Classic Bike Collector

I own three bikes, and Ideally I'd like a fourth (I want to try mountain biking). But, I don't have anyplace to put the bikes I have now. Getting into my house involves everyone doing the bike-dodge-mambo (step, turn sideways and suck in, slide past the handelbars of my utility bike, turn back). So when I read about retired schoolteacher Bob Swain who has over 200 bikes I was both terrified and jealous.

‘‘I started collecting a couple of bikes at a time and before I knew it I couldn’t stop,” the 60 year old said.

Swain is also the creator of the Penn State Six Pack, a bicycle which has 27 gears and holds six passengers in a linear fashion seen in the photo.

Monroe Avenue Bridge

Construction began on February 16th on the new Monroe Avenue Bridge (according to reports, I actually haven't been out there lately). The present bridge has two sharp turns, so even though it was only built in 1986, it's being replaced largely, officials claim, for safety reasons.

Officials believe that removing the curve and straightening the bridge will improve safety, allow for an expansion of nearby baseball fields and parkland, and allow easier access to the shopping center for nearby residents. The developer, Potomac Yard Development LLC, will pay for the new bridge. Some proposed changes, such as a pedestrian ramp, will be paid for by the city.

It's not without controversy. Alexandria City Council member Andrew H. Macdonald wrote an op-ed arguing that the new bridge shouldn't be built until how best to increase bus, train and Metro ridership can be determined or until there is agreement on if the forecasted reduction in traffic will be large enough to offset many of the quality-of-life concerns expressed by residents. He dedicates an entire paragraph to cycling concerns in the area

Residents east and west of the tracks want to be able to bike and walk safely between George Washington Memorial Parkway, Del Ray and the Braddock Street Metro station. But now, instead of following a fairly direct east-west route, cyclists and walkers would have to follow a serpentine course to cross the new bridge. According to a bicycle and pedestrian watchdog group, many of the new intersections that will accompany this grid of new streets would be unsafe to cross; some trails would be too narrow, and crossing times would be much longer. So it's no wonder that there is still no consensus about how best to incorporate this important community benefit into the project. Advocates of biking and walking have asked the city to hire a firm that specializes in the design of such trails to ensure that both the disabled and able-bodied can navigate easily and safely.

The potomoc yard trail, a rail trail since it runs along an abandoned line of the old Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad, dead-ends just north of the site at Howell avenue. Any plans to build in this area should include a trail that continues along the rail line all the way to Braddock avenue. In addtion, a bike/ped bridge (built on the site of the old railroad trestle) should connect the trail to the W&OD railbed that still exists between Route 1 and Commonwealth Avenue.

The unfortunate thing about this bridge is that it's being built by the Potomac Yard Development Company. I would suspect that their first allegiance is to their investors so the bridge will serve Potomac Yard's interests and not the community's. Serving the community's needs is why - in theory - we have government in the first place.

The new bridge will have pedestrian walkways on both sides like the present bridge, but a little nicer.

The Potomac Yard Development site says of the park.

Potomac Yard Park will be a 24-acre linear park that will run parallel to the property between Potomac Avenue and the railroad corridor. This park will offer an ideal venue for the public to stroll along its paths or perhaps have picnics on its beautifully landscaped grounds.

The slideshow is particularly informative.

Metropolitan Branch Trail Photos

I mentioned earlier that construction on the Metropolitan Branch Trail north of the New York Avenue Metro station had begun and the other day I got out and took some photos of the construction.  In addition to work north, I noticed that asphault has been put down south of the station all the way to L St NE, where it runs behind the parking lot across from the bus station (it's possible this work was done a long time ago, but I never remember seeing it before). Eventually a staircase and/or a ramp will connect this part of the trail - at the level of the railroad tracks - with L Street about 11 feet below.

I must warn you that I'm not much of a photographer. The first photo is of the portion that was opened (and promptly closed) in December 2004.

The next shot is of the construction looking north from the New York Avenue Bridge. The green line I drew in constitutes the west edge of the trail.

The last photo is of the trail south of the station.

W&OD, Power lines and Battlefield Parkway

The W&OD trail attracts "3 million people a year--more than any such trail in the country" (though I've also heard the CCT referred to as the most popular in the country) and so it's no surprise that it excites a lot of passion. Earlier I wrote about how it was in danger of having power lines built along it - lines that would require the removal of the tree canopy. The power lines would require

82 towers, 110-feet tall, posted along an 11-mile stretch of the trail from east of Leesburg to Purceville.

