Whitehurst Freeway II

The third and final open house on the Whitehurst Freeway was on Monday night, and the city is either trying to present every possible option or overwhelm people with choices. Here's what's of interest. One category on the massive charts comparing the options (considering cost, effects on traffic, environmental concerns etc...) considered the impact on bicycle and pedestrian facilities. Best, by the cities ranking, were the two tunnel options - also the most expensive. Worst was an option that pushed K street about two blocks further upstream, obliterating the trail-head of the CCT - the Park Service has already ixnayed this one I was told.

Though none of the drawings showed it, most assumed that cyclists would stop using K street and would instead ride a trail that would pass through the Waterfront Park and busy Waterfront area. That's unlikely, since there are too many pedestrians.

Some designs included bus only lanes along K street that might actually be bike and bus only lanes, like the new ones downtown.

The most interesting designs had pedestrian ramps from the canal to either a new sidewalk on the North side of the present day freeway or under the freeway to a platform built above the waterfront parking lots to create an elevated park.

Much to my surprise I'm now open to the idea that traffic in Georgetown would be better without the freeway, mostly because it would relieve M street and improve traffic trying to bypass Georgetown.  But they need a K Street that provides for cyclists and any connections to K street (via the Key Bridge or up to Canal) need to have an area for bikes.

MacArthur Boulevard Bikeway

 

MacArthur Boulevard, like Rock Creek Parkway, is a road that frustrates drivers. Cyclists love it, but when drivers get stuck behind a cyclist they get angry. They wonder why the cyclist is in front of them instead of using that "perfectly good" bike path. WABA at one point considered the MacArthur Boulevard Bikeway Improvement Project as one of it's top priorities, but it no longer shows up as one. Neither the Phase I report, nor the project status can be found on the Montgomery County DPWT Bikeways site. So what happened to it? The WABA preferred alternative included rebuilding the bikeway and adding bike lanes along the road. Which seems like a good idea. Another good idea, to run a path along the abandoned Glen Echo Trolley line, was tabled in a County Council meeting in January of 2005 where they 

Agreed that a provision not be added to the Master Plan to convert the former Glen Echo trolley right-of-way to a shared use path between Glen Echo Park and the Capital Crescent Trail through Brookmont and to revisit the issue in the future.

So it seems no changes are planned for one of the areas most popular bike routes and cyclists and drivers can continue to frustrate one another.

Should the Whitehurst Freeway Go?

The District Department of Transportation is in the process of holding three public open houses where city officials are discussing the preliminary results of their studies on possible replacements (or not) of the Whitehurst Freeway. The last of these is on on Monday:

-- Open House 3 - Monday, November 21, 2005, St. Mary Armenian Church, 4125 Fessenden Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20037, 5:00 - 9:00 p.m.

There are several options which include (1) doing nothing, (2) removing it and connecting K Street to Canal Street, (3) removing it and connecting K Street to Canal Street and the Key Bridge (4) removing it and replacing it with a tunnel under K Street. DCist has a thorough analysis of the project and it's history.

This project could impact cycling in the district in many ways.

Pros: A rebuilt K Street might be made safer and/or nicer*. A ramp to Key Bridge could make for a more direct connection from the CCT and Rock Creek Park to the Key Bridge. Pushing 34th Street over the canal could make for a better connection from the CCT to M Street.

Cons: A connection from K street to Canal goes directly over the CCT trail head. A rebuilt K street will have more traffic and might be less safe and/or nice. Pushing 34th Street over the canal will remove a pedestrian bridge over the canal.

I personally like K Street the way it is and am unconvinced anyone but wealthy landowners in Georgetown will benefit from this. And I don't even drive on the Whitehurst. K Street, aka Water Street,  is a relatively safe street to bike on now so I'd hate to see that change. Also, Kevin Costner climbed off of the Whitehurst Freeway and into the Georgetown Metro (I know) in the movie No Way Out. Do you want Kevin Costner to die?

