Public meeting to discuss widening Braddock Road

@Mikey 77662 wrote:

I may or may not be able to go. Someone probably should though. This is one of those routes designed in 1969 when no one lived west of the beltway. Improved bicycle infrastructure along Braddock would be great.

http://fabb-bikes.blogspot.com/2014/02/braddock-road-widening-project-meeting.html

Everything I’ve seen (can’t open your link right now) suggests they’re planning to add lanes and possibly a bus depot by Kings Park shopping center. Haven’t seen anything about improves bike or ped access.

Edit: read your link. I see now: bikes and peds aren’t being considered as of yet, but we should attend to speak out.

I hope that they can address the current problem of how pedestrians/cyclists can navigate to/from Guinea Road and the bridge over the Beltway. I do not travel along Braddock Road very often, but from my experience, here is a quick list of the problems I have encountered going between Guinea Road and the Beltway:

• sidewalk/sidepath is not continuous, requiring one to cross Braddock Road multiple times
• sidewalk/sidepath is unlit and very bumpy in areas
• some of the Braddock Road crossings have inadequate infrastructure, requiring a pedestrian/cyclist to cross 6+ lanes of 50+ mph traffic (speed limit is 45 mph) with only a painted crosswalk and yellow crosswalk signs
• trying to take the lane or even shoulder while cycling is a death wish
• no access to CCT from south side of Braddock Road

The committee will be chaired by Kevin Morse, who is the Braddock District appointee to the Transportation Advisory Committee and vice-chaired by Tom Kennedy, the Braddock District appointee to the Trails and Sidewalks Committee.

I’m interested to hear Tom Kennedy’s take on pedestrian/cyclist infrastructure for this project. At the very least, I hope they incorporate paved sidewalks/sidepaths running along both the north and south sides of Braddock Road. The bus lanes would be great, too.