Arlington Bike Project Wish List

[dasgeh]

Thanks for doing this Chris!

There are a couple other threads that have suggestions. This one, and this one spring to mind.

Things that jump to mind:
North Arlington
** Move bike lane on Fairfax Drive to the other side of parking, to allow protection
— Grade-separated connection between TR Island and Custis Trail (i.e. Intersection of Doom)
— Elimination of exit from Marriott parking lot at non-signalized driveway along Lee (all cars exit at Nash)
— Mode-separation along the Custis through Rosslyn
— Protected bike lanes along the length of Lee Highway
— New multi-use trail along the Potomac / Spout Run
— Paved connection between 8th St N and the W&OD (it’s on the Arlington Bike Map, but it’s not paved)
— Safe sidewalks along Wilson West of Ballston
— Improve the path between Lorcom and Kirkwood through Thrifton Hills Park
— Safe connection to Chain Bridge
— Continue bike lanes along Quincy (both sides) through intersection with Washington Blvd and paint green
— Continue bike lanes along Quincy and Military (both sides) through intersection with Lee Hwy and paint green
— Have light for Jackson St N at Pershing detect bikes
— Have light for Irving St N/S at 50 detect bikes
— Improved trail along 50 (entire length; both sides)
— Improved connection between N Greenbrier St and the W&OD

South Arlington
— Signal at 9th St S and Glebe
— Continuous bike infrastructure along at least one side of Columbia Pike (north or south)
— A true bike connection (not the silly almost-wide sidewalk) along the Pike across 27/Washington Blvd.
— Possibly a trail on the east side of 27/Washington Blvd, b/n the road and the base, b/n at least 2nd St S and bending around to Southgate Road
— A safe bike connection between Pentagon City and Crystal City
— Access to the Joyce St wide sidewalks under 395 — from the North, need more sidewalks/curbcuts, from the south, need curb cuts that a cargo bike can navigate through
— Curb cut along the north end of Long Bridge Park
— Fix pavement along Long Bridge Drive
— Safer (dare we ask for grade separated?) crossing of Columbia Pike for the W&OD
— Safety improvements at all grade crossings along the W&OD and Four Mile Run
— Improved bike infrastructure along W Glebe across bridge into Alexandria
— Improved bike infrastructure along Mt Vernon across bridge into Alexandria
— Protected bike infrastructure along Army-Navy Drive
— Protected bike infrastructure along S Hayes Street in Pentagon City
— Protected bike infrastructure along S Joyce Street / 15th St S in Pentagon City (move bike lane on other side of parking)
— Protected bike infrastructure along S Eads Street

All Arlington
— Bike Boulevards through neighborhoods in all parts of Arlington. Specifically: Key Blvd in Lyon Village, 5th St N in Ashton Heights/Lyon Park; 16th St N b/n Glebe and Westover; 15th St N b/n Quincy and Glebe; Jackson St N b/n Wilson and 50; Irving St N/S b/n Pershing and 9th St S
— Safe bike connections on all “interrupted” streets (e.g. on Oakland St N between 20th & Lee)
— Better wayfinding signage EVERYWHERE
— Teach every APS student to ride a bike by 2nd grade
— Include safe biking in curriculum through high school
— Hire SRTS coordinator in ArlCo DOT to focus on infrastructure and enforcement
— ACPD…
In the policies category:
— A signals policy that includes having bike detection at every new signal, unless it’s clearly not needed
— A curb cut policy that bans right angle curb cuts and that gives preference to curb cuts that bikes with long-wheelbases can navigate (especially when those curb cuts are necessary to access bike infrastructure: I’m looking at you, S Joyce St)
— Whenever a street is “interrupted”, safe, direct bike access should be built

Under the “work with others to get done” category:
— Uphill bike access through Arlington National Cemetery
— Reopening of the Ft Myer Gate at Pershing Drive
— Commuter program to speed access through Ft Myer/Henderson Hall
— Expansion of hours at the Ft Myer Gate at Marshall Drive
— Improvements on the TR Bridge upstream path
— Connection to the TR Bridge downstream path
— Grade separated crossing between the MVT and the Memorial Bridge
— Elimination of the slip lane between 110/GW Parkway ramp to Memorial Drive
— Cycletrack down the middle of the Memorial Bridge, continuing on to the 110 Trail
— TR Island parking area improvements: mode separation where possible, trail widening where not, elimination of tight turns, better bike parking (cargo bike compatible)
— Improve the trail along 27
— Widen the MVT
— Eliminate useless grade crossings along MVT at airport
— Mode separation along MVT at Gravely Point (that plan that had a new bike path away from the water)
— More wayfinding/improved bike infrastructure through Columbia Island Marina/LBJ Grove to Pentagon

