Keeping Road Construction Safe

[Greenbelt]

Can’t speak for Arlington, but in my part of MD suburbs, construction crews don’t seem to deal well with either bike or pedestrian needs. Most of the signage (such as road closed, trail closed, sidewalk closed) seems more based on some butt-covering liability rather than real transport needs.

For one thing, don’t put roadwork warning signs in the bike lanes or on the shoulders where cyclists ride.

And some white paint on any temporary ADA ramps for those of us who ride after dark!

And don’t close sidewalks when there’s no alternative for walkers. I see these “pedestrian please use other side” signs on closed sidewalks where there is no sidewalk on the other side!

Perhaps the main thing is to make explicit accommodations for walkers and bikes in construction zones, even if they’re rough dirt paths or temporary gravel stretches, that’s way better than no accommodations at all.

[Steve]

I completely agree with the spray paint suggestion. The vertical cuts are always a big thing that I am worried about, and that would help greatly without costing anything. Also, I suggest possibly signage in two forms: 1) Signs that state there is uneven surface for cyclists. Often you see these types of sings for cars, but they go away once the road is mostly re-paved. For cyclists, must smaller grade difference cause issues. 2) Signs that clarify the right of cyclists to use the whole lane around construction sites. I know the video example was the cut in the road, but the issue I run into more often is how filled with dirt, rocks, and debris the bike lane can get (or just the far right side of the driving lane) next to a construction site. It would be nice to have some signage or sharrow painted to notify drivers that cyclists may use the entire lane to get around these areas.

[dasgeh]

I confess I don’t know how road construction typically works — specifically how road construction is inspected by the County and when and how a contractor gets to say “this is complete” and gets paid. The simple answer is to make sure the County inspectors (if that’s how it works) both walk and bike, so they look for things that are a danger to cyclists and pedestrians.

For example, just a few blocks from where you took that video, there’s ongoing construction at Monroe that alters the North sidewalk. For whatever reason, the ped signal as you walk West turns to go (walking person) when the cars from eastbound Lee Hwy get a green arrow. The peds going East still have stop (red hand). So cars are turning left onto Monroe, expecting to have a protected left, while peds are told to go. Someone who walks would look at the ped signals and notice the problem. Someone who only drives might not.

[sjclaeys]

Apparently, PG county is considering a law requiring lanes for bicycles and space for walkers when roads are under repair, as well as for all new roadways. Here is the article (h/t to TheWashCycle): http://www.gazette.net/article/20121017/NEWS/710179356/1029/prince-george-s-looks-to-open-roads-to-bikers-and-pedestrians&template=gazette

[mstone]

Remember what happened last time someone asked for safety improvements…http://dcist.com/2012/10/dc_cracks_down_on_pennsylvania_aven.php

That aside, the obvious answer is simply that they can’t just close a bike or pedestrian facility without an alternative. If they need to, they can close a street lane instead. VDOT could learn that lesson as well (fairfax county parkway at 50/fair lakes).

[sjclaeys]

Taking cyclists and pedestrians into account when doing road work would be great, but I’d be especially happy if there could be rules for work done on the trails. The experience with the tree trimming on the Custis Trail was horrendous (randomly blocked trails, poor detours, debris left on the trail) and I still often run into similar situations (such as the Arlington County truck parked on the W&OD near Bluemont last Saturday morning at 8:00 am).

[rcannon100]

fiscal constraints

??? You have to be kidding me??? What fiscal constraints. Arlington has spent money like it has an infinite well. During the hardest of economic times, it did not cut a penny. They threatened to close a completely superfluous planetarium – and then didnt. They threatened to close a superfluous nature center frequented by rich people – and then didnt. What did they do? They raise our taxes.

The only fiscal constraint experienced in Arlington is premised on the almost complete lack of fiscal constraint experienced in Arlington. If Arlington could possibly show some modicum of disciplined and constrain with the way it spends money, it might have more money on the things it needs.

