Maine Avenue is Combat

[Steve O]

It seems you got the license plate.

[Starduster]

@bentbike33 166006 wrote:

…and bongos. Don’t forget the bongos.

“The legendary hitch-hiker says that he knows where it’s at
Now he’d like to go to Spain or somewhere like that
With his two-tone Bible and his funny cigarettes
His suntan lotion and his castanets” Elvis Costello

[Steve O]

From what I’ve heard, the pbl has been pretty much completely appropriated by people walking during the busy evening hours.
I’m thinking it might be fun for a group of 10 or 20 of us to ride up and down the bike lanes politely ringing our bells. Not as one big clumpy group, but as a steady stream, with a cyclist or two or three coming by every 15 or 30 seconds. After an hour or two I wonder if the walkers would get the idea?

Sent from my LGMP260 using Tapatalk

[drevil]

@Steve O 177768 wrote:

… After an hour or two I wonder if the walkers would get the idea?

Nope, those walkers will be long gone.

To really strike fear in their hearts, get a few of these guys to go back and forth all night long.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]17836[/ATTACH]

[lordofthemark]

@Steve O 177768 wrote:

From what I’ve heard, the pbl has been pretty much completely appropriated by people walking during the busy evening hours.
I’m thinking it might be fun for a group of 10 or 20 of us to ride up and down the bike lanes politely ringing our bells. Not as one big clumpy group, but as a steady stream, with a cyclist or two or three coming by every 15 or 30 seconds. After an hour or two I wonder if the walkers would get the idea?

Sent from my LGMP260 using Tapatalk

That is not in fact the case. While there are pedestrians, anyone comfortable riding slowly on a crowded trail should be able to ride just fine on the PBL – keep your speed below 10 MPH or so, and be alert. It is not like riding on a crowded sidewalk. For comparison, try riding on the shared street on the water side of the development.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@Steve O 177768 wrote:

From what I’ve heard, the pbl has been pretty much completely appropriated by people walking during the busy evening hours.
I’m thinking it might be fun for a group of 10 or 20 of us to ride up and down the bike lanes politely ringing our bells. Not as one big clumpy group, but as a steady stream, with a cyclist or two or three coming by every 15 or 30 seconds. After an hour or two I wonder if the walkers would get the idea?

Sent from my LGMP260 using Tapatalk

It seems to me that the fault of the PBL being overtaken by pedestrians lies in its poor design/placement rather than with the pedestrians. I think the PBL should’ve gone on the north side of Maine. It might require some users to make an extra crossing of Maine, but it avoids the mess that is the de facto drop-off/idle area directly along the Wharf storefront areas and would almost completely eliminate bike/ped interactions. It would also provide a more direct link to Banneker Park.

If it were up to me, the bike route would go along Maine from Ohio (as it already does), cross Maine at the Fish Market to the newly refurb’d area at Banneker park, then turn into a PBL along the north side of Maine that would extend to at least 6th/M SW.

[rcannon100]

@TwoWheelsDC 177776 wrote:

It seems to me that the fault of the PBL being overtaken by pedestrians lies in its poor design/placement rather than with the pedestrians.

Agreed. Consider that the pedestrian path there is pretty piss poor….. and the majority of the time the bike path is devoid of traffic. This was poor design.

They are already uninstalling bike racks from the dock side – and installing them street side – crowding the street side paths even more. The design gets worse.

[lordofthemark]

@TwoWheelsDC 177776 wrote:

It seems to me that the fault of the PBL being overtaken by pedestrians lies in its poor design/placement rather than with the pedestrians. I think the PBL should’ve gone on the north side of Maine. It might require some users to make an extra crossing of Maine, but it avoids the mess that is the de facto drop-off/idle area directly along the Wharf storefront areas and would almost completely eliminate bike/ped interactions. It would also provide a more direct link to Banneker Park.

If it were up to me, the bike route would go along Maine from Ohio (as it already does), cross Maine at the Fish Market to the newly refurb’d area at Banneker park, then turn into a PBL along the north side of Maine that would extend to at least 6th/M SW.

If the PBL were on the north side of Maine, there would be riders on the sidewalk on the south side of Maine, as on so many sidewalks in this area. The PBL has performed admirably in keeping CaBi riders, riders going to and from the wharf, off the sidewalk proper. It is not a great solution for non bikeshare through riders, but it’s not as terrible as made out (even at PM rush), and will get at least slightly better when phase 2 of the wharf is completed, because the current sidewalk south of the Wharf is a problem – it both is a poor bike route, and it funnels peds onto the PBL instead of onto the Wharf sidewalk.

