in its place a scenic nine-mile bike trail. "He became a crusader," says Sharp. Dean went door to door with leaflets; he stood in the street with petitions; he cleared brush and laid bricks. Then, the hard part began: getting the land for the bike trail--a fight that ultimately wound its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Part of the struggle involved convincing the local Episcopal diocese to cede ownership of a stretch of old railroad tracks that ran across their property. When the church first resisted, threatening to join a lawsuit, "Howard went to talk to them into it," says Sharp. Thanks to Dean's persistence, the Episcopalians eventually succumbed. But their initial resistance left a bad taste in Dean's mouth.

As Dean has described it in recent months, the dispute over the bike path caused him to break with the Episcopal Church and become a Congregationalist. It's hard to imagine this story will resonate with religious voters, because very few people would untether themselves from their spiritual home over a bike path. Indeed, when Dean first explained his denominational switch on ABC's "This Week," George Stephanopoulos was incredulous: "Over the bike path?"

5. For it's road trip feature, the post has been branching out from driving (maybe they saw An Inconvienent Truth) promoting bike rides, scooter trips, hikes and the like. Two weeks ago they did one entitled Bike the Mount Vernon Trail. It's a great ride, and once you get south of the Wilson Bridge the crowds thin out.

6. Everyone is crazy about pedicabs, from DCist to the Times.

7. Richard Layman makes the point that "bikes are better."

People would send me stuff about scooters, Segways, etc. and I would always respond, "a bike is better." Sure, a bike is better than a scooter or a Segway for most settings, but that isn't the point.

In a city, for a lot of things, a bike is better than a car. And, now that you can take a bike on buses, and on the subway except for certain times of the day, you get further enhanced mobility that is relatively time-efficient.

There is some discussion about the Smart Car, and the response from some is "a bike is better." But the Smart Car isn't about bicyclists. It's about people who already have cars.

Then he lists transportation options from best to worst (?) - if so, I'd move some things around.

walking
bicycling
Segways?
scooters/Vespas
transit
- bus
- rapid bus
- light rail/streetcar
- subway
driving
- car (usually big)
- cars (usually many in a household)
- shared cars
- Motorcycles
railroad

I've always recognized that not everyone is going to bike - just like not everyone is going to watch "Lost" - even though most should. A city full of smart cars would probably be good for cyclists. I mean, would they even knock you over if they hit you?

8. I went for a ride out the W&OD trail on June 9th, and was pleasantly surprised to see that in less than a week they had built a temporary bridge to serve as a bypass for the bridge damaged in the flood.

9. Maryland has free bike maps of the state. You can order them here.

10. The Tour de France is going on and my favorite, Thor Hushovd, is in a disappointing 83rd. (I have to root for someone named Thor). Lance Armstrong's old team is still sponsored by Discovery Channel, HQed in Maryland. In an article, Cycling Magnate, in the Post, they profile Discovery Networks president Billy Campbell.

What's it like riding with a cycling icon?

Well, it's humbling. . . . It is almost like I'm riding a tricycle and he's riding a bike. About a year ago in Austin, he took me out riding and we were coming down a hill, and I realized this might be my only time to ever pass Lance Armstrong. So he was kind of relaxing and I kind of zoomed by him. And within two cycle spins, he came up behind me, grabbed me by the jersey and said, "What do you think you're doing?" He showed me how quickly he could go right by me.

Also, I was curious as to why there was no "Women's Tour de France." The race does so much for tourism why not expand it? I found this.

Georgetown Waterfront Rebuild

Ground was recently broken (see photo at left) on the "largest park to be created in the Nation’s Capital...since Constitution Gardens was completed on the National Mall in 1976."  The Georgetown Waterfront Park project will completely reshape a very visible part of the city, and impact - hopefully in a positive way - both the CCT and the Rock Creek Trail.

The park will contain a promenade along the shoreline punctuated with three overlooks - with views of the Potomac River and recreational boaters - from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to Key Bridge. These overlooks will contain sculpted granite slabs etched with historic images of Georgetown’s maritime heritage, a separate bike trail to link the Capital Crescent Trail with the Rock Creek Trail (emphasis mine), a labyrinth containing intertwined pathways for contemplation, edges of native plants to replace aged concrete bulkheads, floral displays, shade and ornamental trees, rain gardens to retain storm water, lights for evening enjoyment, and benches to relax and enjoy the setting.

(I, for one, can't wait to start doing some contemplating). This area, though valuable, has been slow to develop. It was originally a rail yard (you can still see tracks bulging under the asphalt in some spots) used to transfer cargo between the Georgetown Branch railroad (now the CCT), the C&O canal and the Potomac. It was once scheduled to be a freeway. For a long time now, it's been a parking lot. The park is going to be a step up from any of these uses. The post does a good job of covering the history of the project and what it will include.