Oh, and going in a different direction – good planning is not a fiscal constraint issue. Good planning usually will save a local govt money. Do it once; do it right. Engineer it at the beginning to address all needs; so it doesnt have to be rebuilt the second fresh pavement is put down…… which is exactly what happened on Quincy. I am not sure the new pavement was down a week before it was torn up again.

I love Arlington…. but it gets silly sometimes.

[ShawnoftheDread]

I love a good fiscal constraint rant. Or any rant, really.

[rcannon100]

Need a little [RANT MODE] icon. Or perhaps an icon.

[Mark Blacknell]

@rcannon100 34172 wrote:

??? You have to be kidding me??? What fiscal constraints. Arlington has spent money like it has an infinite well.

Come with me to a budget meeting sometime?

To be sure, I take your general point. Generally, whenever I see a challenge in Arlington, the fiscal constraints are pretty far back in the list of concerns. That said, road maintenance costs a *lot*, and those costs have figured greatly into planning. Maintenance isn’t a capital issue, it’s an ongoing budget concern. Tough stuff, when you have to balance it against a hundred other priorities that bring people out to the annual budget hearings.

[acc]

At this point in my life I worry enough about my fellow cyclists that if I see something scary, and it’s within a mile or two of my home I’ll mark it with spray paint and post a warning on the forum. Broken bones are no joke. Hard falls stay with you.

[consularrider]

@rcannon100 34172 wrote:

??? You have to be kidding me??? What fiscal constraints. Arlington has spent money like it has an infinite well. During the hardest of economic times, it did not cut a penny. They threatened to close a completely superfluous planetarium – and then didnt. They threatened to close a superfluous nature center frequented by rich people – and then didnt. What did they do? They raise our taxes.

The only fiscal constraint experienced in Arlington is premised on the almost complete lack of fiscal constraint experienced in Arlington. If Arlington could possibly show some modicum of disciplined and constrain with the way it spends money, it might have more money on the things it needs.

Oh, and going in a different direction – good planning is not a fiscal constraint issue. Good planning usually will save a local govt money. Do it once; do it right. Engineer it at the beginning to address all needs; so it doesnt have to be rebuilt the second fresh pavement is put down…… which is exactly what happened on Quincy. I am not sure the new pavement was down a week before it was torn up again.

I love Arlington…. but it gets silly sometimes.

You completely forgot about the County’s fiscal constraints quoted with getting the Custis repaving done.

[Rootchopper]

A simple thing these constrcution crews could be required to do is post a phone number for road users to call if they think the detour or plates or other temporary change is dangerous. As you know, there were numerous changes to the configuration of the Mount Vernon Trail at the Beltway over the last ten years. Things were mostly safe until the Jones Point Park project to rehab the area beneath and near the newly completed bridge. The Jones Point contractor was incredibly inventive in creating seriously dangerous temporary changes to the trail, often on a weekly basis. Right hand turns with dark fences, pavement that would not support the weight of a bike, and many more. Cyclists were bitching up a storm but it seemed like nobody was responsible. Simply providing unambiguous contact information would have helped greatly (and may have led to some design modifications in the final configuration).

[CaseyKane50]

I think contractors should be required to maintain the existing bike infrastructure when they undertake projects that impact bike lanes. In a previous post, I had commented on some situations around Pentagon City that were clearly not ideal for bicyclists – bike lane taken by the contractor working on the Joyce Street project for a construction trailer, no warning that the bike lanes were gone on Hayes Street, damaged street on Army-Navy Drive and the conditions on Eads Street.

Arlington County should require that contractors working in areas where there is bike infrastructure to provide a plan with their permit request that would detail how they will maintain bike access and bicyclists safety during construction and what steps they will take to correct damages following construction. The actual repairs might need to be done by the County, but it should still be handled in an expeditious manner. Included in the plan should be how they will communicate to the biking community. The contractor should also be required to mark hazardous conditions throughout the duration of the project. Certainly bicyclists, should not have to take it upon themselves to mark these conditions.

The above mentioned damage on Army-Navy Drive involved the contractor digging a hole in the street to provide water service to a new house. That work was done in the spring, to date the patch and the sink hole remain. The patch obliterated part of the bike lane markings (no more than three feet), but take a ride down Eads Street and you can see what the patches have done to bike lane markings south of 23rd Street. Of course, the fact that the County has done absolutely nothing to maintain the bike lane markings on Eads probably doesn’t encourage a contractor to worry much about their patches.