That’s what comes to mind now. I’ll keep thinking…

[Guus]

– Intersection of Doom

– Fix the Quincy/Washington Blvd crossing where the dedicated bike lane on Quincy north-bound disappears for 100 yards or so to accommodate a car turn-lane. For bicyclists going north on Quincy this leads to a dangerous situation as they have to merge with car traffic right after the crossing: just when cars are accelerating.

– Improve the dangerous situation at Whole Foods in Clarendon. Clarendon Blvd there is unnecessary wide — there is a painted bikelane but there is plenty of space for physical buffers between the bike lane and the roadway. That would trim the roadway and reduce speeding there. It would also make crossing Clarendon by foot a lot safer. See picture here: would be great if the yellow areas become physical barriers.

– Find a way to connect the nice bikelanes on Fairfax drives with the nice bikelanes on Wilson. Coming from Ballston, it is not easy for bicyclists to connect to Wilson, with the two major crossings in between.

– I second the suggestion by Chris_s: Kirkwood Rd Road Diet and Bike Facilities between Washington Blvd and Fairfax Drive

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[Steve O]

@Guus 92166 wrote:

– Find a way to connect the nice bikelanes on Fairfax drives with the nice bikelanes on Wilson. Coming from Ballston, it is not easy for bicyclists to connect to Wilson, with the two major crossings in between.
]

See my suggestion regarding these connections here.

[Arlingtonrider]

Another South Arlington item for the wish list: On the sidewalk/trail near where S. Arlington Mill Drive meets Shirlington Road, there is a lamppost in the middle of the sidewalk that makes that corner a little dicey sometimes. It would be great if that lamppost could be moved. Also, sidewalk near the lamppost has a now small but growing pothole.

[jcflack54]

Make a good connection between 2nd Street South and the newly renovated bike path along Arlington Blvd to Rosslyn.
Make sure there is a safe way to get from the Columbia Pike bike boulevards to Joyce Street.
Bonus points if we can get from Columbia Pike to the MVT more easily – but I think that would take cooperation from DOD and the National Park Service.

[dasgeh]

@jcflack54 92328 wrote:

Make a good connection between 2nd Street South and the newly renovated bike path along Arlington Blvd to Rosslyn.

Or put another way: improve the trail along 27 as it crosses the on/off ramps to 50 and goes under 50.
FYI to get from 2nd St S to the new trail, you can use this path: (google maps doesn’t have the bike path on it past Pershing, but from where the above map ends, just continue on the trail, which will include the newly-reopened portion)

@jcflack54 92328 wrote:

Bonus points if we can get from Columbia Pike to the MVT more easily – but I think that would take cooperation from DOD and the National Park Service.

Do you know about this route (which needs to be improved, pretty sure it’s already on my long list) or this route (I agree it should be easier, I believe others have mentioned the need to finish the path that connects to the trail under downstream side of the humpback bridge – that would allow you to go around the other side of the “Pentagon Lagoon Yacht Basin”).

[jcflack54]

I didn’t realize that the ramp from 2nd St. to Washington Blvd would lead to the new trail on the south side of 50. But I’ve ridden both of the routes to the MVT and I still would like a better way.

[chris_s]

@jcflack54 92432 wrote:

I didn’t realize that the ramp from 2nd St. to Washington Blvd would lead to the new trail on the south side of 50. But I’ve ridden both of the routes to the MVT and I still would like a better way.

That ramp leads to the North side trail. To get to the South side trail you’d have to cross 50 at Pershing. Arlington has studied continuing the trail along the south side of 50 to Washington Blvd and deemed it in-feasible without easements from Ft Meyer that they are unwilling to grant. Maybe at some point that will change.

[dasgeh]

@jcflack54 92432 wrote:

I didn’t realize that the ramp from 2nd St. to Washington Blvd would lead to the new trail on the south side of 50. But I’ve ridden both of the routes to the MVT and I still would like a better way.

