Columbia Pike

[dasgeh]

@dasgeh 98485 wrote:

Some ladies on the Women & Bicycles FB group were reporting that they could bike through the Wright Gate past 6pm without a military ID.

This (old post that someone recently liked) reminds me: the new access restrictions have changed the Wright Gate hours: anyone allowed through (Federal ID, Military ID, AIE) is allowed through whenever it is open, which I believe is 5am until 11pm.

[Starduster]

I will verify PotomacCyclist’s assessment of the bridge area as accurate. Almost there. Almost. There is no bike lane striping in that section, but the sidewalks on both(!) sides are nice and wide. One concern- I need to see how safe it will be to use the south side sidewalk where it crosses the ramp to Washington Blvd & 395.

Now, about the Pike: Found the map showcasing the County’s paving projects for what I *thought* was this year. http://arlingtonva.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2015/02/DES_Paving_Map_20151.pdf The title in the bottom right, though, says “…2016”. Anyway, the section of Columbia Pike between Walter Reed and Washington Blvd is marked for paving. But *when*? We didn’t have an answer at the last ABAC meeting. I was counting on it being paved *this year*, not next. For those who haven’t run that stretch, the pavement is too degraded to go downhill quickly and safely. Both sidewalks are narrow, decidely lumpy, and of course we must yield to pedestrians. The big ring is not an option. All of this to get whatever immediate fixes we can, and then concentrate on the goals that require more time.

[PotomacCyclist]

Columbia Pike

July 21, 2015

Construction Notices for Washington Boulevard Bridge Project

The following notices are for VDOT’s Route 27/244 Interchange project, which is replacing the Washington Boulevard bridge over Columbia Pike and improving the interchange.

Eastbound Columbia Pike Lane Use Change Starts July 22

Beginning Wednesday, July 22, the eastbound lanes of Columbia Pike on the approach to the I-395 ramps will revert back to the time of day lane use that was in effect prior to the construction of the Route 27/244 Interchange.

Between 6:30 and 9 a.m. weekdays, motorists will access the I-395 north/south ramp and eastbound Washington Boulevard from either lane on eastbound Columbia Pike, and only the left lane will provide access to eastbound Columbia Pike under the bridge.

At all other times of the day, motorists will only be able to access the ramp from the rightmost lane, whereas both lanes will provide access to eastbound Columbia Pike under the bridge.

Motorists are asked to pay attention to the overhead signs, as these will be lighted with arrows indicating the appropriate lane use for the respective time of day. See VDOT’s notice for an image of the overhead signs.

Nighttime Paving July 26-30

On the nights of Sunday, July 26 through Thursday, July 30 (from 9 p.m. each
night until 4:30 a.m. the following morning), VDOT will be performing milling and final paving on Columbia Pike. Travel lanes may shift multiple times each night to accommodate the paving operations. The work for each night is weather dependent.

http://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/VAARLINGTON/bulletins/1107f8a

[Raymo853]

@Raymo853 120385 wrote:

As someone who drives, rides, and runs through that intersection all the time, it is so much better for all three modes. It is still not 100% done.

Now that the work is nearly done, I think the situation is now worse for bicycles and pedestrians. Primary two causes: 1. The automotive speeds through the area are much higher. 2. The section allowing cars traveling NE along Columbia Pike to expand from two lanes to 2.5-ish (bold on the ish) for the merge onto I295 is just poorly laid out and causes all sorts of unpredictable car movements.

[scoot]

@Raymo853 122948 wrote:

Now that the work is nearly done, I think the situation is now worse for bicycles and pedestrians. Primary two causes: 1. The automotive speeds through the area are much higher. 2. The section allowing cars traveling NE along Columbia Pike to expand from two lanes to 2.5-ish (bold on the ish) for the merge onto I295 is just poorly laid out and causes all sorts of unpredictable car movements.

The new configuration is awful. The eastbound splitting into 3 lanes just before S Queen is a disaster. And the idea of lane-control signals (to determine whether the left lane can go up the ramp or whether the right lane can stay on the Pike) is overkill. My current approach eastbound there:
– take the right lane (while staying in the left half of it for added visibility and assertiveness)
– keep an eagle eye on anyone overtaking on my left
– try to time my arrival at the 2-3 split point not to coincide with an overtaking vehicle
– then continue straight ahead in the middle of the right lane under the bridge.
Disclaimer: I don’t ride that route too often, and I’ve never had to do it in morning rush hour.

Pedestrians also have it worse now. Longer crosswalks to deal with, and the vehicles are traveling through them much faster than they were previously.

This new interchange alone should bump Arlington back to Bronze…

[Raymo853]

@scoot 122968 wrote:

The new configuration is awful.

This new interchange alone should bump Arlington back to Bronze…

I had such high hopes of improvement, they were beyond dashed with it becoming worse.

[elbows]

@scoot 122968 wrote:

Pedestrians also have it worse now. Longer crosswalks to deal with, and the vehicles are traveling through them much faster than they were previously.

…

Even though it requires more effort for me to get myself to 9 am meetings on time properly attired and bathed, I wait until 8 am in order to go through JBMHH in order to avoid biking east through this area. It is nice to have smoother road, but the wider lanes encourage dangerous speeds and I worry even more about being hit. Kind of ticks me off but I try to avoid it so the anger doesn’t consume me. I don’t find all the loss of trees along there worthwhile either.