* They don't have to tear down Whitehurst to improve K street

Bike Lane Lines

This photo shows the soon to be painted bike lanes along 4th St. SE (on Capitol Hill). Besides being clearly in the door zone, these future bike lanes are interesting for something else. Right down the middle is a line cut into the asphalt. What is this line, you ask? It's where the contractor painted the lane line in the wrong place - for a normal one way street, not a street with a bike lane. Actually it isn't paint at all - it's thermoplastic pavement marking, and it can't be removed with paint thinner. It has to be ground out, leaving the nice trench you see here. The same thing was done on Rhode Island Avenue in College Park to make room for the College Park Trolley Line trail, but that wasn't due to an error. So why not make the contractor fix the surface - or pay a fine? Got me.

Converted cyclist turns to the road less-traveled

As traffic gets worse, more people will take up bike commuting.

Bicycle parking on the Mall

The National Park Service is in the process of adding bike parking around the Washington Monument - last week I saw where they had marked the spots for their installation. Reportedly, some will be of the inverted U variety and some the bollard style. If you've ever tried to park your bike on the mall, then you've probably found yourself trying to lock it to one of the park benches and that can be a frustrating endeavor (they should get some like the one pictured below).

In general NPS plans to add more parking all around the mall, but hasn't any hard plans - not even with the Lincoln Memorial Circle Project (Which promises safer pedestrian and cyclist crossings via 2 New Traffic Signals and to move the bicycle path on the south side to provide for safer sight-lines).

In addition to permanent parking, the mall needs some sort of temporary parking that NPS can move (or rent) for special events. Whether it's Screen on the Green or the 4th of July celebration/security demonstration, it's always hard to find parking. Maybe that can be part of the 3rd century mall.

  

Bike Lanes in the "Door Zone"

 

It might seem like a surprise but members of the Montgomery Bicycle Advocates (MoBike) attended a public meeting about placing bike lanes on Norfolk Avenue in Bethesda to protest the bike lanes as unsafe. It's not that they were against bike lanes, just those bike lanes. What's wrong with them? If you read the title of this post you know that the problem is that the bike lanes are in the "door zone."

The "Door Zone" is the 4 feet along the side of a parked car where an opening door can hit and seriously injure a cyclist.

There is no doubt that biking in the door zone is unsafe and even deadly. Placing bike lanes in the door zone, as is done all over the area and aggressively in DC, seems to be inherently unsafe.  AASHTO guidelines call for at least 8' for parking and 5' for the bike lane, but according to a UNC study there needs to be at least 14' from the curb to make it safe - which is what MoBike was asking for.  I've seen bike lanes in Ireland that leave a marked gap of 3' for the door zone but never here.

Normally, I'd rather ride in a bike lane than not (and even better a bike path), since I feel it better protects me from traffic, but does it create a false sense of security with regards to being doored? Are you safer in a bike lane that's in the door zone - aka a "suicide lane" -  then mixing it up in traffic? Comments are open.

Matthew Henson Trail Road Crossing issue

 

It seems that everyone wants a bike trail named after Matthew Henson. DC has a conservation center  named after the arctic explorer and the center has a small demonstration trail that is planned to be part of the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail. Prince George's County has the Matthew Henson Greenway (or Greenways - they can't seem to decide) running from Temple Hills to Oxen Hill Road, and Montgomery County is planning it's own Matthew Henson Trail that will eventually connect Rock Creek Trail with Sligo Creek Trail. To increase confusion, MoCo is also calling their trail the Matthew Henson Greenway. I guess if the world can handle two Congos, it can have two Matthew Henson Greenways in the DC area. 

The trail is a great idea (the MoCo one).  The area definitely needs more suburb to suburb trails, since most trails seem to radiate from DC. And a trail connecting trails is great for commuters. Nonetheless, it seems that the project has its detractors. Back in 2003, MoCo Council Member Marilyn Praisner added a proviso to the Capital Improvements Program that required that the Park and Planning Commission pay $3.6 million in land acquisition costs as part of the total cost of the Henson Trail project. This was to make the project appear more expensive then it was (the county already owned the land).

