Bollards along the MVT in Alexandria

[chris_s]

I believe 6′ is the AASHTO recommended spacing for bollards.

[Rootchopper]

The bollards along the MVT near the Transpotomac Canal Center (in your photos) are not there for security purposes as are the bollards near the Wilson Bridge. They are merely dumb substitutes for a flexible bollard that indicates that wide vehicles are not allowed. They should definitely be removed. Perhaps when the MVT is repaved in this area – which has been needed for a good 10 years. At least these bollards are painted yellow.

As for the Topedo Factory bollards, why not just have one? The idea is to get the message across that motor vehicles are not allowed not that there is some high level security threat. I suppose if a truck did drive through here they’d end up on a boardwalk for all of 2 second before crashing into the river. In any case, I’m pretty sure bikes are supposed to be walked in the area around the Torpedo Factory anyway.

[dbb]

The northern Old Town bollards are both dumb and unnecessary. The Wilson Bridge bollards might only be dumb.

The bollards in my photos exist to manage motor vehicle traffic, a problem which might not actually exist.

The Torpedo Factory bollards were less offensive to me in that they were not in the trail and they were widely spaced. I agree that a reasonable cycling approach would be to walk the bike out on the dock. There was a second row of bollards just before the dock as well. Go figure!

I would guess that the Alexandria Bike Advisory Committee is working to remove these bollards.

[MCL1981]

I’m not sure why these are such a problem, especially the yellow ones. They’re to keep vehicles off our paths. Is it really that difficult to stay to the right or left of them?

[rcannon100]

a problem

There are several cyclists probably currently in the hospital with severe head trauma from hitting bollards recently. One at Rossevelt when there was gravel left on the trail; one at the Wilson bridge.

Vehicles colliding with obstructions in roadways is predictable. Therefore you built the obstructions to break – so that the vehicle or the human in the vehicle does not. This is true of roads that have guard rails designed to crumple. This is NOT true of bike paths that have bollards that will, frankly, kill.

[PotomacCyclist]

I’ve almost hit one of the Old Town-North bollards during the day. I wasn’t riding that fast but I was looking around for a couple seconds before riding up to the bollard. Bollards on the edges of the path would keep cars out while allowing cyclists to ride in the middle of the pavement. This is another stretch of the MVT that I tend to avoid now that Potomac Ave. is in place. If I’m riding south into Alexandria, I take Potomac Ave. (path or road). Then I’ll take Bashford Lane over to Old Town.

[dbb]

@MCL1981 22547 wrote:

I’m not sure why these are such a problem, especially the yellow ones. They’re to keep vehicles off our paths. Is it really that difficult to stay to the right or left of them?

You are sort of correct. Thousands of cyclists pass bollards without running into them but that shouldn’t be a justification for keeping them.

Arlington County has done a pretty credible job of removing bollards that aren’t necessary or when they are necessary swapping the pipe versions for a “softer” design. The softer bollards would still hurt if you ran into them, you would probably not end up in the hospital. I’ve not seen a dramatic increase in the number of motor vehicles on Arlington trails as a result, which would suggest many of the bollards had always been unnecessary.

The bollards in Alexandria seem to date from an earlier era when trails were just built with little thought for design. It seems to me that bollards should be the soft form (unless there is a security requirement) and used only as a last resort, avoid the bottom of slopes, and never hidden by a turn. Additionally, clearance should allow cyclists to pass through safely (there are two spacings of bollards in front of the White House – try the narrow ones to see what I mean).

[mstone]

@rcannon100 22549 wrote:

Vehicles colliding with obstructions in roadways is predictable. Therefore you built the obstructions to break – so that the vehicle or the human in the vehicle does not. This is true of roads that have guard rails designed to crumple. This is NOT true of bike paths that have bollards that will, frankly, kill.

This. Note that anything built today alongside a roadway is designed to crumple or deflect so as to avoid killing people in cars. E.g., the highway signs designed to break off at the ground, the tanks of sand/water at exits, the way jersey walls are arranged to overlap such that the overlapping section is toward the traffic. If only cyclists were shown the same care…

[bikesnick]

@MCL1981 22547 wrote:

I’m not sure why these are such a problem, especially the yellow ones. They’re to keep vehicles off our paths. Is it really that difficult to stay to the right or left of them?

At least we do not have bollards like these in Texas (where everything is bigger^tm). The bollards are 7 feet tall, are at both the entrance and exit of the bike path/sidewalk, and there is not much room on either side. I am not sure what purpose they serve. (note there is a stop sign exiting and entering the path, too.)
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[dbb]

@bikesnick 22568 wrote:

At least we do not have bollards like these in Texas (where everything is bigger^tm). The bollards are 7 feet tall, are at both the entrance and exit of the bike path/sidewalk, and there is not much room on either side. I am not sure what purpose they serve. (note there is a stop sign exiting and entering the path, too.)
[ATTACH=CONFIG]1211[/ATTACH]

Holy crap!

Back to my issue about the lack of critical thinking with respect to bollards. Not only did the “designers” bound the sidewalks with the stop and bike path signs, making it really hazardous, but I could step up on the curb just past the bollard in my wife’s Accord (if she wasn’t looking). These bollards effectively protect about 5 feet of the trail at a cost that was probably $1000 (fabrication and installation).

We can and must do better.

[Author]

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