January ’16 – Trail Condition: That time they predicted mind-boggling amounts of snow

[S. Arlington Observer]

Well said MStone and Lordofthemark.

The issue is not “being treated like automobiles.” The issue is being treated as a serious and useful means of transportation instead of a mere hobby.

[lordofthemark]

@PotomacCyclist 132035 wrote:

So is that guy (or gal) going to monitor every apartment, home, hospital, back alley and street corner, to make sure no excessive births happen? Or that no more individuals cross over the Alexandria border, from abroad but also from Arlington, DC, Fairfax or Maryland?.

I think he would be content with zoning to allow no new construction of anything.

[huskerdont]

I’m going to repeat this and be done, maybe take another ski break. There will always be people who act recklessly and go too fast, and there will always be innocent victims of this behavior. Slowing down yourself is all well and good, but if the jerk speeding the other way on the wrong side of the line on a blind curve plows into you, well, your theory about not needing to upgrade infrastructure just got blown to shite.

Removing and rebuilding the retaining wall would be more expense than it would be worth. It’s possible the trail could be widened a bit on the Lee Highway/sidewalk side, at least at the bottom curve itself. Better mirrors are the minimum fix. I’d like to see the light pole moved as well since that’s what folks are going to run into inbound when they avoid someone. The chain link fence obscures the sight line that would allow you to see people coming up the ramp from the sidewalk along Lee. People don’t use it much, but I’ve taken evasive here before when they have without looking.

Arlington does a decent job removing the wet leaves from the S-turn itself. I thank them for that. Lots of people have told me that they’ve wiped out here. 10+ years of going through here daily and I haven’t had a problem, but you don’t design and maintain infrastructure for just one person and a few trips, you do it for the likelihood of accidents over thousands and thousands of trips by thousands of different users with different skill sets and degrees of giving a rat’s.

[Tim Kelley]

@huskerdont 132143 wrote:

I’m going to repeat this and be done, maybe take another ski break. There will always be people who act recklessly and go too fast, and there will always be innocent victims of this behavior. Slowing down yourself is all well and good, but if the jerk speeding the other way on the wrong side of the line on a blind curve plows into you, well, your theory about not needing to upgrade infrastructure just got blown to shite.

Removing and rebuilding the retaining wall would be more expense than it would be worth. It’s possible the trail could be widened a bit on the Lee Highway/sidewalk side, at least at the bottom curve itself. Better mirrors are the minimum fix. I’d like to see the light pole moved as well since that’s what folks are going to run into inbound when they avoid someone. The chain link fence obscures the sight line that would allow you to see people coming up the ramp from the sidewalk along Lee. People don’t use it much, but I’ve taken evasive here before when they have without looking.

Arlington does a decent job removing the wet leaves from the S-turn itself. I thank them for that. Lots of people have told me that they’ve wiped out here. 10+ years of going through here daily and I haven’t had a problem, but you don’t design and maintain infrastructure for just one person and a few trips, you do it for the likelihood of accidents over thousands and thousands of trips by thousands of different users with different skill sets and degrees of giving a rat’s.

You should contact your local elected Arlington official to let them know how you feel. Not just about this specific location, but about how you feel about what can be done to improve the state of bicycling throughout the county.

[Tim Kelley]

@huskerdont 132143 wrote:

I’m going to repeat this and be done, maybe take another ski break. There will always be people who act recklessly and go too fast, and there will always be innocent victims of this behavior. Slowing down yourself is all well and good, but if the jerk speeding the other way on the wrong side of the line on a blind curve plows into you, well, your theory about not needing to upgrade infrastructure just got blown to shite.

Removing and rebuilding the retaining wall would be more expense than it would be worth. It’s possible the trail could be widened a bit on the Lee Highway/sidewalk side, at least at the bottom curve itself. Better mirrors are the minimum fix. I’d like to see the light pole moved as well since that’s what folks are going to run into inbound when they avoid someone. The chain link fence obscures the sight line that would allow you to see people coming up the ramp from the sidewalk along Lee. People don’t use it much, but I’ve taken evasive here before when they have without looking.

