March 2016 Road and Trail Conditions

[PotomacCyclist]

Sort of a road conditions item: NPS peak bloom prediction for cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin, March 31 to April 3.

http://www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org/about/bloom-watch/

[bobco85]

Arlington – Rode on South Courthouse Road for the first time in a while and noticed that it has finally been repaved. Not only that, I noticed sharrows between 2nd St S and 6th St S and bike lanes between 6th St S and 8th St S. Well, the northbound bike lanes have been painted, but the southbound lanes currently are in invisible paint (but there is a sign saying “Bike Lane” so it must be there somewhere).

[annoyedindc]

@bobco85 136016 wrote:

Arlington – Rode on South Courthouse Road for the first time in a while and noticed that it has finally been repaved. Not only that, I noticed sharrows between 2nd St S and 6th St S and bike lanes between 6th St S and 8th St S. Well, the northbound bike lanes have been painted, but the southbound lanes currently are in invisible paint (but there is a sign saying “Bike Lane” so it must be there somewhere).

I hope they get the markings on the south bound side when spring rolls in.

Next item in S. Arlington that could use some work, Southbound S. Fillmore St between Rt50 and 6th St S. The road is a potholed mess waiting to swallow up your front wheel. Best bet for a smooth ride there would be to take the center of the lane.

[Rockford10]

For those in Vienna – Follin Lane might be finished by the end of May.

Good afternoon Kathleen,

We anticipate the completion of Follin Lane to be around the end of May 2016, barring unforeseen problems and weather issues, of course. After that, we will evaluate Echols Street for repairs and possible repaving.

Sincerley,

J
_____________
From:
Sent: Tuesday, March 01, 2016 10:29 AM
To: Public Works, Town of Vienna, Department of
Subject: Echols Lane

Hi –

I’m not sure where to report this, but here I go! I bike commute into Tysons most days and the road construction on Follin Lane has caused great disruption to my commute. I travel from the W&OD trail, take the Branch Road exit, Echols, Wolf Trap, Lord Fairfax and into Tysons. Because Follin is torn up, many, many more cars (and Metro busses) than usual take Echols. The road surface of Echols is horrible, in part because of the increased traffic on that road. I’ve seen fender-benders as a result of the stop signs and folks traveling too fast.

As a bike commuter, it is an important connection to Tysons. The terrible road surface causes me to weave and bob on Echols, likely bothering car traffic because they are unsure of my path.

Are there any updates on when Follin will be completed? It seems like it has been going on for a year! Any updates on repaving Echols?

Thanks!

[PotomacCyclist]

I’ve almost forgotten what it’s like to ride in Arlington. I’ve actually done far more riding in Maryland and DC this winter. On many of the trips, I take Metro from Arlington so I might not bike at all in Arlington on those days.

This is after barely riding in Maryland for a few years.

[scoot]

@bobco85 136016 wrote:

Arlington – Rode on South Courthouse Road for the first time in a while and noticed that it has finally been repaved. Not only that, I noticed sharrows between 2nd St S and 6th St S and bike lanes between 6th St S and 8th St S. Well, the northbound bike lanes have been painted, but the southbound lanes currently are in invisible paint (but there is a sign saying “Bike Lane” so it must be there somewhere).

I hope that cyclists using this northbound bike lane are paying attention as they approach the downhill, because the lane ends abruptly at a hard concrete curb at the bottom of the hill. There are dashed lines several feet before the curb, but no “Bike Lane Ends” sign, IIRC. Best advice for anyone riding here is to merge into the traffic lane well before the solid line changes to dashed. Adding a sign and dashing the lines much earlier would help a bit. Actually a curb cut (where the bike lane ends into the sidewalk) might not be a bad idea for safety’s sake. On the other hand, it could also enable high-speed riders to terrorize pedestrians on that sidewalk.

[huskerdont]

@scoot 136024 wrote:

I hope that cyclists using this northbound bike lane are paying attention as they approach the downhill, because the lane ends abruptly at a hard concrete curb at the bottom of the hill. There are dashed lines several feet before the curb, but no “Bike Lane Ends” sign, IIRC. Best advice for anyone riding here is to merge into the traffic lane well before the solid line changes to dashed. Adding a sign and dashing the lines much earlier would help a bit. Actually a curb cut (where the bike lane ends into the sidewalk) might not be a bad idea for safety’s sake. On the other hand, it could also enable high-speed riders to terrorize pedestrians on that sidewalk.

Strange way to end a bike lane. They’ve done something similar NB on N. Veitch at Lee Highway in front of Mom’s Organic Market. There’s a brief lane that ends at a bump out and turns to a sharrow. If you don’t know the route, you cross Lee at the light going fast downhill and all the sudden need to merge into the sharrow at speed. It would be better to not have that little spur of bike lane at all and just encourage cyclists to take the lane all the way. It’s a lousy bike lane anyway since it’s in a door zone in front of the market.

[KWL]

Pretreating bookends my MVT commute. Way to show up all other jurisdictions, Arlington County. L to R: Rosslyn to MVT GW Parkway overpass. MVT intersection with 4MRT.

[NickBull]

@KWL 136112 wrote:

Pretreating bookends my MVT commute. Way to show up all other jurisdictions, Arlington County. L to R: Rosslyn to MVT GW Parkway overpass. MVT intersection with 4MRT.

That pre-treatment stuff is pretty weird to ride on. Kinda sticky so your tires get coated with … whatever. I stopped several times to check that I hadn’t ridden through broken glass and gotten a flat tire.

[Greenbelt]

Trails all clear this morning in Prince Geo’s. Plus they didn’t even spread an inch of salt on the roads and parking lots, so that’s a huge post-snow bonus.

[CaseyKane50]

AlexRenew will be cleaning and inspecting the trunk sewer line that runs along the Holmes Run Trail for the next several months. Work will mostly be done on weekdays between the hours of 7 am – 5 pm. Impact to trail users should be minimal, but there might be instances where you will need to go around a piece of equipment or slow down to go over a hose.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]11146[/ATTACH]

[mstone]

Is this falls church city or do they have a police exchange program?

[Tania]

W&OD east of Van Buren and Custis looked freshly brined this am. I don’t want to know why.

[Steve O]

@Tania 136238 wrote:

W&OD east of Van Buren and Custis looked freshly brined this am. I don’t want to know why.

I actually think that is left over from the 1/4 inch snowfall we had last week. Not enough moisture to dissolve it, so it stays until the next rain.

[CaseyKane50]

The parking lot off of Mount Vernon Avenue and to the west of the Four Mile Run Trail (Alexandria side) is going to be closed off while it is getting repaved. The contractor is expecting work to start later today and will last for about a month. There are currently no detour signs in place, but I have reached out to City staff to see if that can be addressed.

[Author]

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