"Green" Bike Lanes In Arlington.

[mstone]

Except that it isn’t free

[KLizotte]

@mstone 30037 wrote:

Except that it isn’t free

I’m not saying all the bike lanes should be painted (though that would certainly be nice); rather, that one color should be chosen for consistency; just like roads only use white and yellow lines.

[dbb]

It would appear that green is the preferred color. The Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices is the bible for this sort of thing.

In 2011, the Federal Highway Administration issued Interim Approval for Optional Use of Green Colored Pavement for Bike Lanes http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/resources/interim_approval/ia14/index.htm It states:

“A number of experiments have been conducted in the United States and in other countries around the world to determine the value of designating a particular pavement color to communicate to road users that a portion of the roadway has been set aside for exclusive or preferential use by bicyclists and to enhance the conspicuity of a bicycle lane or a bicycle lane extension. Green, blue, and red are among the colors that have been tested for this purpose. Because these colored pavements are intended to regulate, warn, or guide traffic (motorists and bicyclists) and thus are serving as more than just an aesthetic treatment, they are considered to be traffic control devices.

For the past ten years in the United States, green has been the only color that has received official FHWA approval for colored pavement experiments on bicycle facilities. Blue colored pavement cannot be designated for exclusive or preferential use in bicycle facilities because it is already the primary color of the international symbol of accessibility parking symbol (see Figure 3B-22 of the 2009 MUTCD) and it is also used for the lines that are adjacent to parking spaces that are reserved for use only by persons with disabilities. The use of red colored pavement has not been approved for any bicycle-related experiments in the United States because it is currently being tested for a different potential use.”

The MUTCD chapter on bicycle stuff is here

http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/htm/2009/part9/part9_toc.htm

[vtben]

@dbb 30047 wrote:

The use of red colored pavement has not been approved for any bicycle-related experiments in the United States because it is currently being tested for a different potential use.”

That’s interesting. I recently noticed that the restricted lanes on I-66 outside the beltway (the red ‘X’ lanes) had been painted red.

[bobco85]

@Tim Kelley 29743 wrote:

The first five locations are:
• EB Military Road at Nellie Custis split (Donaldson Run CA)
• EB Clarendon Blvd at 15th St. split (Courthouse)
• WB Wilson Blvd. at Vietch St intersection (Courthouse)
• NB Lynn St. between 19th St. and EB Lee Hwy (Rosslyn)
• WB 15th St./NB Joyce St. at Pentagon City Mall parking garage (Pentagon City)

I just went on a green bike lane scavenger hunt, and it looks like the following 3 have been completed:
• EB Military Road at Nellie Custis split (Donaldson Run CA)
• EB Clarendon Blvd at 15th St. split (Courthouse)
• WB 15th St./NB Joyce St. at Pentagon City Mall parking garage (Pentagon City)

I imagine the WB Wilson Blvd. at Veitch St intersection in Courthouse and NB Lynn St between 19th St and EB Lee Hwy in Rosslyn will be completed in the upcoming weeks, as they were not there when I checked.

I took some pictures of the green bike lanes I saw (my album is here: http://bikearlingtonforum.com/album.php?albumid=27), along with some of the other bike facilities including a construction gate that was forcing cyclists off a 4 inch drop into main traffic in Rosslyn. I moved it out of the way, though

The green bike lanes are nice, but they’re so short that you don’t get that “Wow, I’m in a really special place!” kind of feeling that I got when using the green bike lanes in San Francisco. That said, they are very nice to have, and I’d like to see this in more areas around the county.

[vtben]

@bobco85 30052 wrote:

The green bike lanes are nice, but they’re so short that you don’t get that “Wow, I’m in a really special place!” kind of feeling that I got when using the green bike lanes in San Francisco. That said, they are very nice to have, and I’d like to see this in more areas around the county.

I got the same feeling when I saw them. They’re very short. Still, though, I’m sure they’ll improve safety at those intersections for bicyclists. Just can’t help but wish that the green continued the entire length of the lane

[PotomacCyclist]

20th St. S. and Crystal Drive is another good candidate. The bike lane on the east side of Crystal Drive disappears in the intersection with 20th St. Then it reappears but shifted over a couple feet to the left. The car lanes also shift to the left. Many drivers don’t recognize that all of the road lanes shift to the left until they are nearly on top of the CaBi station at the intersection. Thus, they may veer into the bike lane as they cross 20th St.

http://goo.gl/maps/YOs3i

[Guus]

Today they were painting the bike lane on Wilson, west bound before the crossing with Veitch.

[dbb]

@bobco85 30052 wrote:

I just went on a green bike lane scavenger hunt

I am seeing a theme developing for a Arlington Social ride and St Patricks Day Happy Hour!

[Author]

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