Coming home west, I just abandon my principles and ride on the sidewalk until Orme and that is preferable to being on the road. Agree that the waits are longer for pedestrians. BTW, it doesn’t involve the bridge but the waits at the Scott crosswalk can be absurd. Like 5 minutes when there are barely any vehicles on the road.

Also, I know I’m not going to change minds, but I respectfully disagree with the person who criticized the “weeds” and junkyard appearance on the site of the former Annex. After riding through a sea of ivy, cement, and artificial turf, it is one of my favorite places to gaze upon. Disrespectful? I don’t know. Not to me. I enjoy seeing what plants are popping up in there.

[Tim Kelley]

@scoot 122968 wrote:

This new interchange alone should bump Arlington back to Bronze…

Don’t blame Arlington for VDOT’s sins! http://www.virginiadot.org/projects/northernvirginia/route_27-244_interchange.asp

[chris_s]

How quickly we forget.

@scoot 122968 wrote:

Pedestrians also have it worse now. Longer crosswalks to deal with, and the vehicles are traveling through them much faster than they were previously.

They now have a signal-controlled crossing. At the old interchange they had to take their chances on uncontrolled crossings and hope oncoming cars would yield.

@scoot 122968 wrote:

And the idea of lane-control signals (to determine whether the left lane can go up the ramp or whether the right lane can stay on the Pike) is overkill.

There were lane controls before, but they were static signs with a time on them. So far, people seem to be doing a better job of obeying the dynamic ones – the static ones were ignored by about 1 in 6 people.

@scoot 122968 wrote:

1. The automotive speeds through the area are much higher.

I’m not sure they’re any higher than pre-construction. The construction (and resulting pavement “quality”) certainly had a traffic-calming effect.

[scoot]

@chris_s 122993 wrote:

How quickly we forget.

Fair enough. The construction has been ongoing ever since I moved to Arlington, so I did not have a point of comparison pre-construction. Repaving aside, the design is worse for bicyclists now than it has been over the last two years.

Somehow I never noticed any lane control signage previously. I don’t see the point of a time-dependent variable lane configuration at this location, and I think it is confusing and dangerous. What problem is VDOT trying to solve, that cannot be solved by choosing one of the two solutions full-time?

[scoot]

@elbows 122980 wrote:

I wait until 8 am in order to go through JBMHH in order to avoid biking east through this area.

Are you waiting until 8 am in order to go through the cemetery? If the cemetery gate is closed, you can still go down McNair to Marshall, exit JBMHH through Wright Gate, and then take the 110 Trail to get back over to Memorial Bridge. Not as nice or as direct a ride as the cemetery route, but it is open earlier.

[dasgeh]

@scoot 123023 wrote:

Are you waiting until 8 am in order to go through the cemetery? If the cemetery gate is closed, you can still go down McNair to Marshall, exit JBMHH through Wright Gate, and then take the 110 Trail to get back over to Memorial Bridge. Not as nice or as direct a ride as the cemetery route, but it is open earlier.

And if you’re just trying to avoid the Pike, you can exit through the gate off of Southgate Road — it puts you parallel to the Pike and is a nice ride down to Joyce.

[PotomacCyclist]

The new Freedman’s Village Bridge was dedicated last week by Gov. McAuliffe.

https://www.arlnow.com/2015/09/10/gov-mcauliffe-dedicates-bridge-over-columbia-pike-in-honor-of-freedmans-village/

Although I don’t ride through there often, I’m not sure I understand the complaints that it is worse now than it was before. During construction, the road and sidewalks were in horrendous shape. There were often detours, although some of those slowed overall traffic speeds so it wasn’t always so bad. I ran into one of the construction ditches that the contractors cut into the road or sidewalk, with no warning signs anywhere. If I hadn’t been riding on a CaBi bike, I might have flipped over the handlebars.

The rest of Columbia Pike could still use some improvement. Well, a lot of improvement. I would really hope that Arlington and DOD sort out the remaining issues for the proposed land swap on the eastern end of Columbia Pike. That could allow for construction of a decent paved trail along the eastern section of the Pike, from S. Joyce St. to the new bridge. There are no good bike routes from Pentagon City to points north and west. If the Columbia Pike path is built, then it could connect Pentagon City with the Washington Blvd. trail that will connect Columbia Pike with Clarendon. I think that trail is supposed to be built by the end of next year.

[DismalScientist]

Southgate and Orme is a fine substitute for the Pike east of Wash Blvd. The real problem with the Pike is Wash Blvd to Courthouse, west of which there are calm side streets.

[Starduster]

Agreed that Orme to Southgate is a much safer route. West and up the hill to Courthouse (and on to Walter Reed)… is on the schedule to be paved. I am still hoping it will done *this* year as “promised”. That one step step will make the route a little safer.

Yet nearly *all* of the Pike is not safely ridable. Yet you see people doing so, out of necessity. The Bike Boulevards are good only as far as the streets exist, and not everyone knows about them.

My friends at Papillon Cycles would love to see a safer-to-ride Pike, and the developers and merchants who came here with the expectation of a streetcar route would benefit as well.

Improvements that “take the black off” the Pike on the Bicycle Comfort Level Map. Who’s in?

[Author]

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