Arlington County Bike Lane Blocker Tumbler

[creadinger]

@jrenaut 48346 wrote:

Wait, Arlington has a llama problem? I have got to see this blog.

It’s a shame they’re not Arlington alpacas. Alpacas are really soft. A low speed collision with an alpaca would almost be welcome.

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[JorgeGortex]

@creadinger 48350 wrote:

It’s a shame they’re not Arlington alpacas. Alpacas are really soft. A low speed collision with an alpaca would almost be welcome.

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Except my wife, the knitter, would want me to strap it to the top tube and pedal it home. I can barely get myself home.

[shannon]

Also surprising is how the bike lanes of Fairfax Dr by Northside Social and the church are treated like a regular parking lane on Sundays. It seems like as soon as one car does it, everyone thinks it’s ok to park their cars there. Some extra signage or enforcement would be useful there.

[consularrider]

@shannon 49838 wrote:

Also surprising is how the bike lanes of Fairfax Dr by Northside Social and the church are treated like a regular parking lane on Sundays. It seems like as soon as one car does it, everyone thinks it’s ok to park their cars there. Some extra signage or enforcement would be useful there.

That’s the case in front of many churches. Heaven forbid that someone walk more than a block to church. 😡 My curmudgeonly side wants to have the police make a sweep some Sunday morning and ticket all the illegally parked cars. Then I take a deep breath and try to channel some inner peace and think, “What would Dirt do?”

[Tim Kelley]

@shannon 49838 wrote:

Also surprising is how the bike lanes of Fairfax Dr by Northside Social and the church are treated like a regular parking lane on Sundays. It seems like as soon as one car does it, everyone thinks it’s ok to park their cars there. Some extra signage or enforcement would be useful there.

Be the enforcement you want to see!

If you see something, feel free to call the police non-emergency number to report it: 703-558-2222!

[rcannon100]

@Tim Kelley 49850 wrote:

Be the enforcement you want to see!

If you see something, feel free to call the police non-emergency number to report it: 703-558-2222!

uuuuuuummmm…. and be the citizen advocate you want to see. If you call the police and they actually do anything, please post it here.

With all due respect to Forum Master Tim, Arlco police has not been overly responsive to cyclists calls concerning traffic problems. But “prove me wrong; prove me wrong!”

I will say that there are two places where traffic and parking violations are always ironically horrific: next to a school and next to a church.

[Tim Kelley]

I have had multiple good experiences engaging with the ACPD about bike lane blockers. And just last week, I sent Captain Wasem a nice note when I watched an officer make a parked delivery truck in Courthouse move out of the bike lane as the driver was halfway through his unloading.

[brendan]

Re: church parking

Localities have historically been quite accommodating to houses of worship for their once-a-week parking needs: e.g., P Street just east of Wisconsin is almost too narrow for two way traffic any day of the week, and yet the north side of the street allows several hours of Sunday parking for churchgoers, turning it into a two way street with room for approximately one lane of car traffic in total.

I doubt Arlington is willing to stir up a hornets’ nest and if anything gets changed, it might simply be the addition of signs to allow church parking on Sundays!

Brendan

[dasgeh]

re: Church parking

Contact the minister. As noted, the police are understandably deferential to churches, but parishioners are also pretty good at listening to their ministers/preachers/etc. Getting the church leadership to see and address the problem is the best bet for addressing it. For example, the shuttle for the church in Cherrydale on Quincy often blocked the bike lane. I discussed it with the minister, and the problem was solved. Sometimes it is just an “honest” mistake (“it’s Sunday, the bike lane rules don’t apply”) and giving the information nicely is the way to fix the problem.

On that note, I’m pretty active in my church (Clarendon Presbyterian, tucked in to Lyon Village near Liberty Tavern), and I’ve been thinking of doing some churchy-bikey thing to get our little church and others in Arlington involved in supporting cycling. Any ideas?

G

[TwoWheelsDC]

mustresistwadingintochurchparkingdebate. mustresistwadingintochurchparkingdebate. mustresistwadingintochurchparkingdebate. mustresistwadingintochurchparkingdebate. mustresistwadingintochurchparkingdebate. mustresistwadingintochurchparkingdebate. mustresistwadingintochurchparkingdebate. mustresistwadingintochurchparkingdebate. mustresistwadingintochurchparkingdebate. mustresistwadingintochurchparkingdebate.