The third phase of construction would create two separate paths for bicycles and pedestrians, and would install trees and benches, from the Kennedy Center to about a half-mile upstream near Thompson boathouse, where visitors can rent kayaks, canoes and bikes and where many rowers keep their shells.

The work is going to be in three phases, moving gradually downstream.  Once the work is complete, it's hoped that a staircase connecting the Kennedy Center to the waterfront will be created (I'm always shocked that this wasn't built into the original design of the Kennedy Center). From what I understand a promenade will go along the waterfront in Phase One, with the bike trail along K Street/Water Street all the way to Rock Creek. There was hope that a bridge would be built across Rock Creek just south of K Street, (as part of the Swedish Embassy project, but that never materialized). So the bike path will then run south along the west side of Rock Creek to the improved Rock Creek Bridge and then along the Potomac on a separate path from one for runners.

The Swedish Embassy project is almost complete and the connecting space between the Thompson Boat Center and the Washington Harbour is now open (see photo at left).

One further change to the waterfront is being planned. As discussed before, there are plans to build a boat house at the Georgetown trail head of the CCT. WABA, after staying neutral on the subject has come out against THIS boathouse.

The integrity of the Capital Crescent Trail in DC is under threat from the construction of a large boathouse for the crew team of Georgetown University.  Access to the site would require construction equipment, boat trailers and delivery vehicles to share use of the Capital Crescent Trail for a distance of several hundred feet.  The user experience on the trail will be diminished by blocking the views of the river.  In addition, the sheer size of the structure will give the trail a "tunnel-like" feel and create shadows that will prevent the melting of ice during the winter.

The comment period for this project is over. Now we can only sit and wait for the Park Service's decision. That, and write editorials and letters to the editor about it. Harry Jaffe says it so well, that I'll just say I agree (rather than add my own opinion).

»  Georgetown’s proposed boathouse is enormous. At 50 feet high, it would dominate the shoreline from the river and block views from the trails behind.

» It would block parts of the Capital Crescent Trail and bring vehicular traffic onto a path that has been the domain of bikers, walkers and baby carriages for more than a decade.

» The dealings between the National Park Service and Georgetown University are starting to reek of the same scent that came from the NPS arrangements with Redskins owner Dan Snyder and also its plan to close parts of Beach Drive.

The Capital Crescent Trail has become a regular commuting route from Bethesda and a destination for travelers from around the world. It is one of the premier biking trails in the nation. It took years for community groups to negotiate with the Park Service to create the trail. Why obstruct it now?

“I don’t know why the needs of a university rowing program trumps the needs of everyone else,” says Eric Gilliland, executive director for the Washington Area Bicyclist Association.

Thousands of Washingtonians wrote letters to the Park Service opposing the boathouse in the public comment process that ended June 15. Hopefully, the Park Service will have the good sense to reduce the size of the building or move it to an alternative site.

But, to avoid confusion - I think the park is great, I think the boathouse is too big for that spot, and I like to contemplate. 

Maryland Bike Projects

There are a couple of recent articles in the Gazette about bicycle projects in Montgomery and Prince George's Counties.

In MoCo, there are plans to upgrade bike/ped facilities along Seven Locks Road and Montrose Road and MacArthur Boulevard. The Seven Locks Road project

is just in the early study stage now. [It] is looking at adding pedestrian and cyclist facilities along a 3.25-mile stretch of Seven Locks Road between Montrose Road and Bradley Boulevard.

A possible design for the project could include an 8-foot wide shared-use path, an on-road bike lane, 12-foot travel lanes and a 5-foot wide sidewalk.

I've never biked the road, (though I have been on Bradley - which is great since it used to a streetcar line), so I don't know what's needed, but I disagree with this guy in principle

‘‘I don’t think there’s a sidewalk necessary at all,” he said. ‘‘The shoulders are wide enough. I feel comfortable walking there. There is a much greater need for traffic improvements than pedestrian and bike improvements.”

I think shoulders are just fine for bikes, if well-maintained, but pedestrians need sidewalks.

MacArthur Avenue is one of the regions most biked roads, and one I've written about before (here in a post on the bikeway project when it was stalled and here about the preliminary design phase) . The concept plan presented for community input

calls for widening MacArthur Boulevard to 26 feet [from 22] — two 10-foot lanes and two 3-foot paved shoulders — to accommodate both cars and cyclists.

‘‘This project will provide consistent on-road bicycle facility throughout the limits, and a continuous off-road bicycle⁄pedestrian facility throughout the limits as well,” Department of Public Works and Transportation spokesman Tom Pogue wrote in an e-mail to The Gazette. ‘‘This accommodates the needs of experienced, on-road cyclists as well as recreational, off-road cyclists and pedestrians for the entire length of the project.”

