Beware: Open season on cyclists at the Intersection of Doom

[huskerdont]

@mikoglaces 179283 wrote:

That’s a dangerous intersection. I am very cautious entering it. I did the math years ago (started bike commuting 24 years ago), and thought that if I want to live through hundreds of times crossing that intersection I’d better be cautious. I have never been hit there yet (though I did end up on the hood of a car just two blocks from there, at Oak St.).

You sound like someone who understands that the probability of safely getting through a dangerous situation once is not the same as getting through the same situation 100s of times. I think we’re fairly poor at intuiting that, in general.

[lordofthemark]

@ShawnoftheDread 179295 wrote:

I had a dream last night that vdot installed a diagonal road from Lynn/Lee to the GW Parkway north ramp so that there was an additional intersection to cross between Lynn and Ft Myer. Woke up in a cold sweat.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

“In dreams begin responsibilities” – Delmore Schwartz

[accordioneur]

I think we need to expand the nomenclature, as it’s not just one intersection: Rosslyn is a full-on neighborhood of doom (NOD). Getting from Custis to my office at Wilson & Kent is a daily exercise in terror. Except, that is, for the days when I come up the MVT and have to swim upstream against the peloton that gathers at the IOD and then bombs down the MVT ramp when the light changes. My other routes (Wilson Blvd, ey Blvd) are equally hairy.

I know the county has some projects in the works to improve Rosslyn’s bikeability, but they won’t do much to improve my Rosslyn ride.

[Tania]

Traffic enforcement there this am – the same officer I’ve seen there a few times (nice guy) pulled over two cars who tried to turn left when there were cyclists in the crosswalk. It was hard not to cheer.

[Brett L.]

@Tania 180251 wrote:

Traffic enforcement there this am – the same officer I’ve seen there a few times (nice guy) pulled over two cars who tried to turn left when there were cyclists in the crosswalk. It was hard not to cheer.

You should’ve cheered!

[Steve O]

@accordioneur 179313 wrote:

I think we need to expand the nomenclature, as it’s not just one intersection: Rosslyn is a full-on neighborhood of doom (NOD). Getting from Custis to my office at Wilson & Kent is a daily exercise in terror.

Here was my route to Wilson and Lynn:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]18224[/ATTACH]

If the light was green at Scott, then I would continue down the Custis and turn right on Nash instead and take that to Key to 19th.
Even better was if the light was red at Oak, then I would cross Lee Highway and take the counterflow car lane a block to Nash.

You have the additional problem of crossing Lynn Street once you get to Wilson & Lynn, which I did not.

Your other option is to exit the Custis somewhere upstream before Courthouse and take the Clarendon Blvd. Cannonball straight on in. Wee- HAW!!

[accordioneur]

@Steve O 180296 wrote:

… right on Nash instead

which has no bike lane and is filled with drivers focused on their phones and coffee rather than watching the road.
@Steve O 180296 wrote:

and take that to Key

which has no bike lane and is filled with drivers focused on their phones and coffee rather than watching the road.
@Steve O 180296 wrote:

to 19th.

which has no bike lane, a very busy intersection at Ft. Myer Drive and is challenging even to cross since it is filled with drivers who come out of Arlington Ridge Road like it’s the turn onto the straightaway at Summit Point.

@Steve O 180296 wrote:

Even better was if the light was red at Oak, then I would cross Lee Highway and take the counterflow car lane

No bike lane, poor sight lines. Have almost been hit there.
@Steve O 180296 wrote:

a block to Nash.

which has no bike lane and is filled with buses and drivers focused on their phones and coffee rather than watching the road.

@Steve O 180296 wrote:

Your other option is to exit the Custis somewhere upstream before Courthouse and take the Clarendon Blvd. Cannonball straight on in.

I often take the streets starting at Glebe. The cannonball does have a bike lane, but is not without its share of excitement, particularly around the curve at Oak St.

Thank you for your suggestions. While I have ridden all the roads you mention and find them all to be pretty nasty (I think the curving, hilly nature of the roads in Rosslyn makes the neighborhood worse than downtown DC), it’s possible you may stumble upon that one excellent, car-free road through Rosslyn that I have missed on my daily commutes.

[Steve O]

@accordioneur 180315 wrote:

which has no bike lane and is filled with drivers focused on their phones and coffee rather than watching the road.
blahblahblahblahblah
………………….

