Army Navy Drive Protected Bike Lane

[dasgeh]

My major comments:

– Whatever is built should not preclude protected bike lanes on Hayes. That’s a dangerous street with lots of traffic of all stripes, and a great candidate for a PBL. But if we build that bulb out…

– On the East end, why have a median? Won’t that make the street feel wider and encourage speeding? And, if we didn’t have the median and shifted the lanes over, wouldn’t we get more usable space on the edges of the right of way?

– All of those driveway crossings need to be raised, and there needs to be excellent signage so that drivers know to look for bikes coming from both directions.

– How does the transition at the west end work for people biking westbound? I.e. how do they cross over to the existing PBL?

– Is there enough space at the various intersections for cyclists who have to transition in to and out of the PBL to wait?

[chris_s]

@dasgeh 172782 wrote:

On the East end, why have a median? Won’t that make the street feel wider and encourage speeding? And, if we didn’t have the median and shifted the lanes over, wouldn’t we get more usable space on the edges of the right of way

I believe the research leans more the other way – that medians are better at making the lane feel narrow, causing drivers to slow down and be more cautious than just narrowing with paint.
Also we need that median to prevent left turns into and out of these driveways – that’s a very dangerous movement across a 2-way PBL.

[chris_s]

To spark discussion, here is a monster dump of my (and some other folks) questions and comments:

Comment headings are ordered from West to East along the corridor and each heading includes comments about the intersection + any section of street between that intersection and the next intersection to the east.

Overall
a. Where driveways, parking garage entrances, etc cross the PBL should have signage and green paint, speed humps.
b. PBL should be extended to 12’ wide rather than 10’ wherever possible. Per NACTO, this is the desired with for two-way cycle tracks. This is a better use of space than unnecessarily wide 11’ turn lanes for automobiles. As Arlington’s first 2-way PBL, residents will judge all future PBLs on this one. It should not be overly narrow.
c. Bike Signals at all intersections? Placement?
d. Right turns on red prohibited across the PBL?
e. Leading Bicycle Intervals?
f. What are the median Plantings where it is just shown as green? Grass? Shrubs? Other?

Joyce Street
a. This design fails to fill the ½ block gap on Joyce Street to connect the Northbound Joyce Street Bike Lane to Army Navy Drive.
b. Does not appear to fully solve the problem of transitioning bikes from the Joyce Street “Shared Use Paths” under 395 to the Joyce Street Bike Lanes and the new PBL. Perhaps better to have a fully depressed curb on NE and NW corner of Army Navy / Joyce?
c. Yay Floating Bus Stop. Will it have a shelter? How wide is median?
d. How are westbound cyclists expected to transition from the two-way PBL to the more conventional one-way pair of bike lanes west of Joyce? How can we make it clear and comfortable?

Mall Entrance
a. Does Traffic Analysis truly warrant double left turn lanes here?
b. Will permissive lefts from those left turn lanes be allowed? Or only on green arrow?
c. Curb Cut for Mall parking garage entrance and exit is extremely wide. Can existing median between entrance lanes and exit lanes be extended to provide a true pedestrian refuge? Can entrance lanes be only 2 lanes wide when crossing the sidewalk & the PBL and the widen out to 4 immediately after?
d. Entrance/Exit consolidation east of the main mall entrance is a big improvement.
e. Need median to prevent left turns

Hayes Street
a. Create “right turn lane” for eastbound PBL riders so they can turn right on Red at Hayes without getting stuck behind cyclists waiting at the light to proceed straight. There appears to be sufficient space in the median buffer of the PBL to make this happen.
b. How do cyclists coming up the Hayes St bike lanes turn left into the PBL? Is there additional design work we can do to facilitate this movement?
c. Concerned that trees planted in median buffer so close to intersection will obscure right-turning drivers’ view of cyclists. Hope that’s just “concept design art” and not actual proposed tree placement.
d. With the Hayes bus stop being removed, where is the next closest bus stop?

