Bike trail at Jefferson – Part 3 of 3
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@dbb 42962 wrote:
I highlighted the challenges with crossing East Basin Drive and getting on the sidewalk during tourist season. We discussed the possibility for converting the “no standing or stopping” parking area into a 15th Street cycletrack style bike lanes. The cycletrack would extend for the block and would deliver cyclists to the curb cut east of the Jefferson driveway. For that to work would require active enforcement regarding the “No stopping or standing” prohibition.
I guess I’ve never noticed any signs stating it’s a no standing/stopping area but does that mean the vans are parked illegally above?! Wow. And all those tour buses that stop there? And cyclists get ticketed for not putting a foot down at the stop signs at Hain’s Pt. Does not compute…
Anyway….
Most motorists don’t appear to have noticed them either.
Here are a couple of photos that show the front of the signs you can see in the previous post
@dbb 42962 wrote:
Another idea to deconflict the trail in front of the Jefferson (that one block) was to extend the asphalt trail on the point of land between East Basin Drive and the I-395 on ramp. While it would reduce salmoning in front of the memorial, it would push the crosswalk to a location with slightly reduced sightlines. It is shown in the Google sat photo as a crudely drawn line.
Hmmmm….the only thing I don’t like about your’s or bobcat’s proposals is the poor sight lines since cars are coming pretty quickly around that curve, esp if they didn’t mean to take that exit and think they are heading to the bridge.
As another poster noted above, heading eastbound the sightlines are good. Heading westbound is more tricky because you would need to look over your shoulder to look for cars, and pay attention to oncoming cyclists since you would need to cross their lane to get into the crosswalk. And then there is the issue of all the pedestrians along that sidewalk. There aren’t many peds now but in a few months…..
Perhaps NPS could try to put in signs and markings to direct peds to the inner trail by the Jefferson Memorial?
A potential way to improve sightlines and cut down on conflicts is to put in a turning “bump out” (not sure what the technical term is for these things). In a way, we already have one with the driveway there. Ideally cyclists heading westbound would be directed to pull into the bump out so that they become perpendicular to the street and can safely stop out of the way of eastbound cyclists and pedestrians before going into the crosswalk to get to the newly extended trail on the other side. Again, the trail may have to bifurcated to force cyclists to do this as some will try to cut across diagonally at high speeds putting other users at risk. If I’m gonna cross there I want to have a good place to slow down/stop and be able to check both directions without having to look over my shoulder. Also remember that Cabi riders probably don’t have the best riding skills either.
Unfortunately I’m unable to find a photo of a “bump out” in the real world; I know they have them in Montreal. Here’s a crudely edited pic of what I mean.
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@KLizotte 43036 wrote:
Hmmmm….the only thing I don’t like about your’s or bobcat’s proposals is the poor sight lines since cars are coming pretty quickly around that curve, esp if they didn’t mean to take that exit and think they are heading to the bridge.
As another poster noted above, heading eastbound the sightlines are good. Heading westbound is more tricky because you would need to look over your shoulder to look for cars, and pay attention to oncoming cyclists since you would need to cross their lane to get into the crosswalk. And then there is the issue of all the pedestrians along that sidewalk. There aren’t many peds now but in a few months…..
Perhaps NPS could try to put in signs and markings to direct peds to the inner trail by the Jefferson Memorial?
A potential way to improve sightlines and cut down on conflicts is to put in a turning “bump out” (not sure what the technical term is for these things). In a way, we already have one with the driveway there. Ideally cyclists heading westbound would be directed to pull into the bump out so that they become perpendicular to the street and can safely stop out of the way of eastbound cyclists and pedestrians before going into the crosswalk to get to the newly extended trail on the other side. Again, the trail may have to bifurcated to force cyclists to do this as some will try to cut across diagonally at high speeds putting other users at risk. If I’m gonna cross there I want to have a good place to slow down/stop and be able to check both directions without having to look over my shoulder. Also remember that Cabi riders probably don’t have the best riding skills either.
Unfortunately I’m unable to find a photo of a “bump out” in the real world; I know they have them in Montreal. Here’s a crudely edited pic of what I mean.
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Hi, from your bump out, you can’t really see very well to the left, and you’ve got pedestrians and bikes potentially going both directions — the oncoming ones for obvious reasons, plus the ones coming up from behind you and don’t want to get slowed down into a bump out, so they just jump the curb or go in the wrong lane. So from the bump-out, you have to look four directions at once–the parkway, oncoming pedestrians and cyclists, pedestrians and cyclists coming up from behind, and pedestrians and cyclists crossing in the new crosswalk from the other side of the parkway. From my perspective, the bump-out just makes things more dangerous.
I’ve gone through this intersection every work day for a decade, both directions. The biggest hazards in my experience are the orange cones, which appeared only about two years ago. Next most dangerous: when you are going westbound, oncoming bikes, either on the bikepath or in the “salmon” lane. But the oncoming bikes have right of way, so you just have to slow down and let them through. The main thing that makes them actively dangerous is that I’ve had a number of near-misses with cyclists at night who had no lights on. Anyway, once you’ve made the crossing from the sidewalk to the “near” lane of the parkway, then there is plenty of time to look for traffic in the second lane before moving over to the path to the bridge. Well, except for cherry blossom season when the parked buses mean there is little room to move over. But now that we all know that it’s illegal to stop or stand there, I’m sure that that lane will be clear for this year’s cherry blossom season
I guess what I’m saying is: Let’s not spend a vast amount of money to extend the bike trail, only to make the whole exercise more difficult and accident prone.
The “sharrows” idea has some merit since maybe it would help remind motorists that bikes have the right to use that stretch of road. But I think I’d still generally rather stick to the sidewalk. Drivers are intent on getting home at maximum speed, and I’ve had a number of them pass me very aggressively when I’ve gone in the road along there. Frankly, I don’t think those drivers would be the slightest bit intimidated by the sharrows unless there was some serious enforcement
So if money is to be spent, I would favor widening the section heading up to the bridge, as discussed elsewhere. And a second priority would be making a pedestrian walkway on the “inside” of the concrete barrier and routing the pedestrians that way. Or make a clear bike path with divider lines and “no pedestrians” signs. Separating pedestrians and cyclists in that section would be helpful.
Oh, and fix the square curb cuts with the slick slopes, those are dangerous, too.
Nick
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