With the Joyce Street project damage to the bike lane is not really the issue. However, in this case and others, the contractors should be required to post appropriate signage specifically addressed to bicyclists that the lane has been closed. Contractors should not be able to just close off bike lanes without providing some alternative routing. However, if alternative routing isn’t possible, perhaps the contractor should have to create a temporary bike lane and shrink the car access. I at least hope that Arlington County is charging rent for the Joyce Street project trailer and the cars that are parking in the bike lane. Ideally, money collected could be used to either repair existing bike infrastructure or add new biking facilities.

[Amalitza]

@Greenbelt 34113 wrote:

Perhaps the main thing is to make explicit accommodations for walkers and bikes in construction zones, even if they’re rough dirt paths or temporary gravel stretches, that’s way better than no accommodations at all.

+1000

Like Greenbelt, I don’t deal with Arlington transportation regularly– my regular transportation interactions are Fairfax, PG, and Charles counties, and old town Alexandria. So I don’t really know how Arlington thinks about pedestrian and cyclist needs during construction– maybe it’s already something that’s regularly considered.

But this is what Fairfax County does (or maybe VDOT, I don’t actually know):

There is some kind of work being done near where I live today, looks like some work on a traffic signal probably, taking place at two corners of an intersection. It is on Richmond highway (rt1 south of alexandria), which is not exactly a pedestrian mecca to begin with. The sidewalk and surrounding ground is torn up on both east and west sides of Rt1 at this intersection. Thus, there is no means for a pedestrian to travel north-south along Rt1– say, if one were attempting to get to or from a bus stop. Better, it’s on the side of the intersection with the crosswalk (there is of course a crosswalk– and pedestrian signal– on only one side of the intersection), so pedestrians heading east-west along the cross-street or needing to cross rt 1 due to catching/exiting a bus on the opposite side of where they live have no safe means of crossing Rt. 1. There is, incidentally, a bus stop maybe 100 feet from this intersection, with no means of reaching it other than walking along Rt. 1, and no other crosswalks or intersections particularly close by.

The right-hand turn lane of the westbound cross-street was closed for the work, but none of the 6 lanes of automobile traffic along Rt 1 are closed. There is no accommodation to allow pedestrians to navigate this intersection– no lane blocked off from cars on the road for peds to use, no route around the construction on grass or parking lot, no temporary crosswalk or traffic direction/crossing guard type person to help get people across the highway, or even any signage on the highway that sidewalks/crosswalks are closed ahead so watch for peds in the roadway. When I went through, there was a man walking around the construction in the traffic lane because there simply was no where else for him to go (unless he wanted to climb a ten-foot fence, I guess). There are sidewalk closed signs posted at the start of the work (basically, right at a busy intersection) in all directions– signs are *not* posted even a little bit in advance (though, to be fair, the large crane up ahead might be a clue to approaching peds:cool:). There was a huge hole just being dug in the ground when I went through earlier (at 3:30 pm on a Friday) so I suspect this work is not going to be completed today. It’s very nice that someone cares enough about pedestrian safety to post “sidewalk closed” signs immediately prior to the obviously closed sidewalk, preventing someone from ignorantly walking past the very large machinery and falling into the gapingly huge hole, but perhaps it would be slightly more beneficial to pedestrian safety were someone to provide a means of reaching the bus stop, (or 7-11, or Five-Guys) that does not involve dodging 45 mph (I’m being generous) traffic on a busy 6-lane two-direction highway.

This is not an unusual situation.

In theory, this has a low-cost solution– create a temporary route for pedestrians to use– block a traffic lane, tape off a path through or around the construction, even just put a guy with a flag and stop/slow sign out to watch for peds trying to get through and stop traffic momentarily. But someone has to make and enforce a policy that peds/cyclists needs are considered and when necessary are rerouted safely whenever construction is done, and I realize that portion of it is not cheap or easy.

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