Fern Street
a. Fern is supposed to be the main bicycle entrance to the Pentagon, according to their Master Plan. How can we better accommodate the bicycle turning movements from the PBL onto Fern heading toward the Pentagon?
i. Can a “right turn lane” be created for Westbound PBL riders to wait in so that they aren’t blocking Westbound riders who are proceeding straight while waiting for the signal to change?
ii. Can a “2 stage left turn box” be created for Eastbound PBL riders to wait when they are attempting to turn left toward the Pentagon?

Eads
a. How much curb-to-curb space on Eads are these new curb lines leaving? Can it accommodate an extension of the Eads Street PBLs to Army Navy or would we need to move the curbs again later to accommodate that? What is the current plan for Eads between 12th and Army Navy Drive after PenPlace redevelopment?
b. Will the north end of Eads at least be re-striped to at least get the northbound bike lane all the way to Army Navy? It currently disappears 1/3 of a block back.
c. Create “right turn lane” for eastbound PBL riders so they can turn right on Red at Eads without getting stuck behind cyclists waiting at the light to proceed straight. There appears to be sufficient space in the median buffer of the PBL to make this happen.
d. Is parking being moved from the South Side to the North Side east of Eads due to sight lines?
e. Can median be continued between PBL and Parking to prevent encroachment into the bike lanes? How wide is the buffer currently shown between the parking lane and the PBL?
f. Do the south-side parking spaces between in front of the DoubleTree block sight lines for drivers trying to see oncoming bike and car traffic?
g. Need to put median back in across from doubletree alley to prevent left turns. This movement is prevented by a median currently.

12th St S
a. Ban left onto Army Navy from Eastbound 12th
b. Army Navy Drive Crosswalk at 12th Street should be a raised crossing.

[Judd]

I vote for whatever Darren Buck said.

[bikepedantic]

@Judd 173294 wrote:

I vote for whatever Darren Buck said.

this is flattering, but never a great plan.

Chris did a wonderful job of creating order out of chaos with these notes. And the concept design team has produced a design that looks wonderful and will absolutely transform the street. I’ll be there on the 31st to point at plans, hope others are as well. My big priorities for potential changes will be:

*Getting more space for cyclists to queue and safely & comfortably make the transitions to/from four different intersecting facilities at Joyce/Army-Navy. The street space is there to do it.
*Blocking all free left turns into/out of intersecting driveways with medians, and slowing cars turning right into/out of those driveways
*Protected intersection elements at the intersection of a (not-shown) last block of the Eads St PBL
*Banning that EB 12th left onto Army Navy (or hearing how they plan to operate that intersection). What they show in the concept doesn’t look safe/workable/efficient for any mode, while any left turn demand could be met via Eads instead.

[Judd]

@chris_s 172769 wrote:

At long last, the Army Navy Drive Protected Bike Lane, from Joyce St to 12th Street, has reached the point of having a “design workshop” public meeting. So come one, come all, to support and provide feedback on Arlington’s first major two-way protected bike lane (like 15th St in DC).

I’m planning on swinging by this Wednesday. I took a look at the online document and then rode Army Navy on Saturday. I’m looking forward to seeing the concept on large poster boards since I had some trouble navigating the document.

If anyone else is going, I’d be up for a beer somewhere in Crystal City afterwards.

[Judd]

@dasgeh 172782 wrote:

– How does the transition at the west end work for people biking westbound? I.e. how do they cross over to the existing PBL?

I’m planning on closing my eyes and just pedaling as hard as possible diagonally across the intersection. I think maybe bike boxes at all four sides of the intersection would work here? It would be mostly similar to using the cross walk, but allow getting out in front for left hand turns from a travel lane in other instances.

[Steve O]

@Judd 173612 wrote:

If anyone else is going, I’d be up for a beer somewhere in Crystal City afterwards.

I could be talked into this.