[DaveK]

@TwoWheelsDC 49884 wrote:

mustresistwadingintochurchparkingdebate. mustresistwadingintochurchparkingdebate. mustresistwadingintochurchparkingdebate. mustresistwadingintochurchparkingdebate. mustresistwadingintochurchparkingdebate. mustresistwadingintochurchparkingdebate. mustresistwadingintochurchparkingdebate. mustresistwadingintochurchparkingdebate. mustresistwadingintochurchparkingdebate. mustresistwadingintochurchparkingdebate.

Living in the District I’ve already lost this debate. On Sundays parking is permitted anywhere there’s enough physical space to put a car – sidewalks, left-hand travel lanes, in the middle of intersections, I’ve seen all these things and more. And nothing can or will ever be done about the significant danger to the public that results from this behavior.

You Arlington residents can change this before it’s too late!

[jabberwocky]

Sunday mornings, I’m usually too busy being terrified by churchgoers road behavior to bother worrying about where they park. At least when they park they’re immobile!

[dasgeh]

So, my minister volunteered to send out something for me to the “area clergy”. I don’t really know who this is, but this is what I drafted on my CaBi ride back from lunch (wherein 2 different cars passed me super close, for no apparent reason (open lanes beside them – they were speeding to a red light – one even flipped me off) whilst I was thinking about church and God and stuff – #hardtochannellove)

I welcome comments/questions/thoughts. At least until 4pm or so when I send this off
____________________
Dear clergy,

Spring has sprung, the weather is beautiful, and you may have noticed that many in our community are out enjoying the world on two wheels and two feet.

Unfortunately, Sunday mornings can be a time of conflict between those of us in cars and those of us out for a walk or a ride. All too often, bike lanes near churches are blocked by cars illegally parked or standing, church shuttles drive recklessly around bikes and block bike lanes or crosswalks, and streets near churches are dangerous for pedestrians around the times that church services start and end.

I write to ask you to please remind your congregations to think of your neighbors when getting into their cars this Sunday, and every Sunday. Some neighbors will also be in cars, but some will be out on bikes, out for a jog or out for a stroll. Many of these vulnerable road users will be out with their kids. Please remember to drive safely without distraction, be a PAL and respect the parking rules.

Thank you and God bless,

Gillian Burgess
Member
Clarendon Presbyterian Church

[KLizotte]

@dasgeh 49912 wrote:

So, my minister volunteered to send out something for me to the “area clergy”. I don’t really know who this is, but this is what I drafted on my CaBi ride back from lunch (wherein 2 different cars passed me super close, for no apparent reason (open lanes beside them – they were speeding to a red light – one even flipped me off) whilst I was thinking about church and God and stuff – #hardtochannellove)

I welcome comments/questions/thoughts. At least until 4pm or so when I send this off
____________________
Dear clergy,

Spring has sprung, the weather is beautiful, and you may have noticed that many in our community are out enjoying the world on two wheels and two feet.

Unfortunately, Sunday mornings can be a time of conflict between those of us in cars and those of us out for a walk or a ride. All too often, bike lanes near churches are blocked by cars illegally parked or standing, church shuttles drive recklessly around bikes and block bike lanes or crosswalks, and streets near churches are dangerous for pedestrians around the times that church services start and end.

I write to ask you to please remind your congregations to think of your neighbors when getting into their cars this Sunday, and every Sunday. Some neighbors will also be in cars, but some will be out on bikes, out for a jog or out for a stroll. Many of these vulnerable road users will be out with their kids. Please remember to drive safely without distraction, be a PAL and respect the parking rules.

Thank you and God bless,

Gillian Burgess
Member
Clarendon Presbyterian Church

Great letter but a couple of niggling remarks:

– I don’t think most readers will know what PAL stands for (I can’t even think of what it stands for off the top of my head).
– “streets near churches are dangerous for pedestrians” Is that really what you mean? Or is it more along the lines of “streets near churches are dangerous to cyclists due to the influx of pedestrians around the itmes that church services…”
– I’d add the word “bike” before ride in “those of us in cars adn those of us out for a walk or a [bike] ride.”

[83b]

@DaveK 49889 wrote:

Living in the District I’ve already lost this debate. On Sundays parking is permitted anywhere there’s enough physical space to put a car – sidewalks, left-hand travel lanes, in the middle of intersections, I’ve seen all these things and more. And nothing can or will ever be done about the significant danger to the public that results from this behavior.

My favorite DC Sunday Parking Shenanigans anecdote comes from Logan Circle a bunch of years back when doubled parking was still tolerated. It involved exasperated neighbors entering the offending church and interrupting services to announce that Make Model License# needed to come let them out. I heard that enough of these announcements eventually changed behavior.

[Author]

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