Take Action: Important Bike Stuff in Ballston, Pentagon City, Rosslyn and Cherrydale!

For what are we advocating with the Lorcom/Military repaving and re-striping? I can think of a few improvements including taking out that right turn lane at Old Dominion and Lorcom and extending the bike lane from Trenton to Lee Hwy.

@Subby 191815 wrote:

I can think of a few improvements including taking out that right turn lane at Old Dominion and Lorcom.

I understand how that right turn lane affects you coming up Lee Highway/Old Dominion toward Lorcom, but whoo boy getting rid of that lane will get the pitchforks out. Not saying it shouldn’t be done, but be ready for some WWE cage-style fighting.

@rcannon100 191829 wrote:

That’s essentially traffic going through to Old Dumb to McLean. And no one cares what people from McLean think. Right Subby? :p

I use that right turn lane all the time, in a car, to go from Arlington to Arlington. I could survive without it, but when I cycle that way, I don’t feel that the right turn lane endangers me any more than I’d be if it weren’t there. Maybe I’m missing something obvious. It happens.

That right turn lane is primarily a danger to people on foot crossing Lorcom with the green on Old Dom. Right turning traffic sometimes slows slightly, but not generally. I believe once this century someone turning right there looked to their right first before turning, but that may just be a rumor.

@huskerdont 191842 wrote:

Easy VDOT solution to that: get rid of the crosswalk!

Hey hey hey. Dont be dissing on me mates at VDOT.

True story:

ArlingtonDES et al pretty much block me now. Something about me being a citizen petitioning my government for redress or something.

Well the steel plates on Old Dumb / Lee at Wakefield were buckling under cars. I know. I know. I helped cars. Sigh. Anyway, I tweeted to ArlingtonDES, ArlingtonVA, and Arlingtonpopo a piicture of the plates buckling. I never heard from them.

I did hear from VDOT, who asked for forgiveness for eavesdropping – contacted Dominion Gas – and had the plates secured within two hours.

That’s the way its supposed to work!

@chris_s 191814 wrote:

TONIGHT: Open House on Potential Safety Improvements to Military Road & Lorcom Ln
TOMORROW: Deadline to submit online survey on Quincy Street PBL extension URL=”http://susmo.org/biking/quincy-st-pbl-extension-to-the-custis-trail/”%5DSUSMO Analysis here[/URL

Looking at the proposed re-striping plans for Lorcom and Military, neither are remotely in alignment with the NACTO standards in the Bike Master Plan for roads with that volume of traffic. Going by the book, Lorcom should have PBLs and Military should have either PBLs or buffered lanes. This is not present in either proposed re-striping.

I wanted the right turn lane removed so they could extend the bike lane through that intersection with Old Dominion, up the short hill to Lee Hwy.. I agree that the right turn lane isn’t really a hazard for cyclists traveling NW on Old Dominion. If they could keep the right turn lane and still have a thru bike lane then great.