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 - 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.

VA Congressmember Weds on Bike Trail

U.S. Representative Rich Boucher from Southwestern Virginia and his long time girlfriend Amy Hauslohner, an editor of the Galax Gazette in Galax, Virginia tied the knot on an old railroad bridge that now makes up part of the Virginia Creeper Trail.

"We have decided since I will be 60 in August and she just turned 50 last week, we probably are mature enough to handle marriage."

Before the ceremony, the couple bicycled from Abingdon to Damascus on the trail. While biking the 10 miles back to Abingdon, they stopped at the Alvarado Train Station restaurant and shared a slice from a coconut cake at the counter.

Another advantage of rail trails, the money you save on renting a wedding chapel.

Baltimore Bike Plan

Baltimore recently completed its first bike plan in 20 years.

The plan, if approved, will allocate $3.5 million over the next three years as part of the introductory phase of the long-term project, and connect 150 miles of city streets, bike lanes, paths, trails and assigned routes.

The Examiner is all for it and challenged employers to subsidize bike commuters.

Some employers already subsidize employee transportation. Why don’t downtown employers help employees kick the car habit by purchasing bike racks and seeking company discounts for bikes?

I'm sure there will be some employers who, because of dedicated leadership or an eye toward their image, will do something like this, like Discovery Communication does; but the bulk of employers are going to need some encouragement from the government - like taxing parking spaces - to make that kind of change. That's my opinion at least.

DC has a bike plan they finished in April of 2005. Unfortunately, they're already behind their goals. For example

Goal by the end of 2005                   Reality (as of 9/7/05)

50 miles of bike route signs          10 miles

20 miles of bike lane                    17 miles

Met Branch trail 50% complete     Design/build contract not yet started

Anacostia Trail Design complete    50% complete

500 racks in place                              305 racks

Street Smart program                        Ran in June 2005 and again right now

Some of the other goals are a little harder to define. I learned last week (as part of my training) that a study was done of over 800 Pentagon projects. Any project behind schedule 15% of the way in would always finish behind schedule at the end. DC is 10% of the way in and I'm not sure they can catch up.

Ten for Tuesday - Your obsession with cycling borders on the interesting.

1. I just recently watched this from May 5th because my tivo is a little backed up. Well known bicycle enthusiast Rep. Earl Blumenauer was on the Colbert Report and he placed his bike in the background of the shot. In the photo at the left, Colbert sports a bicycle lapel pin.

2. I can tell from the comments posted here that some of you know your way around Lexus and Westlaw better than me. So when can DC count on a site like this?

3. Mainstream media coverage of the planning board's recommendation on the Met Branch Trail.

‘If it’s only about the money, then you’ve got to fight for the money,” [Commissioner Meredith K. Wellington] said.

4. Bicycling magazine gave out bikes in Baltimore as part of bike town. As a Bike Town alumnus myself (I got a free bike last year in DC) I think it's a great program. I saw two people at BTWD on their bikes from last year.

Courtney Matthews, a Bicycling spokeswoman, said the magazine has kept in touch with past recipients of free two-wheelers and 86 percent respond they are happier three months after they started riding again.

5. The Post had a good run down of Montgomery County bicycling.

Other projects include the Matthew Henson Trail, which would run through Aspen Hill, past Connecticut Avenue and Georgia Avenue, all the way past Layhill Road. The North Bethesda Trolley Trail, which runs along the old trolley tracks between Old Georgetown Road and Rockville Pike, is to be extended north to the Twinbrook Metro stop and south to the National Institutes of Health campus.

6. Another "Gas gets people out of their cars" story.

"People are starting to look for fundamentally different ways to travel," said Bill Wilkinson, executive director of the National Center for Bicycling and Walking in Bethesda, Md. The soaring price of fuel "prompts people to really think about where they live and how they get around."

7. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors endorsed Transaction 2030.

On the top of the list are transit projects and pedestrian and bike travel. An estimated $16.6 billion would be needed over the next 25 years to fund the projects.

The plan features more Metrorail stations and light rail or rapid bus service in some high-traffic corridors, including Route 7, Route 28 and Columbia Pike. It also includes about 600 miles of new trails and an 8-percent increase in highway capacity.

8. Bike to Work Day was a success in Baltimore and Washington.

Chapman brought along Terri Broemm, a nursing teacher at Harford Tech who was riding to work for the first time and was nervous about the limited space for cyclists on the shoulders of some commuter routes.

Although some noted that the crowd lacked diversity.

9. For those looking for a bike vacation, a new rail trail opens in West Virginia.

It's called the Cranberry Tri-Rivers Rail-Trail, and Richwood city officials believe the 16.5-mile path will cement their town's growing reputation as a recreation destination.

10. Registration is open for the Indian Head 100 on Saturday, September 10, 2006.

Cycle through scenic and historic Southern Maryland. Relax at a rest stop at the Mattawoman Creek Art Center. See bald eagles and blue herons as you pedal through hundreds of acres of gently rolling forested hills and tidal bottomlands to the panoramic vista of the Potomac River at Riverside. Enjoy a rest stop high above the Port Tobacco River with a spectacular view of the Potomac and Port Tobacco rivers.