MoCo's Framework

Montgomery County is preparing to become Montgomery City. The county is working on a new general plan for the county to replace the one it original wrote in 1964 - and refined in 1993. The new plan, the "Framework for Planning in the Future," promotes urbanized centers as opposed to auto-friendly suburbs. Of course, urban usually means less cars, more pedestrians and more bicycles - which requires changing roads.

In addition to promoting development of urbanized "centers," the draft document envisions turning some of the county's big roads into "boulevards" that would be more appealing to pedestrians and less like highways.[Planning Board Chairman Derick] Berlage cited Rockville Pike, Georgia Avenue and University Boulevard as roads that could be redesigned to include bus lanes, bicycle paths, better landscaping and wider sidewalks.

I think it's wise for MoCo to prepare for the inevitable population increases they're going to continue to see. (I think they ought to rethink the ICC before it's too late. A real urban area would not build a highway, but rather a rail corridor). The plan has as one goal to

Better connect the surrounding neighborhoods to retail, public buildings and transit by foot or bicycle, reducing the need to drive to the center.

They have some good ideas about how to do that, like

Creating more street connections from surrounding neighborhoods, so that people don’t use the major arterials and highways for local trips, and more trips are made by bicycle and on foot. (See this post on RPUS about how important connections are. Though he doesn't mention bikes, I know which neighborhood I'd rather ride in).

and

Providing pedestrian and bicycle amenities such as bike racks and lockers, special pavement and lighting so that non-motorized people know they are welcome.

And they recognize that "narrow sidewalks are not bicycle friendly" - true, bikes do not belong on sidewalks. It's dangerous for cyclists and pedestrians - so they talk about bicycle sidepaths (which I don't care for unless there really is no other option) and bike lanes. But they're still missing critical elements.

They need to start from the bottom up. They need to make sure they don't force out small neighborhood bike shops with big box retailers. They need to provide not just parking, but shower facilities, bike maps, and bike related signage. They need to think about bike rentals. If they build bike lanes - they need to be wide with room in the door zone. And they need to integrate bikes into rail and bus transit as well as roads. They're plan is still too road centered in my opinion. But it's a good point to start from.

What else did I miss?

Virginia Rails to Trails budget in danger

When I first read this line in this article (Va. House, Senate Propose Widely Differing Budget Plans)

It eliminates Warner's proposed $950,000 program for converting unused railroad lines to bicycle trails.

I was surprised that Virginia was spending less than a million dollars on new rail trails, and I was surprised that this was a political issue. Sure, there will be arguments over how much to spend on rail to trail conversions, but I'm surprised to see the Republicans positioning themselves as the "anti-rail trail party." It can't be for reasons of fiscal responsibility. Not when you read this:

A recently published study of the Virginia Creeper Trail's (pictured) economic impact concluded that trail-related visitor spending amounted to about $2.5 million annually and supported about 30 jobs. The study found that nonlocals who used the trail traveled an average of 260 miles to reach it.

Is their some constituency out there demanding that this funding be removed, or are the Virginia Republicans so against immigrants that now they also don't want out of state tourists? Sadly, it appears to be good old politics as usual.

But they cut spending for many of the smaller programs that Warner had started, including many he is using as evidence of his success in what could become a bid for the presidency.

So, it appears to be a policy that hurts the state and the people they represent but helps the national party. Awesome.

Closing Streets to Cars

A controversy in San Francisco is brewing that sounds very familiar. Right now, the city closes part of JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park to cars each Sunday. It appears that bicycle and pedestrian advocates have been successful in getting the closures extended to Saturday.

San Francisco voters rejected two ballot measures in 2000 that would have closed JFK to traffic on Saturdays. At the time, one of the main objections had been that an 800-space parking garage had not yet been built below the Music Concourse in Golden Gate Park. Shahum said since that parking garage at the De Young is now functioning there should be enough parking in the area. Others said there are too few places to walk and bike in The City.

Not everyone is pleased. One of The Examiner's San Francisco columnists feels the advocates are trying to short circuit the democratic process.

voters in 2000 overwhelmingly rejected Saturday road closures not once, but twice. Yet the bikers and skaters who feel entitled to their favorite section of the park have once again gotten two supervisors, Jake McGoldrick and Ross Mirkarimi, to override history and political will in the most recent push to block cars from the park.

This is similar to, but not identical to, the controversy in DC over closing Beach Drive in Rock Creek Park. One difference is that DC citizens never got a chance to vote on extending the hours during which Beach Drive is closed. I don't know how that vote would turn out, but it's clear that Maryland's Congressional delegation has worked hard to keep it from closing.

Still, there seems to be a movement - nation wide and even world wide - toward closing more roads to car traffic to make them available for recreational uses. I found out about this article on Rebuilding Place (Peddling car free, bike-friendly days for Baltimore) about how American cities are starting to notice the Ciclovias of Bogota, Columbia.

Bogota has continued on the environmentally progressive course he and Peñalosa set. Indeed, the long-range goal - currently the subject of legal wrangling - is to ban virtually all cars within city limits during morning and evening peak hours by 2015.

No American city (or mayor) is ready to take that radical a quality-of-life step, but officials in Boston, Cleveland and Philadelphia reportedly are contemplating Ciclovia-inspired weekend road closures. Chicago, however, may be ready to roll this fall. Mayor Richard M. Daley has signed off on a "Sunday Parkways" program that would block off three to eight miles of city streets from noon to 5 p.m.

Cantori would love to have Baltimore be the second. He thinks Druid Hill Park might make a good focal point for a mini-Ciclovia.

If successful, it would be easy to expand the route to the Inner Harbor, then to east and west Baltimore and even Towson: "I can see people coming from Washington and Philadelphia to ride in Baltimore

It would be interesting to see how shutting down cars for a day, or even a few hours, might effect the environment. Remember after 9/11, when air travel was shut down, researchers discovered that the contrails created by airplanes decreased the variations in high and low temperatures by 1.1 degrees Celsius. I wonder if such a change would be visible in Bogota.

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.