Ten For Tuesday- We differ on the definition of "perfectly lovely"

1. I did recently write that WABA is not technically an environmental group and then they went and joined the DC environmental network and made me look like a liar. Anyway the network is sponsoring a mayoral candidate forum this Thursday, so if you're a DC voter it's your chance to meet Michael Brown, Linda Cropp and Adrian Fenty.

Thursday June 29, 6:30-9:00pm
Cramton Auditorium, Howard University
2455 6th St. NW

2. In other WABA news, WABA's providing valet bike parking on the mall during the 4th of July. This should be similar to the Cherry Blossom festival parking. I didn't go to that but it looked a bit like triathlon parking with a secure area for bikes. I've gone to the mall for the fireworks a half dozen times and I have to say that biking is really the only way to go. Traffic is insane. Certain gates become overwhelmed and others are unused. On a bike you can ride to one of the unused ones. Last year we were with some people who decided to take the bus and it was an hour difference both ways.

3. Dr. Gridlock has retired (or more accurately Ron Shaffer, who created the Dr. Gridlock column two decades ago - he will probably be replaced much like James Bond). I know many complained about his column; that it was anti-transit or anti-bike, but it was always thought provoking. Maybe they'll hire Richard Layman to write the column from now on.

Speaking of Dr. Gridlock here's an exchange where his explanation of biking behavior, and law, is right on. Still I would like a Dr. Gridlock who, at least occasionally, rides a bike on the major commuter routes - so that they don't have to rely on what "bikers have told" them. 

Rockville, Md.: I drive along Beach Drive, and I am always vigilant for bike riders (I used to bike to work at the National Zoo years ago). Someone, please! explain to me WHY in the WORLD bike riders are insisting upon riding in the road when there is a perfectly lovely bike path provided. I mean, when it's part of the road--I understand--but this is SCARY. At 4 p.m. there are VERY VERY FEW pedestrians--I can SEE the open bike path!

I just do NOT get it.

Dr. Gridlock: Bikers have told me in the past that the bike path is in poor shape, with craters, and walkers/joggers/dogs so that they feel safer in the roadway, which they are entitled to use.

4. Mark McCormack, 35, became the first American since 2003 to win the CSC Invitational, the region's most prestigious cycling race.

5. I'm embarassed to admit that I don't know who Bill Rice is, but I feel like I should. Rice is running for the Ward 3 Council seat. Here's an article about him from the Examiner.

I first met Rice when he was covering D.C. politics for local weekly papers. Back in the 1980s, two men would arrive at political events on funky bicycles: Dave Clarke and Bill Rice. Both were a bit, ummm, shall we say, quirky.

Sounds like my kind of guy (this is not an endorsement - like I said I don't know him) the post said this

You can see him riding around town on his bicycle but [he] should be taken seriously.

What the ...? I don't like what they're insinuating.

6. Construction on the Bethesda Avenue/Woodmont Avenue bumpout started on April 20th and from what I saw last week it's basically complete (see photo)

7. Baltimore isn't the only city promoting a new bike plan. As RPUS pointed out, Chicago is too. Chicago is really becoming one of the great cycling cities in America. Here's the Chicago Times article.

From Geneva, Switzerland, they got the idea of raised bike lanes, a layer of pavement above street level and below the curb that would help dissuade motorists from veering into cycling territory. By 2010, the city hopes to experiment with raised lanes in a few locations.

In Copenhagen, Cambridge and other places, planners saw bicycle lanes colored a startling shade of teal green, thermoplastic markings they hope to duplicate at some Chicago intersections to try to warn right-turning cars to watch for bikes.

Of course, he said, cars are not the only deterrent: "Try to get a girl to go on a date with you on a bike."

Chicago has the new Millennium Park Bike Station - that's my model for the Dupont Circle Bike Station.

8. Arlington is looking to add bike rentals.

The new staff members also will help to set up kiosks in Rosslyn, Clarendon and Ballston to enliven the streets with such ventures as bike rentals and flower and ice cream sales.

9. $250,000 was set aside in the federal fiscal 2007 Transportation Budget for the Four Mile Run pedestrian and bike trail between Alexandria and Arlington

10. An essay in the Post on fixies.

Fixed-gear bikes, aka fixies, are those clean-looking city steeds you often see messengers riding, the ones without multiple gears or even, in some cases, brakes. The gear is "fixed," meaning that if the wheels are turning, so are the pedals -- no coasting allowed.

11. And finally there is this. I knew something had happened because so many people were googling my site looking for this.

Paul Gerard Rossmeissl, 54, an experimental psychologist who became a quality control expert, died June 7 at Inova Fairfax Hospital of injuries suffered three days earlier in a bicycle accident on the Washington and Old Dominion Trail.

A spokeswoman with the Fairfax County Police Department said Dr. Rossmeissl was biking near Hunter Mill Road when he hit a pedestrian, fell and struck his head.

There aren't any other details. It's unusual for a cyclist to die in a crash with a pedestrian. I'm curious as to how it happened. Was he wearing a helmet? How fast was he going? Regardless, I think this is the W&OD's fifth fatal accident.

