Eads St. markings – return date?

[chris_s]

@CaseyKane50 101257 wrote:

No parking signs and tickets seem to have done the trick!

I wouldn’t be surprised if they had some help from Mr. Tow Truck. No parking signs should mean more construction happening today.

[dbb]

Here is a series of shots I took on Tuesday afternoon as I rode from 15th to 26th

[KLizotte]

@dbb 101265 wrote:

Here is a series of shots I took on Tuesday afternoon as I rode from 15th to 26th

Why didn’t they put in protected bike lanes (as exists on S Hayes Street) along 24th street? It looks like there is room; they just need to move the bike lane to the curb, put in bollards and change where the parking lane is.

[chris_s]

@KLizotte 101271 wrote:

Why didn’t they put in protected bike lanes (as exists on S Hayes Street) along 24th street? It looks like there is room; they just need to move the bike lane to the curb, put in bollards and change where the parking lane is.

My guess is either because of the large number of driveways or the bulb-out at 25th Street, but I’m not positive.

[DismalScientist]

@PotomacCyclist 101258 wrote:

I walked by there last evening. The entire bike lane was full of parked cars again. But this morning, the bike lane was empty.

I found driving on Hayes Street during the transition between the before and after very confusing. There was no indication that parking should be done in the new parking area. Before things are properly marked, I would suggest not getting bent out of shape about cars parked in the bike lane and simply using the parking area as a bike lane.

[PotomacCyclist]

I’m not upset about it. I’m just reporting what I saw in case others come across the cycletrack and expect it to be available.

Same thing last night. Cars were parked along the entire block in the cycletrack. Everything is properly marked on that block, although the cycletrack isn’t marked out between 15th and 18th Sts. yet. I read that the flex posts may not be installed until late in the month/year. I agree that until then, people should consider the cycletrack to be under “construction” and not truly available. That’s fine with me. But traffic enforcement didn’t take that view this week. (In this case, I can sort of understand the complaints about people being ticketed for parking in the cycletrack. It suddenly appeared one day, the flex posts aren’t there, and there aren’t any signs indicating the new parking rules. Even with the lines marked, people may not understand what it’s supposed to be.)

In any case, I rarely ride down Eads St. although I cross it frequently. In the past, when heading south, I ride over to Crystal Drive, then ride south to Potomac Ave. It’s a slight detour but worth it to me. Actually, right now, I’m still not riding at all (because of my quads).

[PotomacCyclist]

http://www.arlnow.com/2014/12/04/s-eads-street-gets-new-bike-lanes/

[Steve O]

@PotomacCyclist 101307 wrote:

(In this case, I can sort of understand the complaints about people being ticketed for parking in the cycletrack. It suddenly appeared one day, the flex posts aren’t there, and there aren’t any signs indicating the new parking rules. Even with the lines marked, people may not understand what it’s supposed to be.)

I agree with this. I think it would have been better to put informational/instructional fliers (or even warnings) on the cars at first. Given that this is such a new concept in Arlington, it’s easy to understand how drivers may not know what to do. Giving out tickets is just one more thing to create potential animosity towards cyclists.

[paulg]

I drove through there last night around 6pm and between 23rd street and 18th streets there was what appeared to be a county pick up truck with yellow lights flashing patrolling the North bound lane and a police car with blue lights flashing patrolling the south bound lane. When I say patrolling it seemed they were pulling up behind cars parked/stopped in the bike lane to help clear the bike lane. It was a little difficult to tell as I was driving through and couldn’t stop, but the bike lanes were clear of cars except for the the two that were being asked to move along.

If that’s so then thanks to Arlington Police and County for helping enforce the great new bike lane.

[PotomacCyclist]

Looks like there is a lack of coordination among County agencies here. The County sent their weekly Crystal City/Pentagon City transportation e-newsletter today. Here’s an excerpt [bold type added by me]:

“South Eads Street Bike Lanes

We’re finishing installation of new protected bike lanes on South Eads Street between 15th and 23rd Streets South. The lanes are not open yet, but will be complete and ready for use within the next two weeks (weather permitting). During this time period, vehicles will continue to park against the curb.

Once the lanes do open, drivers are reminded not to park in the protected bike lane and to pay for parking at the meters behind the curb.

This work is a pilot project designed to improve travel conditions for all users — pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists. Learn more on our website, and we welcome your feedback at eadspilot@arlingtonva.us.”

So traffic enforcement should not have been issuing tickets this week. If so, I think the tickets should be canceled. That would only be fair. The bike lane is not officially open yet, and there were no signs indicating that parking patterns had changed so suddenly. The County itself is saying that the bike lanes are not open yet, which means that those tickets were issued mistakenly.

Sure, I hope that the County enforces parking rules once the bike lanes are complete and open. But they shouldn’t issue tickets when there is no notice and the project is not complete.

[PotomacCyclist]

Flex posts are being installed today. I also noticed that drivers have started parking in the new assigned spaces in the evenings, instead of in the cycletrack.

[PotomacCyclist]

Wash Cycle retweeted this post from the Arlington Dept. of Environmental Services today:

“Reminder: Protected bike lanes on S. Eads St. are not open yet, but will be complete and ready for use within the next two weeks!”

https://twitter.com/ArlingtonDES/status/542001924468256769

[bobco85]

This evening, I rode on South Eads Street from the Hayes/18th cycletrack/bike lane to Glebe, and I found the new cycletrack and sometimes buffered bike lane to be a pretty nice improvement. The flex posts are up for the cycletrack, and all the parked vehicles I passed were in the right spots. I even noticed that the disappearing bike lane somewhere around Fort Scott Dr has a newly painted cyclist symbol, so hopefully the corresponding line will be painted soon. I am very pleased with the improvements

[PotomacCyclist]

There’s a new sign at the intersection with 18th St., indicating that drivers should stay to the left of the flex posts and that the track on the right is for cyclists. It’s simply an image of a car and a cyclist with arrows pointing to each side.

Perhaps some might question whether this implies that cyclists MUST use the cycle track. There is no text on the sign, I think. (I didn’t see it up close, but I could make out the images from a distance.) Now that the flex posts are installed (at least on that block, on the west-side curb), a driver wouldn’t be able to enter the cycle track from 18th St. anyway, without running over the flex posts. But I think it’s useful, to inform drivers that they shouldn’t try to squeeze their way around the flex posts and into the cycle track.

[PotomacCyclist]

Flex posts now added between 15th and 18th Streets (which is actually just one block).

No cycletrack on part of the southbound side of Eads, NW corner of the intersection with 18th St., because of the ongoing construction.

[Author]

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