The final design for this won't even begin until 2010 though.

In PG County there are plans for 93 miles of trails. This article bothers me because it starts out talking about a decline in bike/ped commuting. But later we learn that these trips only declined as a percentage of total trips. We're never told the actual number of bike/ped commuters. This is a job for statastic.

The article, despite the title, is really about the trouble that PG county is having attracting cyclists. I kind of feel like the county isn't trying. If you look at their Bicycle and Trail Advisory Group site, it hasn't been updated since 2004. I don't think the county has a bicycle coordinator. They have some of the most active volunteer groups, in College Park and Oxon Hill, but the county government lacks the commitment of Alexandria, DC and MoCo.

Anyway...the article only mentions three projects and that was just in passing.

the highlights include the College Park Trail and the path along the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.

Prince George’s County has dozens of projects on the books that could improve connectivity, and 18 of those are considered major. They include the Suitland Parkway Trail, which connects the county to the Anacostia Waterfront, and the College Park Trail, which connects north and south College Park and provides an alternative to crowded and dangerous Route 1.

Technically it's the "College Park Trolley Trail" and the Wilson bridge will not have a "path" but a bike/ped lane. 

Tour du Parks Baltimore

p>You could, if so interested, probably spend every Saturday and Sunday riding your bike in some official or semi-official ride in the DC area without repeating yourself all year. Between club rides, charity rides, races, WABA rides, and community rides we're almost drowning in organized rides. Still, there is no signature ride in the area like the Five Boro Bike Tour in New York City (which I haven't done, but want to do) or RAGBRAI in Iowa (which I have done, and is great fun).

WABA used to sponsor BikeDC, which served that purpose, the one can't miss bike ride in the area.  But it has been a victim of hurricanes and the post-9-11 security push.

Because of the unique security challenges we now face in DC, the number of agencies and jurisdictions involved in the permitting process for the event has increased dramatically.  Accordingly, WABA needs to take time out in 2005 to evaluate whether to continue the event in the future or to achieve our goals in other ways.

Sure, there's the 50 States Ride (Aug 26), Bike-In Movie (Aug 5), and Booth's Escape Ride (Oct 21 - You'll bike right by my house, isn't that exciting?) but those are, by nature, limited to experienced riders, people who can get dates, or people who shot Lincoln.

Baltimore, on the other hand, has a ride called the Tour du Parks. Now I for one, am not a fan of bike rides (or races) that use a variation of the Tour du France name - lacks creativity, but still the ride sounds like fun and I'll look at doing it next year.

“If I had friends coming into town, this is what I’d do to show them the city,” said Michael Abrams. “It’s the full spectrum of nature and urban landscape.”  About 350 amateur bicyclists — from grade-schoolers to Social Security recipients, but mostly 20- to 50-somethings — came with small groups of friends Sunday for the Tour du Parks, a social morning of exercise.

The big selling point of BikeDC was the street closures, and on the 4th it was nice riding around the Mall without any traffic.  It sounds like the Baltimore ride stayed off the roads, but I have to think that a ride could be put together that would close a few roads early on a Saturday morning. They seemed to be able to close the streets for Marathons.

I wonder, if I wanted one ride that would show out-of-towners the city, what would it include. The Mall, the Capitol and the White House obviously. Georgetown. Capitol Hill and Eastern Market Neighborhoods. The Anacostia Waterfront. Rock Creek. DuPont Circle, Adams Morgan and U Street. Old town Anacostia. I think that's doable.

Ten for Tuesday - 230th birthday edition

1. Here's a great photo from the Silver Spring (singular) criterium a few weeks ago and more can be found here.

The Gazette covered the race.

Also happy were the event’s organizers, including Susan Hoffman, marketing and special events manager for downtown Silver Spring. The second year of the event drew larger crowds than the year before, and the hope exists that the Grand Prix of Silver Spring will become a permanent fixture of the summer.

‘‘It brings people downtown, which is exactly what we want to do,” Hoffman said. ‘‘We’re ready for primetime, and we want people from outside the area to come here.”

2. Here's the photo of the 10 foot long bike lane on Massachusetts just north of Thomas Circle. The sign reads "Bike Land Ends" (though Bike is a picture of a bike).

3. Another product recall, this time for Specialized bicycle stems

The bicycle stem is black with the words "S-Works" and "Magnesium Faceplate" printed on it.

4. Reconstruction of the Marvin Gaye Park Trail began June 24th.

the city began work on a 1.6-mile walking and bicycling trail that will connect the northeast corner of the District with a network of regional trails. The $3.1 million project will include lighting, emergency call buttons and other safety measures. The trail was first constructed in 1978, but it was long neglected and became polluted and dangerous.

In time, the paved path will be lighted and widened for walkers, cyclists and skaters and better marked where it crosses streets.

