North Arlington On Street Route — Need Advice

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  • September 10, 2012 at 2:57 pm #912040
    eminva
    Participant

    Hello —

    I usually commute in the morning via the Custis, but today I took a different route. For those of you commuting eastbound through the streets of North Arlington, what are you supposed to do when you approach the Kirkwood/10th Street intersection while riding eastbound on Fairfax? I want to end up going east on Wilson. I could go with the cars on 10th Street to Wilson, but the bike lane ends abruptly so I would need to move into the travel lane as I approach the intersection. Or, do I make a left turn to stay on Fairfax for that last block, which has a bike lane, but makes for un-bike friendly intersections to negotiate at both ends?

    Also, I noticed that the bike lane markings have been removed from Clarendon Boulevard in front of the infamous Starbucks. I knew from this forum that that is a tricky spot to negotiate, and that there have been several accidents there. Were the markings removed to send the message to cyclists, “You’re on your own here”? (as luck would have it, when I rolled through this morning, a car was parallel parked blocking the exit, so I was in no danger of overcaffeinated motorists flying into my path).

    Thanks in advance.

    Liz

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  • September 10, 2012 at 3:26 pm #950692
    Dirt
    Participant

    I normally do not ride that during rush hour. Both the left off of Fairfax or Washington Blvd onto Wilson is not nice at that time of day. It isn’t particularly fluffy any other time of day either… but I ride it anyways.

    I might detour to the North down Kirkwood and cut up through there to get back on Wilson.

    http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1703908

    For that matter you could jump over to Key and take it down into town depending on where you need to go. Key is quite nice to ride on.

    http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1703909

    There’s actually a little path that goes through the apartment buildings at intersection of Key and Rhodes that can keep you on Key all the way down into Rosslyn. I use that now and then. You just have to be careful of kids and pedestrians.

    Does that help? Does it get you where you need to go?

    Rock on!

    Pete

    September 10, 2012 at 3:38 pm #950695
    DismalScientist
    Participant

    I generally merge into the left lane as early as possible, often before Kirkwood intersection. (I don’t want to weave to the left between Kirkwood and Wison on that little bit of 10th. I’ll often be on the right side of the left turn lane at Kirkwood and try to go straight over to the left turn lane onto Wilson. When turning left on Wilson, I’ll pull forward into the intersection so that I can turn left simultaneously with a car since we are turning into two lanes on Wilson.

    September 10, 2012 at 4:34 pm #950702
    Nuke
    Participant

    There is a little hill as you approch the interception, very little but enought to slow me down enough so I don’t like being in a car lane. Once I get to the top off the hill, I will either get over to the left turn lane if possible and go through the last piece of Fairfax/parking lot for the Church and coffee shop, or use the cross walks to get over there. I do not like that intersection of 10th and Wilson.

    September 10, 2012 at 4:35 pm #950703
    eminva
    Participant

    Thanks, Dirt and Dismal. I will experiment with both options. I use Key Boulevard in the evenings when I want to get away from the mad crush of the Custis, so I will have to try the a.m. I did go through the foot path once coming up the hill.

    Thanks again.

    Liz

    September 10, 2012 at 4:47 pm #950705
    bobco85
    Participant

    I’d definitely recommend taking the slight left into the church parking lot, then following the bike lane onto the sidewalk at Northside, and lastly using the crosswalks to get into position for the bike lane.

    I asked this same question on another site a while ago, so it may also help: http://www.arlnow.com/forums/misc/biking-gauntlet-from-fairfax-drive-to-clarendon-blvd/

    FWIW, that message thread led me to access this site in the first place and later (after a few months of lurking) become a member. Oh, the memories [tear]!

    P.S. – Someone mentioned this in the “green bike lane” thread, but I imagine this would be a lot nicer if they did the intersection redesign with the Kirkwood intersection in mind. Here’s the link: http://www.arlingtonva.us/departments/EnvironmentalServices/dot/page84699.aspx

    September 11, 2012 at 6:52 pm #950833
    dasgeh
    Participant

    @Dirt 30554 wrote:

    There’s actually a little path that goes through the apartment buildings at intersection of Key and Rhodes that can keep you on Key all the way down into Rosslyn. I use that now and then. You just have to be careful of kids and pedestrians.

    I HIGHLY recommend Key over Wilson/Clarendon, especially with the current building insanity in the area. Fair warning, the path between Key and Key is INCREDIBLY STEEP.

    September 11, 2012 at 7:02 pm #950836
    DismalScientist
    Participant

    Rather than taking the path between Key and Key, going eastbound, I recommend turning left at Vietch, straight across Lee onto 21st(?) and straight across Lee again on Scott, which becomes Key again.

    But then again, I am “crazy” and just go down Clarendon.

    September 17, 2012 at 3:25 pm #951279
    Brendan von Buckingham
    Participant

    That’s my commute. Merge into the left turn only lane before Kirkwood, but go straight across into the next left turn only lane for Wilson. Make the left turn like a car and take the lane. Keep taking the lane on Wilson because the lane is sub-standard width and cars hug or bounce off the curb tring to turn right on Washington.

