Maine Ave

@creadinger 160867 wrote:

Has anyone ridden by the waterfront lately? Is it bikeable on weekdays? Or do most people go across the Case Bridge to get to Eye St?

Last time I rode was a week ago (we have been out of town, and I am recovering from a nasty cold), but have been riding pretty regularly all spring and winter.

I go on Maine to 7th and then up 7th to Eye.

I ride the wide sidewalk past the fish market, up to 9th. I usually take the lane from 9th to 7th. Its different every day, depending on what the construction vehicles are doing. Sometimes two lanes, sometimes one. Its often not that bad – though this (three way intersection at 9th and Maine) is one of the few places where I will Idaho the red, as getting out in front allows me to get to my left turn on 7th before auto traffic comes up behind me. If however I do have auto traffic behind me, its usually not that bad, because everyone is going slowly anyway, and its not that far from 9th to 7th, and I just ride as fast as I can. Sometimes its tempting to scoot to the right when that is not an open lane, but you have to be really really careful to not hit construction workers, and not be hit by a construction vehicle if you do that.

On days when wind direction means I will be particularly slow, and bad weather means there will be fewer pedestrians, I sometimes bag taking the lane and cross to the sidewalk on the north side of Maine.

Coming westbound in the evening, you don’t have to deal with all the construction, just finding a comfortable path to making a left onto the crosswalk by the fishmarket. Though another alternative is staying in the far right lane and then going to the sidewalk at the crosswalk (or at 9th) to cross as a pedestrian. Again for me the choice is determined by traffic volume, and conditions. If I get to 7th and Maine when traffic is light, and the light is timed right, its a comfortable scoot from 7th to 9th.

If there is too much traffic, the sidewalk, even riding slowly, can be faster, and involves less breathing of fumes.

I should probably do Case more often, but I really don’t much care for it.

@bentbike33 160869 wrote:

I ride Maine Ave. every commute. What’s not to love? The construction has expanded to include the section in front of the Fish Market these days, so new holes are blown into the sidewalk regularly, covered with steel plates (maybe or maybe not feathered with perimeter asphalt), then filled with gravel to a reasonably levelled state. Lots of randomly placed orange construction barriers, signs, and cones everywhere. Traffic can be stopped at random at any time by a flag-person with a portable stop sign to allow access to the site by a vehicle of some sort. And if you go home too early in the afternoon, you can contend with clueless tourons (what does that ringing bell mean?) being dumped off by their buses for Potomac River cruises.

In short, a festival of randomness, with the added bonus of the Fish Market Dumpster Smellscape.

You forgot to mention the omnipresent dust blowing off the work site like the sands of the Sahara. Also, riding west, you get to deal with impatient Maryland drivers to your left and construction worker drop-offs, dump trucks, and parking tour buses to your right.

This is one section of my commute that I jump the lights when I can riding east…the construction just adds that extra level of “excitement” when dealing with the heavy traffic (particularly at Maine/12th) and so I take every opportunity to get ahead of the cars since I have to work my way to the left turn lane at 7th St.

I rode it once this year. I’ve taken the case bridge ever since, even though Maine Ave would cut down on my time/distance to work. I am generally comfortable riding on the road, but the road conditions + downright aggressive drivers made it not worth it for me when I had a viable and safer alternative.

I take Case Bridge. Trying to get on to the sidewalk at the Fish Market has become a game of whack-a-mole since much of the parking lot is now under construction, drivers trying to get into the parking lot are insane, and the rush hour traffic is murderous. Have done it a couple of times recently and decided it wasn’t worth the hassle.

Maine Avenue cycle track progress https://twitter.com/bikepedantic/status/893633310471204864.

Of course soon thereafter Phase 2 construction of the Wharf will start messing up Maine Avenue some more.

@lordofthemark 165194 wrote:

Alternative routes from Eye street wb to the Case Bridge appreciated.

At the end of Eye St, go north to G. Turn left and ride 1 block the wrong way on the southside sidewalk. Straight across and up to the circle.
Then you can either go right and pick your bike up over the median and the curb to get to the switchback
or
Ride the wrong way around the circle to the switchback. Be sure not to get run over by a tour bus.

You can also transition to G any point earlier as you travel westbound on I.

@lordofthemark 165213 wrote:

I should have been more clear. I meant a route that did NOT involve riding a full block on the sidewalk.

Well, you could go 1/2 block further north on 7th from G Street and take Capitol Square Place over to 9th. You might even get a green left turn arrow! Capitol Square Place is more or less an alley with speed bumps, but it is 2-way and not a sidewalk.