The city has been aggressively encouraging cycling and commuting by bike. In addition to the Marvin Gaye path, the city will break ground next month on a section of the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail from the Navy Yard to Benning Road in Southeast. The city is also planning work on the Metropolitan Branch Trail, which follows Metro's Red Line from Union Station to Silver Spring, said Jim Sebastian, the Transportation Department's bicycle and pedestrian coordinator.

5. Here's a photo of the "mystery bridge" along the NE Branch Trail. It's been sitting there for four months if not longer and I haven't any idea where it's to end up. If you know, leave it in the comments. On the left side of the photo is a wooden bridge. The new bridge seems way too big to replace the wooden one.

6. San Francisco is having trouble implementing their bike plan.

Superior Court Judge James Warren issued a preliminary injunction this week at the request of two groups, Coalition for Adequate Review and 99 Percent, which are seeking greater public review of the bicycle plan. The plan, approved last year by the Board of Supervisors and Mayor Gavin Newsom, is designed to make the streets of San Francisco more bicycle-friendly by creating more dedicated bike lanes and places to securely stow bikes.

The injunction bars the city  --  at least temporarily  --  from creating new bike lanes, changing the timing of traffic signals to accommodate cyclists, and restricting or removing on-street parking to benefit bike

7. Also along the NE branch trail, the town of Edmonston built a park sign dedicating the park to the town's veterans (see left) and moved the gazeebo (see right) at Decatur Street.

8. I only use it for racing .

Researchers at Stanford University Medical Center believe that Viagra improves cardiovascular and exercise performance measures of trained cyclists at high altitude.

9. The Virginia transportation board approved funding for path improvements in Northern Virginia.

Fairfax County Park Authority’s Cross County Trail received the highest allocation of $435,000 toward a $2.2 million trail rerouting project between Lake Accotink to Hunter Village Drive.

Arlington: Child and Adult Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Classes and Brochure

Fairfax: Mason Neck Trail extended between Gunston Hall Plantation to Pohick Bay Regional Park

10. And finally, Lance Armstrong is planning to ride RAGBRAI at the end of the month. Makes me wish I could go this year. That and my need for delicious pork chops.

Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong will not be biking across the hills of France this summer, but instead riding a couple days across Iowa highways and county roads.

Armstrong decided to ride in the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, one of the largest bike rides in the world.

Measles or Mumps?

I went to the DC environmental network mayoral candidate forum last week, and the only word to describe it was "disappointing."

Of the five major Democratic Party candidates, only one - Michael Brown - showed up; and he was an hour late. The other two candidates to show up were DC Statehood/Green Party candidate Chris Otten and Republican Dennis Moore who isn't considered serious enough by the Post to put him on their mayor's race page. And Otten, I've heard, isn't even the Green Party front runner. Brown it seems is also destined to be an "also ran." So a poor sampling of candidates.

Right off the bat, Linda Cropp and Adrian Fenty get "F"s in my book. Both had committed to coming. Neither showed up. If you can't keep promises while in a campaign, there's nothing to make me think you'll do so afterward.

In general, the candidates who did show up seemed like 8th graders giving reports on books they only read the back cover of. The environmental network produced a book of 140 recommendations to protect DC's environment. Clearly, none of them took the time to look it over. They didn't mention the items they agreed with. They didn't state the recommendations they thought were flawed and why. They didn't even really address the concerns stated in the questions they were asked to answer.

Instead they talked about switching all of DC's buses to "Veggie Buses" (Chris Otten), planting invasion species on the "sea floor" of the Anacostia to clean up the river (Michael Brown) and other such ill-thought-out ideas.

When the question of what each candidate would do to promote cycling in the district came up their responses were not good.

Otten: Police officers need to give cyclists more respect and the default in a car/bike accident should be that the car is at fault. We need more bike paths. The Mayor needs to listen to ideas from the public. We should close the Rock Creek Parkway to automobile traffic and make it bikes only. (My grade D)

Moore: We need bike paths throughout the city. We need more parking facilities. Cycling is a health related issue and we need more education  (My grade C-).

Brown: Police need to enforce traffic laws as they apply to bike messengers. We need to create an environment of cycling acceptance - we need bike racks at work places and people on Metro shouldn't roll their eyes at passengers with bikes. He then reemphasized that couriers need to be made to obey the law. Then he talked about how he told his sons it was OK to bike in Rock Creek Park, but when they left the park they need to walk their bikes.  (My grade D-, and that's really only for showing up).

I give Marie Johns and Vincent Orange incompletes, but at least Johns showed up to Bike to Work Day.

One last unfortunate point, is that the crowd was overwhelmingly white. In a city as diverse as DC that's indicative of a failure somewhere.

As I was leaving someone said, "The most positive thing is that none of these candidates has a snowball's chance in hell of winning." Sad, but true.