    By Starbucks they grinded off the old bike lane markings. They’ve shifted all lane markings to the left in order to turn the bike lane into a buffered bike lane. They’ve finished the buffered markings between Starbucks and Courthouse. That still doesn’t help the in/out at Starbucks. With the good downhill the safest thing to do is just take the lane and avoid the backed up traffic in the bike lane and cars coming out of starbucks. You go the same speed as rush hour traffic in tha a.m. anyway.

    September 17, 2012 at 5:56 pm #951325
    DismalScientist
    Participant

    @Brendan von Buckingham 31196 wrote:

    By Starbucks they grinded off the old bike lane markings. They’ve shifted all lane markings to the left in order to turn the bike lane into a buffered bike lane. They’ve finished the buffered markings between Starbucks and Courthouse.

    Don’t ya just love that all the crappy parts of the pavement are now right in the middle of the bike lane? I do agree about taking the car lane frequently.

    September 20, 2012 at 2:44 pm #951689
    Dickie
    Participant

    @Brendan von Buckingham 31196 wrote:

    That’s my commute. Merge into the left turn only lane before Kirkwood, but go straight across into the next left turn only lane for Wilson. Make the left turn like a car and take the lane. Keep taking the lane on Wilson because the lane is sub-standard width and cars hug or bounce off the curb tring to turn right on Washington.

    This is my commute as well and I do exactly as Brendan does, the only difference is I stay in the regular left lane at the Kirkwood intersection not the left turn lane, I then merge into the left turn lane for Wilson after I pass through kirkwood. This is one of those places where being and acting as regular traffic works to your advantage. Even at rush hour most drivers will let you over especially if you make eye contact and use hand signals/gestures to indicate your intentions.

    September 27, 2012 at 11:12 am #952383
    Brendan von Buckingham
    Participant

    Ugh, yesterday was my first taste of the side effect of the widened, buffered bike lane on this section of Wilson: driver lunacy. No matter how wide and buffered they make the bike lane it will still get blocked by buses, FedEx trucks, right turners, cows, double-parkers and you name it. Especially right at Courthouse where it seems like half the cars split across the green lane to get to the municipal parking. That’s where I move over and take the next lane, otherwise I have nowhere else to go.

    So yesterday, even though traffic was crawling at 10 mph and I wasn’t splitting lanes, this lunatic woman in a Saab pulls along side of me in the left lane and starts shrieking at me to get in the bike lane and that I was “ruining it for the rest of us.” We stopped next to each other at the light at Courthouse Road. She was a machine gun of hysterical curse words that would give a sailor blush. She was so worked up she was literally bouncing up and down in her seat. There was no way she was ever going to hear anything I could possibly ask or tell her, so I just showed her a picture of my son, which I keep on my lanyard. Her response was a new one I hadn’t heard before: “You can’t make me feel bad if I kill you.” I’ve been around enough to know that’s true for the the most dangerous drivers out there, they feel entitled to no responsibility in an accident. But people usually aren’t so evil as to actually say it out loud. She sure showed me though: she peeled out at the green and raced through the merging traffic at the construction zone on Rhodes Hill at 45 mph.

    The truth is, the “nicer” they make a bike lane, the more we’re expected to stay in it.

    September 27, 2012 at 12:35 pm #952387
    bobco85
    Participant

    @Brendan von Buckingham 32365 wrote:

    Her response was a new one I hadn’t heard before: “You can’t make me feel bad if I kill you.”

    I know Halloween is just a month away, but that story is just plain terrifying. If I were to hear a driver say that, I would immediately pull off the road and take a picture of the person’s license plate. I think people will be more cautious when they know they are being watched.

    But still, I’ve never had an experience talking with a driver like that! The worst I ever tend to get is the typical, “You shouldn’t be on the road!” which I’ve had happen while riding in the bike lane on George Mason Drive.

    September 27, 2012 at 2:19 pm #952405
    arlrider
    Participant

    All death threats should be reported to the police. If no response from the police, write to a cycling-friendly member of the County Board.

    The new buffered bike lanes with the door zone hashmarks are cool on paper but do nothing really. Sharrows would be much better to help drivers get the picture. Between the old Harry’s and the Starbucks I take the lane (I was one of the many accidents at the Starbucks – November 2009), and again from Fire Works to Summers. If anyone has a problem they can shove it.

    September 27, 2012 at 2:26 pm #952408
    DismalScientist
    Participant

    @arlrider 32388 wrote:

    All death threats should be reported to the police. If no response from the police, write to a cycling-friendly member of the County Board.

    The new buffered bike lanes with the door zone hashmarks are cool on paper but do nothing really. Sharrows would be much better to help drivers get the picture. Between the old Harry’s and the Starbucks I take the lane (I was one of the many accidents at the Starbucks – November 2009), and again from Fire Works to Summers. If anyone has a problem they can shove it.

    … and all the way from Summers down to Rosslyn. Most cyclists are going near the speed limit anyways and the pavement is in bad shape.

    Of course I could tell the time that a pickup driver was honking at me and yelling how crazy I was while riding between Courthouse and Rosslyn while I was taking the lane and keeping up with the 25 mph traffic.

    When stopped in Rosslyn we had a loud “conversation” where I discussed the condition of the bike lane. I don’t think anyone convinced the other.

    September 27, 2012 at 2:31 pm #952410
    rcannon100
    Participant

    Her response was a new one I hadn’t heard before: “You can’t make me feel bad if I kill you.”

    Pull out your camera and take a picture of someone who makes a death threat.

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