Arlington does a decent job removing the wet leaves from the S-turn itself. I thank them for that. Lots of people have told me that they’ve wiped out here. 10+ years of going through here daily and I haven’t had a problem, but you don’t design and maintain infrastructure for just one person and a few trips, you do it for the likelihood of accidents over thousands and thousands of trips by thousands of different users with different skill sets and degrees of giving a rat’s.

You should contact your local elected Arlington official to let them know how you feel. Not just about this specific location, but about how you feel about what can be done to improve the state of bicycling throughout the county.

[Steve O]

@Tim Kelley 132043 wrote:

In Arlington if you want to see more attention and funding going to trails, they need to be treated more as a transportation option and not for recreation.

I replied to this over on the ABAC thread. Let’s use this one for trail conditions.

[Dickie]

@mstone 131973 wrote:

Also, waving around a bunch of ridiculous stereotypes (strava? really?) in an attempt to avoid the actual point verges between the silly and the stupid.

WOW… for a few months there you were being pretty pleasant, then again I wasn’t around much so maybe I’m wrong…

[PotomacCyclist]

I guess this thread is what happens when we don’t get much snow in January. People are getting cabin fever even though they should be outside riding in the relatively mild conditions (for January).

Just a reminder, in case we ever do get measurable snow across the entire region:

@PotomacCyclist 131633 wrote:

What about following a format on the monthly Road and Trail Conditions thread to make these easier to read? These threads sometimes contain off-topic or marginally-related messages. What about if hazard warning posts always start off with the name of the location in bold type and all caps? Then a more detailed description of the problem could follow. For example, something like this:

MVT/GRAVELLY POINT – 1/23/2018, 8 am

Downed tree, 100 ft. north of the airplane viewing area. Blocking the entire trail. NPS has been notified.

This would make the thread easier to read for people who want to see hazard/obstacle warnings quickly before they head off to work/school/other. There wouldn’t have to be a precise format, as long as people use similar formats that highlight the location of the problem and make the notice easy to spot by those scanning through the thread quickly.

Just a suggestion. Obviously no one has to follow this suggested format. I just thought that it would make these threads easier to use by those who are in a rush in the mornings, evenings or any other time of the day.

[CaseyKane50]

I chatted with the project supervisor for the work on and near the MVT at National airport this morning. He indicated that work along the trail should be finished by the end of January (weather permitting). They will be back in April to put down the final layer of paving along the trail.

[mstone]

@Dickie 132151 wrote:

WOW… for a few months there you were being pretty pleasant, then again I wasn’t around much so maybe I’m wrong…

Nice of you to call me out, but not the aspersions that I replied to. Have a nice day.

[rcannon100]

@mstone 131973 wrote:

Also, waving around a bunch of ridiculous stereotypes (strava? really?) in an attempt to avoid the actual point verges between the silly and the stupid.

And here I always thought ridiculustly calling people names, cause basically you got nothing else to any of your argument and your are avoiding actual constructive conversations, verges on the stupid and the silly.

[mstone]

@rcannon100 132308 wrote:

And here I always thought ridiculustly calling people names, cause basically you got nothing else to any of your argument and your are avoiding actual constructive conversations, verges on the stupid and the silly.

Hey, if you want to encourage ridiculous stereotypes about cyclists, more power to you. I think it’s stupid and counterproductive, but to each his own. (Unless there’s some actual data suggesting that the only way that infrastructure can be dangerous is if people use strava? If so I’ll immediately issue a mea culpa for suggesting that attempting to negate criticism of infrastructure with unrelated insinuations about an app is silly.) I know ignoring context is fun, but please go back and start reading from the beginning. A couple of people expressed that they felt concern over the way the trail is constructed in a couple of spots, and there were a couple of comments about whether the trail could be reconfigured. In response, the post I replied to said “It’s ridiculous…entitled cyclists…[don’t brake]…Strava” and implied that the only reason someone would be concerned about the safety of the trail is if they are misbehaving. Am I missing exactly how that was constructive? In my reply I was trying to avoid a wall of text expressing the problems with that formulation, but I guess I’ll try to be more clear in the future.

[dkel]

Let him have it. It’s not wise to upset a Wookie.

[consularrider]

Far eastern DC suburb of Kyiv has an inch of fresh powder and it’s supposed to keep falling for another eight hours or so.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]10488[/ATTACH]

[PotomacCyclist]

We annexed Kyiv? Cool.

[Author]

Posts