M Street NW Cycletrack Plan

[bobco85]

While snooping around for L Street NW cycletrack info (thanks to the other thread), I found an updated (dated February 2013) plan for the M Street NW cycletrack with some interesting tidbits.

To see the newest plan, you can go to the DDOT Bicycle Lanes page here (click on the M Street Protected Bike Lane Project for the PDF): http://www.dc.gov/DC/DDOT/On+Your+Street/Bicycles+and+Pedestrians/Bicycles/Bicycle+Lanes

Three interesting things here that make this plan different, and in my opinion, better than the current L Street NW cycletrack:
1. The cycletrack in the proposed image is on the right side of the road.
2. A parking lane will serve as an additional buffer between between cars and the cycletrack, which should drastically reduce the number of people parking in the cycletrack.
3. The cross-over between the cycletrack and right turn lane, while similarly modeled after L’s cycletrack, is more intuitive because cyclists are more used to bike lanes merging with right turn lanes (usually by changing the left side of the bike lane to a dashed line when approaching an intersection).

Also to note: public input for the project is expected to occur this spring, so we’ll need to be on the lookout when it happens.

Topic

[arlrider]

I actually have mixed feelings about the cycletrack being on the right side of the road on M. I ride M from 19th to the Key Bridge each day and in the section of 19-28 I would definitely say that I see more road blockage on the right lanes than on the left. The chief culprit being the Fairmont Hotel on the Juniper side; in the summer there will be 2 or 3 “Yankee” branded buses idling there all afternoon including rush hour. Sometimes I’ve even seen FedEx or USPS come along and park left of those, taking M down by two lanes! Don’t see as much blockage on the left. Also, after coming over the bridge past 28, the turn onto 29 is a big popular right-hand turn with a lot of cars, but most bikes aren’t turning right. So between 28 and 29 the majority of bikes would have to move over a lane; if the track was on the left this wouldn’t be needed.

[jrenaut]

So this stops at 28th, is that right? So it doesn’t help the connection to the bridge? I don’t ride this much, but the part of this I really want is the connection to VA. M through Georgetown is so backed up it’s pretty safe to take a lane and wait with the cars. And M though downtown is wide enough that I haven’t had a problem there, but as I said I don’t use it often.

[UrbanEngineer]

Seems over complicated. A buffer of parked cars right before a mixing zone. Not so sure I like that. It would be safer to have a designated turn arrow for the road users and have the cyclists follow the pedestrian signals as they do on the 15th street cycletrack and remove the mixing zones.

Also not a fan of how the parking is shown. That’s a lot of road being designated for parked cars. Why not have the lane be a travel lane with on-street parking during specified hours?

Why not just have 3 lanes on the road and a buffered track on the right side separated by a curb?

[dasgeh]

I’d just like to reiterate my dream of making M one-way Eastbound from 34th, and route Westbound traffic on N (then down 34th onto M for a block to the bridge, or continuing West). An Eastbound-only M would allow much wider sidewalks, and a two way cycletrack, which could split at Pennsylvania and connect logically to L Street (or continue on M across Rock Creek to 24th…)

It’s probably a pipe dream, since it would increase traffic on small streets in Georgetown (28th, N — 34th is already pretty packed). But you see this kind of traffic pattern in Europe, and there are ways to make it bearable (mostly with light timing).

[Author]

Replies