Lynn Street Esplanade and Custis Trail Improvements – 2018/2019

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@sjclaeys 192848 wrote:

While not 100% ideal, it really is not that bad and pales in comparison to other more dangerous infrastructure in Arlington County.

Well that’s damning with faint praise.

[huskerdont]

Saw a driver almost use the trail at the upper Marriott entrance Friday afternoon. Maryland plates. We’re gonna need more bollards. :rolleyes:

[Judd]

@huskerdont 192890 wrote:

Saw a driver almost use the trail at the upper Marriott entrance Friday afternoon. Maryland plates. We’re gonna need more bollards. :rolleyes:

Needs a light pole in the middle to discourage car infiltration.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[sjclaeys]

@sjclaeys 192848 wrote:

I’d ride through the intersection as it is now before further judging the situation. While not 100% ideal, it really is not that bad and pales in comparison to other more dangerous infrastructure in Arlington County.

Having now gone through the intersection both directions several times, I really do not think that pole is much of a problem given its position. Just pay attention and slow down.

[Tania]

@sjclaeys 192914 wrote:

Having now gone through the intersection both directions several times, I really do not think that pole is much of a problem given its position. Just pay attention and slow down.

I had to go back and look at the pics posted here because I couldn’t believe that the pole at the IOD was actually the pole everyone is kvetching about.

[dasgeh]

@Tania 192922 wrote:

I had to go back and look at the pics posted here because I couldn’t believe that the pole at the IOD was actually the pole everyone is kvetching about.

I believe the issue is that this is brand-new, best-in-class infrastructure. The pole isn’t the worst in the County and isn’t that bad, but will make crowding worse at a very crowded place. There’s a very easy alternative. It should not have been designed or built where it is.

If it was designed to be somewhere else and the contractor screwed up, then that’s easy — the contractor should fix it, no cost to the County. If it turns out the County screwed up and designed it there, we need to make sure that sure designs don’t happen again, and discuss whether it’s worth the $$ to fix now.

[Steve O]

What dasgeh said.

It is inconceivable that VDOT would widen a road anywhere in the state and then place a piece of infrastructure–a pole, a fire hydrant–in the road!

Yet that is what they have done here, and everyone is like, “meh, could be worse.” No. No. No. If we constantly accept “meh” then that is what we will continue to get.

It could be better, and it can be better. And it could have been better at exactly the same cost. What this shows is a lack of attention to the details that take bike facilities from fair to good or good to excellent (did I hear that ArlCo is trolling for Gold from LAB? This lack of attention to detail is not gold). I don’t accept that this project that has taken 10+ years and millions of dollars cannot get something like this right.

[huskerdont]

@sjclaeys 192914 wrote:

Having now gone through the intersection both directions several times, I really do not think that pole is much of a problem given its position. Just pay attention and slow down.

I can slow down. You can slow down. Some of us have mad skillz. You can’t get everyone to slow down. Someone will run into it or someone else avoiding it. You can say it’s that person’s fault if you wish, but roads are designed (supposedly) not for the most skilled drivers, but to be safe for those with poorer driving skills. And that person with poorer skills may also hurt someone else.

I came across a woman last week who had wiped out on a cabi because of the bumps on the turn just below this intersection. Her face, shoulders, and knuckles were bloody. Many of us ride that section every day and are fine; thousands of people going through, some on rented bikes, and people will get hurt. Because the infrastructure is substandard and most of us just accept it and move on.

[sjclaeys]

Thanks to all for reminding me why posting on the forum is often a waste of time.

[lordofthemark]

@Steve O 192925 wrote:

If we constantly accept “meh”

The origin is unknown. Some have speculated that the term’s origin is Yiddish because of its similarity to the interjection “feh”,[3] which appears in the 1936 Yiddish song Yidl Mitn Fidl. In Alexander Harkavy’s Yiddish-English-Hebrew Dictionary the word is treated as a bleating or baa sound. Hooray for Yiddish, by Leo Rosten uses the word “mnyeh”, which is speculated to be an early variant of “meh”.[3]

It appears to have become widespread after usage on the Simpsons.

Oh my, its possible https://www.strava.com/activities/2535558672

[Steve O]

I received this email from the project manager this morning:

Hi – The signal pole on the NW corner of Lee westbound and Lynn was not placed in accordance with the approved construction plans and will be relocated.

The corner of Fort Myer Drive will be paved concrete, not a depression.

The second part of the message has to do with this observation I had this weekend:
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[Subby]

Any word on when the construction will be done on the EAST side of Lynn Street in that intersection (across the street from Gateway Park)? Those jersey barriers make it tough for folks turning left on Lynn after rip-filtering down Lee Hwy with all of the gridlocked cars and buses.

[ursus]

Does anyone know if the Bikometer will be reinstalled near the IoD? (I have not been there since Sunday if it is now up.)

[dasgeh]

@Subby 192998 wrote:

Any word on when the construction will be done on the EAST side of Lynn Street in that intersection (across the street from Gateway Park)? Those jersey barriers make it tough for folks turning left on Lynn after rip-filtering down Lee Hwy with all of the gridlocked cars and buses.

I don’t know, but I think we’ve still got a while. Arlington prioritized doing the trail first (yay!) but I think that means we’re only 1/2 way through the project.

@ursus 193718 wrote:

Does anyone know if the Bikometer will be reinstalled near the IoD? (I have not been there since Sunday if it is now up.)

I am 99% certain it will be installed (they’ve even marked out where the sensor cuts should go) but do not know when.

[bentbike33]

On a recent afternoon commute, I noticed another stupid about this project. The right-turn slip lane from Lee Hwy to Oak Street is now open, and a right-turn arrow, which turns on when Oak Street has the green and Lee Hwy has red, has been added for traffic in that lane. This light can only be seen by west-bound trail users. Given how often there is no traffic coming out of Oak Street on its green light, many Custis users cross the empty Oak Street on the Lee Hwy red, and in the past drivers turning right on red would generally yield to crosswalk users. With the new green arrow, I’m sure some drivers will feel entitled not to yield, and if there is a crash, liability will be in dispute.

[Author]

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