The public hearings related to this began recently and

State Corporation Commission hearing officer Howard P. Anderson proposed a last-minute compromise route that would follow the Rt. 7 Bypass for much of the way. It would also use the W&OD Trail west of Leesburg, but be located far enough to the north so that trees on that side of the trail could be spared.

People who lived near either of the two alignments showed up to argue that the lines should be built away from their homes (classic NIMBY-ism). Everyone argued the lines should be buried (I agree). And

Stephen H. Axeman, chairman of the Leesburg Airport Commission, highlighted concerns about aviation safety, both at the airport itself and for pilots having to fly through a narrower envelope over the ridge west of the airport if the 120-foot towers carrying the transmission cable are erected there. Axeman, a longtime licensed pilot and operations supervisor for the Federal Aviation Authority, said there could be problems either to the south or the north. Noting past accidents, Axeman said the 120-foot towers could impact landings at the airport.

Finally,

A Virginia Department of Transportation engineer said the agency did not support using either the shoulders or median of Rt. 7 for installation of the line, as the county originally requested. VDOT is planning to widen the Bypass to ease congestion from traffic flowing west from the Dulles Greenway.

Then, the hearings were postponed until May or June when it was pointed out to Anderson that his proposed route might require the purchase and condemnation of up to 12 homes.

By seeking to preserve wooded sections of the trail, Anderson’s plan would move the power lines closer to homes in the upscale Shenstone subdivision north of the trail. Homes in the community are assessed at $1 million and up.

Leesburg2day weighed in with an editorial that included this piece

Another attorney advocating that the utility use its W&OD Trail easement told the hearing officer that virtually all bike trails have power lines along them. Listening to his comment one got the impression that power lines and recreational trails go together like peanut butter and jelly.

Exsqueeze me? Even if that were true, the BEST trails do not have power lines along them. Cyclists need our shade, we have sensitive skin.

There are also plans to build the Battlefield Parkway, which will necessitate an easement from the park authority to cross the W&OD Trail.

VDOT’s link has three distinct sections, the outer two will have a 40-foot grass median and the inner section will be side-by-side bridges with a 38-foot open-air median to allow light to reach the W&OD and Tuscarora Creek below, Folse said.

A shared-use path for pedestrians will run the length of the roadway and tie into the future Russell Branch Parkway to lead users across the future interchange at River Creek Parkway and Rt. 7, Folse said.

So it's hard to say how much it will impact the trail, and if that impact will be balanced out by the addition of the shared use trail.

Finally, while this isn't related and it's a bit far from DC, I found it researching this and found it compelling.

David Brickley, who was a delegate from 1976-98 and served as director of the state Department of Conservation and Recreation from 1998-2002, said he "acquired the rights" to the 16-mile right of way [of the Dahlgren Railroad Heritage Trail] in December from former King George Planning Commissioner Joseph Williams. He hopes to open it to the public by June.

Which is downright inspiring. One guy fighting to make a public space - with his own money. I might cry. And then in the same article you get this

But John LoBuglio, who lives near the site, said county residents "overwhelmingly" oppose the trail because of potential side effects such as crime, pollution and noise.

Those noisy, pollution toting, criminally minded trail users ruin it every time or...

The rail bed cuts through land owned by the Northern Virginia Shooting Facility, and the club's 325 members are concerned, said LoBuglio, the gun club's president.

That's awful suspicious. It seems Prince George County In 2000 agreed to delete all "rails-to-trails" references from the county's comprehensive plan. Thats's too bad. Best of luck David Brickley (pictured walking along his right-of-way.  

Biking across America II

I guess biking across America is becoming the new Appalachian Trail. Everyone seems to be doing it. Two recent articles bring me back to the subject.

The first article is about Thomas Heidenberger, a local man whose wife was the senior flight attendant on American Airlines Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon.

On Sunday, Chevy Chase resident Heidenberger will embark on a 3,600-mile cross-country bike ride to honor the memory of the 33 flight crew members killed on Sept. 11 and to raise money in their names for memorials.

Best of luck to him.

The other article from the Times does a pretty good job of explaining what you have to do to bike across the country.