[lordofthemark]

@rcannon100 177777 wrote:

Agreed. Consider that the pedestrian path there is pretty piss poor….. and the majority of the time the bike path is devoid of traffic. This was poor design.

They are already uninstalling bike racks from the dock side – and installing them street side – crowding the street side paths even more. The design gets worse.

Can I get a ped path that wide and unobstructed on upper King Street? Pretty please?

[huskerdont]

Saw Judas Priest a few weeks back at the Anthem, and it seems to me there is absolutely now way this PBL can ever be effectively and safely used during peak hours. It doesn’t matter whether pedestrians are Breaking the Law or acting foolishly, I’ll just take the lane and Head Out to the Highway rather than end up Screaming for Vengeance or taking a Painkiller. Such are the Sad Wings of Destiny with planners committing Sin After Sin.

[mstone]

@lordofthemark 177773 wrote:

That is not in fact the case. While there are pedestrians, anyone comfortable riding slowly on a crowded trail should be able to ride just fine on the PBL – keep your speed below 10 MPH or so, and be alert. It is not like riding on a crowded sidewalk. For comparison, try riding on the shared street on the water side of the development.

At 10MPH it’s not a bike lane, it’s a sidewalk.

[Emm]

@lordofthemark 177773 wrote:

That is not in fact the case. While there are pedestrians, anyone comfortable riding slowly on a crowded trail should be able to ride just fine on the PBL – keep your speed below 10 MPH or so, and be alert. It is not like riding on a crowded sidewalk. For comparison, try riding on the shared street on the water side of the development.

I disagree. This is generally the case Mon-Thurs during the commuting hours (and I generally ride it on the AM commute), but Friday evenings and weekends it’s a MESS. I got off it and got onto the street the one time I was on it during the weekend. WAY too many pedestrians who have no idea bikes are around and therefor are walking all over the bike lane without looking, and the street/parking garage crossings are crazy with cars flying across the sidewalk and bike lanes without looking. Almost every time I’ve biked it after happy hour I’ve nearly been taken out by a car flying through a crossing without looking. Sure, if you’re meandering very slowly and are ok with constantly starting, stopping, and almost getting hit by cars you’ll be fine. Otherwise, it’s safer to be on the street during peak hours.

[lordofthemark]

@mstone 177782 wrote:

At 10MPH it’s not a bike lane, it’s a sidewalk.

Other than an empty suburban sidewalk, I ride more slowly than that on sidewalks.

[lordofthemark]

@Emm 177785 wrote:

I disagree. This is generally the case Mon-Thurs during the commuting hours (and I generally ride it on the AM commute), but Friday evenings and weekends it’s a MESS. I got off it and got onto the street the one time I was on it during the weekend. WAY too many pedestrians who have no idea bikes are around and therefor are walking all over the bike lane without looking, and the street/parking garage crossings are crazy with cars flying across the sidewalk and bike lanes without looking. Almost every time I’ve biked it after happy hour I’ve nearly been taken out by a car flying through a crossing without looking. Sure, if you’re meandering very slowly and are ok with constantly starting, stopping, and almost getting hit by cars you’ll be fine. Otherwise, it’s safer to be on the street during peak hours.

Well, tbh, I almost never ride there on weekends. And it’s true, the car turns are a problem apart from the pedestrians. I am not suggesting the PBL for everyone, but I don’t think it is useless. I still prefer it to navigating the intersection of G and 9th to get to Banneker, though perhaps not by much.

[ursus]

Let me first say that I am happy that they considered cyclists and installed a PBL. They did a good job also of signing it to tell pedestrians where they should be and cyclists where they should be. It’s too bad that pedestrians can’t even understand pictures. OTOH, I twice have seen CABI users riding on the sidewalk as they window shopped. IMO there isn’t much to window shop at least now.

They also did many things wrong. I don’t think that they put up any signs to tell motorists leaving the garages and the side streets/alleys that they should stop before the sidewalk and PBL while waiting for lights, and not on top of either or just going through without paying attention at all. Whatever material they used to make the PBL seems to cause my bike to sink in, acting as an unneeded brake. It also seems to have caused the paint used for separating the two directions of bike lanes to prematurely age. It’s only six months is but is very visibly fading.

Also there should be designated areas for people waiting for buses, shuttles, and whatever. It is a worse problem when buses stop to let people out but not as bad as has historically been the case northwest of the Fish Market. It might get worse in the summer.

Some of that is easily fixable. I also agree with LotM that although there are problems it is rideable and it is not a long distance. I add that I have never been there when The Anthem is emptying.

Minor thing, why didn’t they use a two-sided bikeometer like at the IoD and placed perpendicular to its current orientation? One can’t easily see how many cyclists have gone by without stopping. it isn’t important, but I like to look at it.

[Author]

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