Arlington’s first cycletrack? Hayes St. in Pentagon City

[CaseyKane50]

Here are some photos taken this morning. There are also other photos here

[ATTACH=CONFIG]6440[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]6441[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]6442[/ATTACH]

It looks to me that several parking spaces were removed to accommodate the transition to the bike lanes. If you look closely, you can see that several of the posts along the curb no longer have parking meters attached.

[chris_s]

@PotomacCyclist 92715 wrote:

While there are north-south bike lanes in Pentagon City and Crystal City (and a future cycletrack on part of Eads St., to be installed this fall), there aren’t many good east-west bike routes in the area. 12th St. is OK, mostly because it doesn’t run all the way between the two neighborhoods, so it has relatively less traffic. (The bike/ped path between Eads and Fern is temporary. 12th St. will be extended between those two streets as the new apartment and office projects are finished there. I don’t know if the new 12th St. extension will have bike lanes. Maybe.) 15th St. has bike lanes on some sections of the road, but it’s not exactly a pleasant road to ride on.

The main East-West route in the area will be the upcoming Army Navy Drive cycle track. Also the 18th Street bike lanes will be extended all the way to Crystal Drive in the next couple of years. The 12th Street extension is not slated for bike lanes (since Army Navy will have the cycle track and 12th is already slated for dedicated streetcar lanes).

[chris_s]

I rode this on Sunday. It appears to be complete heading toward Crystal City (south/east), but as of Sunday the flexposts were not done heading back toward Pentagon City (north/west) and as a result cars were parked in the bike lane (though it ended up leaving the entire parking lane available for biking so it wasn’t exactly terrible).

Also the completed part is QUITE nice. Well separated from cars + brand new asphalt = lovely.

[CaseyKane50]

@chris_s 92781 wrote:

I rode this on Sunday. It appears to be complete heading toward Crystal City (south/east), but as of Sunday the flexposts were not done heading back toward Pentagon City (north/west) and as a result cars were parked in the bike lane (though it ended up leaving the entire parking lane available for biking so it wasn’t exactly terrible).

Also the completed part is QUITE nice. Well separated from cars + brand new asphalt = lovely.

Flex post installation is now complete on both sides of Hayes and drivers have figured out where they should be parking their cars.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]6454[/ATTACH]

[jcflack54]

Am I the only one who thinks this cycle track on Hayes is stupid? It leads to the green bike lanes that are unusable at best and dangerous at worst. There are cars and buses crossing and blocking the lane all the time dropping and picking up passengers at the Metro entrances.

[PotomacCyclist]

I think the cycletrack is useful, even if it isn’t that long. It’s an improvement over the previous bike lane on that road. It provides a much better way to ride between Crystal City and Pentagon City, other than the bike path where 12th St. doesn’t exist.

Admittedly, Hayes St. near the Metro is more congested. I don’t ride there during rush hour that often. I ride more cautiously if I have to travel along that part of Hayes St. during busy hours.

[ShawnoftheDread]

@jcflack54 92897 wrote:

Am I the only one who thinks this cycle track on Hayes is stupid? It leads to the green bike lanes that are unusable at best and dangerous at worst. There are cars and buses crossing and blocking the lane all the time dropping and picking up passengers at the Metro entrances.

Yes.

[PotomacCyclist]

It also leads to 15th St./Joyce St. The cycletrack makes the ride to Pentagon Row more comfortable.

[PotomacCyclist]

Plus it is intended as a pilot project for the cycletracks to come, including planned cycletracks on Army-Navy Drive, S. Clark St. between 12th and 15th Sts., and possibly some sections of S. Eads (maybe between 15th and 23rd Sts.?).

http://www.arlnow.com/2014/08/19/protected-bike-lane-open-in-pentagon-city/

[KLizotte]

Those of us who live in Pentagon City really appreciate it. I almost never ride in front of the main entrance to the shopping Mall. Rather I use the new protected bike lanes to go back and forth between crystal city and old town. I avoid the green bike lanes and bad intersection by the mall by cutting thru the adjacent park when I am heading north. South Hayes is a well used road by local cyclists and the popularity of Pentagon Row has increased due to its recent makeover. There is more to the PC neighborhood than the mall.

[KLizotte]

PS. By renovation, I am referring to the makeover of Pentagon Row. Lots of plants everywhere now!

[dasgeh]

@jcflack54 92897 wrote:

Am I the only one who thinks this cycle track on Hayes is stupid? It leads to the green bike lanes that are unusable at best and dangerous at worst. There are cars and buses crossing and blocking the lane all the time dropping and picking up passengers at the Metro entrances.

I actually think the contrast is valuable. The green bike lane on the blocks of Hayes between Army Navy and 15th/Joyce are EXTREMELY dangerous. There should have been a protected lane there, with parking, bus stops and waiting areas on the outside. Now, we can take decision makers there are show them what should have been, and hopefully get them to change the northern portion, and change policy to default to protected infrastructure.

And, as others said, there are other destinations besides the northern portion of Hayes. There’s a great park with a spray ground right at the start of the cycletrack as well.

[chris_s]

@jcflack54 92897 wrote:

Am I the only one who thinks this cycle track on Hayes is stupid? It leads to the green bike lanes that are unusable at best and dangerous at worst. There are cars and buses crossing and blocking the lane all the time dropping and picking up passengers at the Metro entrances.

It is a bright spot on my trips from Columbia Pike to Crystal City (South Gate Rd >> Joyce >> Hayes >> 18th >> Crystal Drive)

I’d love to see us get some form of protection all the way down 18th to Crystal Drive.

[CaseyKane50]

The county has mounted signs along the protected bike lanes to help the motorists park.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]6456[/ATTACH]

[dasgeh]

@CaseyKane50 92931 wrote:

The county has mounted signs along the protected bike lanes to help the motorists park.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]6456[/ATTACH]

This is just awesome. It seems like Arlington knocked this one out of the park.

[Author]

Posts