Four Mile Run plan adopted

I posted about the Four Mile Restoration Plan back in February, and in March Arlington and Alexandria officials adopted the plan. It still has many hurdles to overcome and will take decades to complete, but in includes some bikeway improvements and additional bicycle crossings.

One problem will, of course, be cost.

The $261 million figure was received with gasps at the Alexandria City Council meeting [in March]. [But] the cost of some components of the plan, such as a new bridge at South Glebe Road, should be covered by state transportation funds. Estimates are that the restoration effort for the stream will cost $70 million, the majority from federal funds, officials said. The local portion of stream restoration would be $29 million, split between Alexandria and Arlington.

Another issue is the waterway's role in flood control.

Redevelopment of the flood-control passage hinges on an Army Corps of Engineers study on whether the area can be turned into a natural streambed and still provide enough flood protection for homes and businesses. Claire D. O'Neill, project manager for the Corps, said that updated flood models show that the conversion probably could be done without endangering nearby homes, but that the agency won't know for sure until the study is complete in 2008.

Still work should be visible by this time next year

The first real change residents will see will be a $3.3 million pilot stream restoration project to be designed over the next 12 to 18 months. The pilot project will be in the tidal area of Four Mile Run between Mount Vernon Avenue and the Potomac, visible to drivers on Route 1. [It will] add soil berms and native plants, add seating areas and benches and restore and add to wetland areas that border Four Mile Run Park. Planners also hope to add a pedestrian walkway between South Eads Street in Arlington and Commonwealth Avenue in Alexandria.

Four Mile Run Restoration

Arlington and Alexandria have been working on a plan to restore Four Mile Run south of Shirlington. The waterway was rebuilt in the 70's and 80's to become a giant drainage ditch. This was done by the Army Corps of Engineers, so it's definitely function over form. [The Corps is also responsible for managing the Anacostia in Southern PG County - and it's they who insist on mowing the riverside, meaning the NE branch trail is out in the open, instead of under a nice tree canopy]. Anyway the whole thing is now kinda ugly, environmentally questionable and definitely underutilized.

So that brings us to the Four Mile Run Restoration Master Plan. It's a really good plan and like the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative, if half of its ideas become reality it will be a fantastic improvement. This is also part of Alexandria's Green Crescent. Besides the pleasure of biking through a park instead of a storm sewer, the advantages for cyclists are the following:

For bicyclists, a commuter trail on the north side of the stream maintains a fast and efficient commuting route. For a more leisurely experience, the trail on the southern side of the stream will offer an unhurried route.

The trails on both the Arlington and Alexandria sides link with existing trails to create a continuous trail network. On the eastern end of the corridor, the trails link with the Mount Vernon Trail, a trail that runs along the Potomac River. On the western end, the trails link to the Washington and Old Dominion (W&OD) Trail.

In addition, a proposed bicycle facility provides a venue for bicycle rentals and a place at which bicyclists stop to eat, rest, shower and buy supplies. The specific uses for this bridge will evolve over time as the Potomac Yard development nears completion. In addition, new pedestrian/ bicyclist bridges are proposed at other key locations: the extension of Commonwealth; at the site of the new community plaza and recreational facility on Mount Vernon Avenue that links to Arlington ’s Four Mile Run Park; west of the existing Mount Vernon Avenue bridge to provide safe and convenient pedestrian and bicycle access for Alexandrians wishing to shop at the stores along South Glebe Road; and at the place where lower Long Branch meets Four Mile Run in. In addition, with the creation of a new bridge and intersection proposed for traffic traveling on South and West Glebe Roads, the existing bridge would be converted to, or possibly replaced by, a pedestrian and bicycle-only bridge.

So additional trails, additional crossing and a bike station. It all sounds too good to be true.

 

W&OD/FMRT under 395 - Update

OK, so technically the trail that will go under I-395 is going to be the Four Mile Run Trail, but since the two are parallel and end in Shirlington about a block from one another, it's the same difference. (Pictured: The pedestrian bridge over I-395 from Shirlington to Martha Custis Drive)

Here's the status as I heard it. Arlington County Transportation officials are done with the "County/State agreement." They have the environmental assessment (EIS) done and the right-of-way secure. Now they need a permit from VDOT, annother agreement with the state about funding and a final design.

The project, which they plan to do in conjunction with a sewar line improvement to save money, is estimated to cost about $2 million - but they won't know until they have a final design. They only have $1million specifically available, but they can get more money from something called "Federal Secondary Funds."

Secondary Road Funds Each year Arlington County is allocated money (including some federal funds) to maintain and build secondary roads in the County. Arlington County and Henrico Counties are the only two counties in the State to receive these funds directly from the state. Since VDOT maintains secondary roads in other counties, these funds stay with VDOT in these counties. Arlington County has assembled an escrow account of federal secondary funds at VDOT which can be used for highway building and reconstruction.

Anyway this all means that they hope to have a bid package done by May or June. Then they could begin construction by the end of summer. Construction would take 8-10 months. So the whole thing could be done (if all goes well) by June of 2007. Wow.