Hold on. Did you study the map?
Nash has almost no cars on it most of the time, so the lack of a bike lane is irrelevant.
Correct about Key, except the cars are typically standing still, making them simply obstacles to maneuver around.
You don’t cross 19th, you turn right on it, so no intersection with Ft. Myer. Actually, I guess it’s called Nash there, sorry. Ride up Nash to Wilson, wait at the light and straight across. Once you cross, there are almost no cars except near the Starbucks. Then left and go down the completely unused ramp to Lynn and Wilson. At that point you become a semi-pedestrian, using the walk signals to get across.

Re: Oak at Lee Hwy
There are virtually never any cars taking the counterflow lane. This option is for when you have to stop at Oak because it’s red for the trail users. You have the green to cross Lee Highway to get to Nash, where you turn right again, where there are few if any cars. Wait at Lee Hwy and straight, where there are few if any cars.

True, if you go anywhere near the intersections on Ft. Myer, it’s nuts. My route keeps you completely away from Ft. Myer Drive.

[Steve O]

@Steve O 180320 wrote:

Hold on. Did you study the map?
Nash has almost no cars on it most of the time, so the lack of a bike lane is irrelevant.
Correct about Key, except the cars are typically standing still, making them simply obstacles to maneuver around.
You don’t cross 19th, you turn right on it, so no intersection with Ft. Myer. Actually, I guess it’s called Nash there, sorry. Ride up Nash to Wilson, wait at the light and straight across. Once you cross, there are almost no cars except near the Starbucks. Then left and go down the completely unused ramp to Lynn and Wilson. At that point you become a semi-pedestrian, using the walk signals to get across.

Re: Oak at Lee Hwy
There are virtually never any cars taking the counterflow lane. This option is for when you have to stop at Oak because it’s red for the trail users. You have the green to cross Lee Highway to get to Nash, where you turn right again, where there are few if any cars. Wait at Lee Hwy and straight, where there are few if any cars.

True, if you go anywhere near the intersections on Ft. Myer, it’s nuts. My route keeps you completely away from Ft. Myer Drive.

I would say most of the time I would cross Lee Highway at either Oak or Nash, not Scott (becomes Key). I would cross when the light was red for the trail, green to cross Lee Highway, wherever that happened to be until I got to Nash, where I would cross as last option. If it was green for the trail at Scott, then I would continue down the Custis.

[lordofthemark]

@accordioneur 180315 wrote:

various kvetches, mostly involving bike lanes and coffee (#whataretwoofmyfavoritethings)

Thank you for your suggestions. While I have ridden all the roads you mention and find them all to be pretty nasty (I think the curving, hilly nature of the roads in Rosslyn makes the neighborhood worse than downtown DC), it’s possible you may stumble upon that one excellent, car-free road through Rosslyn that I have missed on my daily commutes.

Might I suggest encouraging your employer to locate adjacent to the National Science Foundation? Then you would not have to deal with Rosslyn again, at all.

#TheCityneedstherevenue #onemorecustomerfortheKingStreetBikeLanes

[rcannon100]

Dont worry. The County has a plan to fix IoD. They said so (in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018……)

[huskerdont]

I feel like they believe it’s fixed with the little, nonstandard, no-right-turn-when-the-light-is-green arrow that about half of motorists see and about half of those pay attention to.

[scoot]

@accordioneur 180315 wrote:

The cannonball does have a bike lane, but is not without its share of excitement, particularly around the curve at Oak St.

Do you actually use the bike lane on Clarendon Cannonball? I would not feel safe riding so close to parked cars at downhill speeds, especially given the potential for being trapped by a close pass if ceding the car lane.

Unless filtering through a traffic jam, I typically take a car lane the entire way from Courthouse Rd to Lynn St. (Since Key Bridge is my usual destination, I then encounter another bike lane on Lynn that is also too narrow to be useful for any purpose other than slow filtering.)

[scoot]

@scoot 180331 wrote:

bike lane on Lynn that is also too narrow to be useful for any purpose other than slow filtering

I should correct myself. Many people have indeed found another use for that bike lane: car parking/idling.

[Steve O]

@scoot 180331 wrote:

Do you actually use the bike lane on Clarendon Cannonball? I would not feel safe riding so close to parked cars at downhill speeds, especially given the potential for being trapped by a close pass if ceding the car lane.

Unless filtering through a traffic jam, I typically take a car lane the entire way from Courthouse Rd to Lynn St. (Since Key Bridge is my usual destination, I then encounter another bike lane on Lynn that is also too narrow to be useful for any purpose other than slow filtering.)

I absolutely take the lane on the Cannonball. If the light is red at Rhodes, I’ll move over into the bike lane as a courtesy, retaking the lane as necessary to maintain my personal safety.

[Author]

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