15th Street Bikeway in DC goes South

[invisiblehand]

@Dirt 1442 wrote:

And you’re right! We should give DDOT a break. This stuff is new. Unfortunately due to people parking in the cycleway, it presents an EXTREMELY dangerous situation.

@Just161 1441 wrote:

I agree they need barriers to fix the parking situation, but I’ll cut DDOT some slack here. This is brand new stuff, and everyone’s just still getting used to it – bikes and cars alike.

Generally, I am a believer that whatever rocks your boat is fine with me assuming you’re not hurting anyone else. While I think riding in contraflow lanes, cycletracks, bike lanes, and so on that put you in weird positions at intersections is highly questionable, everyone is free to make up their own mind. But weaving in and out of these things to avoid debris, parked cars, and such from these facilities is just plain nutty. Now maybe it is because I have actually seen someone get splatted by a car — yes, one’s innards can get knocked out of someone — or whenever I see/read the grief after someone gets seriously hurt or killed I think to myself, why don’t people do more before this happens, but I would argue one should cut someone slack when the problem is a hard one to solve. That is, if their is serious uncertainty with regards to how to solve the problem, I’d give the responsible people time to figure it out.

Cars parking in the middle of a facility you want to use is not a problem that we can’t get a grip on. Everyone knows how to solve it.

YMMV.

[Just161]

@Dirt 1450 wrote:

Okay, so there *is* an easy way to get from Penn. Ave to 15th St. Cycleways. Wait for the right arrow and ride across. Works both ways.

Great picture, thanks Dirt. So there’s a phase when the only car movement is for Penn. Ave. westbounders turning right to northbound 15th? I.e., no left arrow like in your picture? Don’t southbound 15th cars turning left onto eastbound PA cut across the sharrows during that phase?

This is hard to describe. I think I need to just go and look at it!!

[gregbilling]

According to DDOT, the cycletracks should be finished by next Tuesday.

[Dirt]

@Just161 1459 wrote:

Great picture, thanks Dirt. So there’s a phase when the only car movement is for Penn. Ave. westbounders turning right to northbound 15th? I.e., no left arrow like in your picture? Don’t southbound 15th cars turning left onto eastbound PA cut across the sharrows during that phase?

This is hard to describe. I think I need to just go and look at it!!

Yes. Exactly. There is a light where, assuming everyone obeys the lights, a cyclist can get from Pennsylvania Avenue Cycleway onto the 15th Street Cycleway without getting smooshed. I’m guessing there may be a similar light from 15th to Penn. Ave, but I don’t know how that would sync. It would have to be a Bike Only signal because if the cars on southbound 15th get a turn arrow for Pennsylvania Avenue, their path will cross with the bicycles.

That, however, will have to be explored tomorrow.

Tune in next time for “The Never-ending saga of the 15th Street Cycleway.”

Love,

Pete

[OneEighth]

When I rode down 15th Street around 2300 this evening, I noticed that there are now reflective pylons segregating the bike lanes from the car lanes between roughly F Street and where the lanes end at Pennsylvania. So, it looks like this is still very much a work in progress.

[girlonabikedc]

(sorry if this posts twice, I thought I posted a reply but it didn’t appear)

There is a dedicated bike signal to get cyclists from the 15th St. cycletrack onto the Penn Ave bike lanes.

(sorry for the crappy phone pic. The bike signal is on the left, in the middle)

[Just161]

I checked this out last night, and it looks like the bike-only signal is going to be the solution. As of last night at about 9pm, there was a traffic signal contractor + truck out there parked on the NE corner of the intersection, looked like working on the bike-only light in girllonabikedc’s pic above.

Of course, there was 1 bus marked with 1-800-MARINES, 2 black SUVs and 4 black Lincoln Town Cars with US government plates PARKED IN THE CYCLETRACK on the west side of 15th near the White House entrance barrier.

Now I see what you all were saying earlier – when a car parks in the cycletrack, it leaves NO room to bike around. You’re forced to swing out and squeeze into the southbound auto lane — heading northbound, this is directly into oncoming traffic coming at you head-on. Pretty scary and dangerous. Parking enforcement will be crucial here.

[Dirt]

@girlonabikedc 1479 wrote:

(sorry for the crappy phone pic. The bike signal is on the left, in the middle)

Coolness! It is really cute! Thanks for the photo.

[baiskeli]

Pretty awesome to see an actual bike signal here. They were everywhere in Amsterdam, along with dedicated lanes – separated by medians, not just paint. I can’t remember seeing a bike signal anywhere in the entire U.S. before. That’s something motorists can see, and it sends a signal (so to speak) that bikes are part of the mix just like pedestrians.

[Dirt]

I saw it in action last night. It worked perfectly. Bikes get to cross twice during the cycle of lights.

[jrenaut]

Any word on whether or not they’re going to adjust the timing on the lights? Going south on 15th is painful as it is now. I got caught at every single light, and usually early in the light cycle. With a little practice I could maybe catch a few of them, but right now the time it takes to go from V to the White House is maybe 2/3 riding, 1/3 waiting at lights.

[girlonabikedc]

@jrenaut 1545 wrote:

Any word on whether or not they’re going to adjust the timing on the lights? Going south on 15th is painful as it is now. I got caught at every single light, and usually early in the light cycle. With a little practice I could maybe catch a few of them, but right now the time it takes to go from V to the White House is maybe 2/3 riding, 1/3 waiting at lights.

Me too! It isn’t until around P St. that the lights are better synchronized for cyclists. After block after bock of go, wait, go, I’m tempted to simply ignore the signal lights, especially now that the weather is below freezing.

[Runner750]

Even after P St. the light coordination is bad. I usually have to stop at Rohde Island, Mass, M and K before I reach my turn at Lafayette Sq. I think it is time that we bike commuters join our voices to express this issue. I don’t know to whom and how, though….Any thoughts?

[gregbilling]

Green Wave light signalization would be the obvious solution. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_wave

Programming an optimal lighting sequence against traffic (northbound being the direction car traffic travels) is very challenging if not impossible. And the perfect solution of two greenwaves (one northbound and one southbound) is even more complicated.

Has anyone done some testing of the optimal speed to hit the lights? I’d definitely ride slower/faster to hit the green lights.

Greg

[Author]

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