[Judd]

I attended the forum last night along with Steve O and got to meet the Arlington staffer responsible for the project. It looks like the design is mostly good. There are a few details particularly around crossing intersections that I’d like to see adjusted. Chris did a good job of capturing a lot of them in the list already. I’ll be submitting my thoughts this weekend after I have time to write them. I hope others will join me in providing feedback.

Big thanks to Chris for publicizing this and for working so hard to gather feedback from potential users. As an Arlington resident, I’m glad to have him as the chair of the Transportation Commission.

Also thanks to Steve O for coming out and having a beer with me and for Komorebi for swinging by Highline on her way home.

[chris_s]

Did you miss the meeting? FEAR NOT.

Weigh in with this County Online Survey on the project. In addition to answering the guided questions, I encourage you to make ample use of the free-form comments box at the end to hammer home some of the points raised below, or earlier in the thread, or whatever else speaks to you.
– As Arlington’s first 2-way PBL of any significant size, residents will judge all future PBLs on this one. It should not be overly narrow. Please expand to 12′ wherever possible. Automotive turn lanes do not need to be 11′ wide.
– Allowing right turns across a two-way facility is potentially very dangerous. Please do not do this, or at least provide a leading bicycle interval with a dedicated bicycle signal to give cyclists a chance to get out where they are visible to turning cars.
– Please provide dedicated queuing spaces for cyclists waiting for the appropriate signal to enter or exit the protected bike lane.

[chris_s]

The deadline to take the online survey and make comments is FRIDAY. Get to it!

[Steve O]

Received this email:

The next open house for the Army Navy Drive Complete Streets Project is Tuesday June 25. The project will re-build Army Navy Drive within the existing right-of-way as a multimodal complete street featuring enhanced bicycle, transit, environmental and pedestrian facilities.
Please join us anytime between 4:00-7:00 pm to learn about the project, talk with staff and share feedback on the 30% designs.
Tuesday, June 25
4:00 – 7:00 pm
Aurora Hills Branch Library
735 S 18^th Street
Arlington, VA 22202
You can learn more about the project, the public process and view the designs on the project page.

[sjclaeys]

Action shots of Bike Arlington Forum members looking at the proposed plan with great interest: https://www.arlnow.com/2019/06/26/county-plans-to-turn-army-navy-drive-into-pedestrian-bicycle-corridor/ As the article’s writer felt the need to immediately opine, the plan “might make traffic a little more congested”. Fortunately, this is Arlington and not the dystopia of Alexandria, so my hopes are still high.

[lordofthemark]

@sjclaeys 191798 wrote:

Action shots of Bike Arlington Forum members looking at the proposed plan with great interest: https://www.arlnow.com/2019/06/26/county-plans-to-turn-army-navy-drive-into-pedestrian-bicycle-corridor/ As the article’s writer felt the need to immediately opine, the plan “might make traffic a little more congested”. Fortunately, this is Arlington and not the dystopia of Alexandria, so my hopes are still high.

I’ve certainly never said Seminary Hill/Seminary Ridge (assuming that is what you are referring to?) is NOT a suburban dystopia.

That said, don’t call this one a wrap just yet.

Edit- back when we were discussing “issues” in Westover, I said this about Alexandria

(much of Alexandria is not pedestrian friendly, but at least that’s recognized as a problem by City staff, by our more enlightened electeds, and by a growing part of our electorate)

Based on recent events, I can confirm that a growing part of the electorate sees a problem – the turn out for change has been heartening. Staff – well I think they do see the problem even if their solution was weak sauce. As for the elected, we will see what we will see.

And let me add – that Arlington is doing what it’s doing on Army Navy suggests good things are happening there (ditto the adoption of the bike master plan). Arlington as a jurisdiction may be doing better than it looked like to me in March.

[Steve O]

@sjclaeys 191798 wrote:

Action shots of Bike Arlington Forum members looking at the proposed plan with great interest: https://www.arlnow.com/2019/06/26/county-plans-to-turn-army-navy-drive-into-pedestrian-bicycle-corridor/

The two forum members I recognize don’t seem to be taking any action at all.

[Author]

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