Can you be more specific? Improvement of the 27 trail? completion of the other trail under the Humpback Bridge? A bike bridge over the Pentagon?

[GrassInWind]

(1) In the ARLINGTON COURTHOUSE AREA, widen 14th Street between N. Rhodes and North Courthouse streets. Demarcate proper bike lanes going uphill along 14th street (it curves uphill and morphs into 15th Street at North Courthouse Road). The bike lanes here are extra narrow while the slope is steep, especially uphill. At the four-way intersection with N. Queens Street, N. Rhodes Street and 14th Street North, it is very difficult for bicyclists to go uphill while getting into a narrow bike lane. Please create proper biking infrastructure at this four way stop sign so bikers can be safe while navigating this very difficult hill.

(2) Add street separators for bike lanes along Lee Highway from Rosslyn to Falls Church because cars drive too fast along that road. This would avoid the issue of cars illegally parking and blocking the bike lane on a long unforgiving uphill, for instance, in front of the 7-11 store right at Lee Highway and N. Cleveland Street. When cars block the bike lanes, bikes are forced into the fast lanes where cars are not paying attention and can hit them.

(3) Demarcate bike lanes all the way along Lee Highway because those bike lanes mysteriously disappear. Disappearing bike lanes are a particular problem on Lee Highway, after the intersection with I-66 right at Lyon Village Shopping Center.

(4) Add street separators for bike lanes all along the Rossly – Clarendon corridor — too many bicyclists and rather too much confusion.

😮

[dasgeh]

Two potential suggestions, inspired by others’ requests:

1) On Kirkwood b/n Washington and Lee — Instead of sidewalk-curb-NB parking-NB bike lane-NB lane-median-SB lane-SB bike lane-SB parking-curb-sidewalk; what about sidewalk-curb-NB parking-NB lane-SB lane-SB parking-median-two way cycletrack-curb-sidewalk? And put in a signal at 17th St N.

2) At the 4-way stop for N Rhodes St & 14th St N, install bike boxes or some way for bikes to turn left, especially if they come NB over the bridge and want to continue WB on 14th St.

[GrassInWind]

@dasgeh 92488 wrote:

Two potential suggestions, inspired by others’ requests:

1) On Kirkwood b/n Washington and Lee — Instead of sidewalk-curb-NB parking-NB bike lane-NB lane-median-SB lane-SB bike lane-SB parking-curb-sidewalk; what about sidewalk-curb-NB parking-NB lane-SB lane-SB parking-median-two way cycletrack-curb-sidewalk? And put in a signal at 17th St N.

2) At the 4-way stop for N Rhodes St & 14th St N, install bike boxes or some way for bikes to turn left, especially if they come NB over the bridge and want to continue WB on 14th St.

(2) is really important….it’s really unsafe for bikers right now. Any ways to improve it would be appreciated.

[jcflack54]

Completion of the other trail under Humpback bridge would probably be part of it. The path from Columbia Pike to Joyce is another part. The final part would be a safe, marked, and DOD-approved path through the Pentagon parking lot to the Humpback bridge crossing.

[kingman762]

@dasgeh 92162 wrote:

— Continuous bike infrastructure along at least one side of Columbia Pike (north or south)

— Uphill bike access through Arlington National Cemetery

These things!

[dasgeh]

Some more ideas I’ve had lately (sorry if these are dupes, Chris):

— A continuous, mid-county N-S bike boulevard connection. My recommendation would be the “MIM” connection — Monroe, Irving, Monroe — which would require a couple of adjustments at intersections, some signage and some paint, but not much more.

— Including a signal at N Monroe and Walter Reed

— Wilson Blvd turned into a two-way, bike and transit-only road, and Clarendon Blvd turned into a two-way, car road (with parking, or if you really need two lanes each way, no parking) –> if not everyday, at least on a regular Cycliovia schedule, like every Sunday.

— Continue the Hayes St protected bike lane (PBL) to Army Navy and to Crystal Dr

— PBL on Quincy from Lee to George Mason (it’s called Henderson for that last block), including through the Washington Blvd intersection

–PBL on Carlin Springs (whole thing)

— Bike/Ped access from N Thomas Street to Harris Teeter on Glebe

[Author]

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