Now the county is refusing to add in a pedestrian traffic signal and other safety improvements on Veirs Mill Road forcing trail users to make a 20-minute detour to cross the busy street. Does anyone smell an ADA lawsuit?

Rock Creek Bike Path to be rebuilt, expanded

According to the District government's bicycle coordinator, Jim Sebastian, the Rock Creek bike path, from P Street NW to Broad Branch Road NW, (so most of the trail within the District) is scheduled to be rebuilt. That project, involving the city and the National Park Service, is scheduled to start in January 2007 and take six to nine months to complete.

In addition, DDOT plans to rebuild the bike path in Rose Park between P Street NW and M Street NW. This path runs parallel to Rock Creek, but up above Rock Creek Park.

Finally, the Harbourside development is getting closer to completion in Georgetown. This development is located at the confluence of Rock Creek and the Potomac, south of K Street NW and east of the Washington Harbor. It includes an office building , the new Swedish Embassy, and bicycle path facilities that the NPS claims will

facilitate this portion of the bicycle trail connection between the Capital Crescent Trail and the Rock Creek trail system. 

 

DDOT Receives $5 Million to Make Walking, Biking to School Safer

 

Back in the day I used to bike to school 50 miles in the snow - uphill both ways. Back then more than half of all kids biked or walked to school. Today it's down to 15%. DDOT received a five-year, $5 million federal award to increase the safety of District students who walk and bike to school.

The Safe Routes to School funds will be used to build new sidewalks and curb ramps, improve and add crosswalks, install traffic-calming measures, increase safety education and enhance police enforcement. In addition, DDOT will conduct an intensive pilot program to promote safer walking and cycling at schools in each ward.

I'm not sure how much this will help non-students (studies show you're safer on the street than on a sidewalk) but the traffic calming and improved curb ramps will probably come in handy.

Kilgore, I-66 and the Custis Trail

 

Jerry Kilgore has continued promising to widen Interstate 66 inside the Beltway. Both The Post and the DCist did a fine job of discussing the history of the highway and the difficulties with this expansion but only the post mentioned the impact on the Custis Bike Trail and even then, not by name.

A biking and walking trail along the interstate also would have to be adjusted.

Not to seem cynical, but something tells me that between now and the completion of the expansion - for which $27 million has already been appropriated - the Custis Trail will end up being discarded, much like the bike trail that was originally to accompany the Inter-county Connector in Maryland.

Tim Kaine, Kilgore's opponent, hasn't said anything specifically about his plans for I-66 within the beltway.

 

Velodrome Shot down

 

Word is that the city of Arlington will definitely NOT be building a Velodrome as part of the north tract development. This does not mean there will be no Velodrome or not in Arlington, just not on the North Tract.  WABA was promoting this and had support from other groups as well, but it sounds like it was shot down pretty convincingly at the Oct 29th meeting.

The North Tract will still be a bicycle friendly development. It will include a multipurpose bicycle trail, a bike lane along Old Jefferson Davis Highway, a bicycle overlook,  and most importantly - two much needed connections to the Mount Vernon Trail near the 14th Street Bridge,

These connections would be made via (a) the Humpback Bridge route, where renovations are currently being planned by the National Park Service, and (b) a more direct crossing from the North Tract across the GW Parkway.

Crossing the Potomac on the 14th Street bridge bike lane can be frustrating since there is no where to safely cross the GW Parkway between Arlington Memorial Bridge and the Crystal City tunnel. So even one crossing would be a huge improvement.

Parking in the Bike Lanes

Maryland football fans have been illegally parking  in the bike lanes along University Boulevard (Route 193). Bill Kelly of CPABC has been working the issue with UMD and County officials for years, but seems to have run into problems with the county since the school says the road is outside of it's jurisdiction.

County police have told The Gazette that they are understaffed and that violent crime in the area is their first priority.

Reminds me of the line from Friends when Joey says they'll help him with his robbery "after they solve all the murders"

DC also has a bike lane parking/driving problem and seems to exert no effort to enforce the law. It was one of the issues brought up in most wards during the bike plan workshops. As someone once told me, the best way to keep cars out of the bike lanes is to put bikes in them.