Many who bicycle recreationally dream of going the distance. Few do it, largely because of the time commitment. You need close to three months -- more if you want to smell the roses. That's why cross-country cyclists usually fall into two categories -- those taking time off before college and those whose youngsters have just gone off to college. Getting that much time in prime working and family-raising years is tough for others.

I would like to find myself in a third category, those who have won the lottery and now have oodles of free time, but maybe I'm weird. I met a guy once who "Biked across Europe," except that he didn't really. He would bike from here to there, then hop on the train over night, and go on another ride the next day. He said it was great because each day the ride was totally different. It's hard to do that in the states because of the limited rail service. In addition, Amtrak doesn't have roll on service on every route. I tried to find a list of trains you can take bikes on here, but they just give you a phone number to call (really did I wake up in 1994?). I found this list, but it's from 1999.

 

The photo, btw, is from western Australia

Law Stuff II

I lifted this update on the bills moving through Maryland's legislature straight off the Oxon Hill Bicycle and Trail web site. It's a follow-up on this post.

        Bills to have a hearing Tuesday, April 4, 1:00 pm.
        Oral testimony by bill sponsor only.        
        Advocates need to be there to show their support.

Phone your delegates and ask them to support SB 846.
Phone calls from constituents can make a difference.

          Two bills that affect bicyclists have passed the Senate but are stalled in the House Environmental Matters Committee. Cyclists' support for these bills is essential if these bills are to pass.  Contact your delegates' offices and ask that they support Senate Bill 846 (cross-filed as House Bill 943). This an important bill that cyclists want passed because it eliminates outdated operating restrictions and the requirement for a bike bell.

-----

Metro needs to continue Great Society

A recent book  The Great Society Subway: A History of the Washington Metro recently came out as reported by DCist and Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space. (RPUS has a link to the NPR interview with the author, which is pretty interesting). I also recently read this article DART may Become Bike Friendly for Commute and this article (again thanks to RPUS) Silver Spring's Plans For Transit Center Move to Final Stages. All of which got me to thinking that while Metro has done some admirable things (bikes on bus, removing the need for a license to take your bike on metro) when it comes to being bike friendly, I'd like to see it do more.  In the first article I read that

Cyclists have criticized the agency for not allowing bikes on trains or buses before 9 a.m. and between 3 and 6 p.m. on weekdays.  "All the literature we're reading indicates that if an agency is bicycle-friendly, ridership will grow," Mr. Mendoza said.

"The biggest complaint they have is that bicyclists tend to work the same hours we do," he said.    

The revised policy would allow bicycle commuters to board the last train car at any time, but only if space is available. If the train is crowded, transit authorities could have a bicyclist wait for the next train.

Yes. Yes. A commonsense approach. This allows cyclist to reverse commute, it allows them to ride empty trains. The rule in place now is poorly designed and as I've pointed out before, discriminatory. They don't limit people with luggage. I like that someone realized that bike commuters work a normal work day. There are no restrictions on taking bikes on New York's Subway other than that you be safe and courteous. In San Francisco a few stations are off limits during rush hour, but not THE ENTIRE SYSTEM as is true here. If all of these cities - and Dallas is not some transit heaven like Portland - can trust bike commuters to use common sense, why can't Metro?

The second article is noteworthy for what is not mentioned. Bikes. Silver Spring was originally suppose to be a bicycle transit hub with a bike station and connections to the CCT, Green Trail and Met Branch trail; but now they really downplay it. I doubt it will be anything like what it was originally planned to be. 

Here is my short list of Metro's necessary improvements re:bikes. (also included other rail systems)

1. Replace rush hour restriction with common sense "no bikes on crowded trains" rule.
2. New station entrances (like at Ballston and the new Silver Spring) should include stairs with bicycle channels so that cyclist aren't forced to use the elevators. Similar stairs inside stations should be pursued as well, especially on the new Dulles line.
3. Stations should provide cheap, safe parking facilities - like bike boxes or, where possible, bike stations.
4. Bikes on VRE, Amtrak and Marc trains.
5. Bike maps at each station that show the area, similar to the ones there now, but with an emphasis on bikeable roads, shops, trails etc...
6. Future projects, like the pedestrian tunnels and streetcars, should provide adequate accommodations for bike commuters as well.
7. When new metro cars are ordered they should have racks inside the cars (see photo for Minneapolis's bike rack)