More Fun on the W & OD

[bobco85]

From the article:

In the end, witnesses guided the driver, who appeared to be in her mid-50s and had out-of-state tags, off the trail and down a narrow path and past a crowded playground.

Exactly what state is she from where people are allowed to drive on bike trails?

I love this quote from a person who was interviewed:

“It was almost like she thought she found [a] special magic path or something,”

The magical W&OD and Custis trails

[consularrider]

On Sunday there was car driven a young woman who appeared to have started to turn west onto the W&OD at Hamilton Station Rd (Milepost 41). She was about 20 feet off the road and on the side of the trail as I passed. Then she made a awkward turn around to get back on the road. She gave me a really sheepish look as I went by her.

[bobco85]

I just remembered seeing a Missed connection about a few cars that had driven into the same area: http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?688-Missed-connection/page288&p=90138#post90138

@TwoWheelsDC 90138 wrote:

You: Three (yes three) Maryland drivers who decided to drive into the Bon Air picnic area.
Me: guy with a dog yelling at you. I know now that you’re in the park you have to drive out, but I’m still going to yell at you and then shame you on Twitter.

There have now been 2 reported (who knows how many more) incidents of cars driving onto the W&OD and Custis trails around the Bon Air picnic area.

I will check out the situation later today to take pictures of all potential entry points (Lexington St at Bon Air Memorial Garden, Arlington Mill Drive, 9th Rd, and Kennebec St at Westover Park) that I will send to the County so these gaps can be filled.

[consularrider]

It’s not unusual to see cars at that Bon Air picnic spot on the weekends, after all it’s just too far from the parking lot or the Arlington Mill deadend to have to schlep your coolers, and besides (:rolleyes:), the Arlington County vehicles drive it every day.

[PotomacCyclist]

Was she driving a Nissan? Was her name “Bob”?

[bobco85]

I went to check out the potential access points and think I have found the problem areas. I sent an e-mail to the Trails department which I have done in the past for a similar problem last year with a driver entering the Bluemont Junction Trail (they fixed the problem), so I’m confident they will fix this problem.

It’s time to play that game from Sesame Street: One of these things is not like the others. Can you tell which one is different?
In clockwise order: Top-left: Westover Park access from Kennebec St, top-right: Bon Air Park access from Lexington St, bottom-right: 9th Rd access, bottom-left: Arlington Mill Dr access
[ATTACH=CONFIG]6249[/ATTACH]

For a driver entering via the Westover Park access, these are the signs they will see (left: at access point, top-right: intersection with Custis Trail, bottom-right: sign on Custis Trail giving trail rules) but none of them say anything about the use of motorized vehicles (only power-driven mobility devices)
[ATTACH=CONFIG]6250[/ATTACH]

For a driver entering via the Bon Air Park access from Lexington St next to the rose garden and driving over the flexpost, these are the signs they will see (top-left: faded “County Vehicles Only Beyond This Point” sign at top, top-right: flex-post reading “Authorized Vehicles Only”, bottom: signs directing people to the picnic shelter after getting to the end of the access trail)
[ATTACH=CONFIG]6251[/ATTACH]

Now, if the driver from the news story had entered from Arlington Mill Dr and driven across the bridge to get to the picnic shelter, she would have passed this sign before crossing the bridge:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]6252[/ATTACH]

I think the major gap in this is really the Westover Park access because that is clearly not marked, but I’m concerned that both the Arlington Mill Dr access to the W&OD and Bon Air Park rose garden access path are also vulnerable even if they have marked flex-posts. I think more might need to be done to prevent people from driving through to that picnic shelter. In the meantime, I will let everyone know when I hear back from the Trails department.

[Steve O]

As President of RUB (Remove Useless Bollards), I strongly oppose the use of bollards in general. Those of you on this forum know that this is my pet peeve. I do not recommend adding a useless bollard at the Westover entrance. That’s already a pretty odd place to mistake for a road, given the geometry and surface materials there. I highly doubt that was the entrance point, and I don’t think any additional treatment is necessary unless we get evidence that vehicles have actually ever entered at that point. If so, signage would be the first defense.

As Bobco has pointed out, signage is at best poor and more likely lacking altogether at almost all locations. Better signs and possible pavement treatments (paint, words and symbols painted on the trail itself) are much safer options than bollards.

If you are new to the forum and are not familiar with the problems bollards present, I recommend this series of blogs:
http://www.ohiobikeways.net/bikewaysblog.htm#bollards

[DismalScientist]

Methinks the cure may be worse than the disease.

[mstone]

@Steve O 90864 wrote:

As Bobco has pointed out, signage is at best poor and more likely lacking altogether at almost all locations. Better signs and possible pavement treatments (paint, words and symbols painted on the trail itself) are much safer options than bollards.

It fascinates me that NVRPA doesn’t seem interested in improving pavement markings vs just dropping bollards around like fairy dust.

[peterw_diy]

At a glance that bridge sign seems to indicate it can’t support the weight of a delivery truck. Who decided to use that instead of a “no car” sign?

The Arlington Mill Dr entrance needs a couple boulders!

[mstone]

@peterw_diy 90872 wrote:

At a glance that bridge sign seems to indicate it can’t support the weight of a delivery truck. Who decided to use that instead of a “no car” sign

It may be a warning that even trucks that are normally allowed on the trail can’t use that bridge due to weight restrictions.

[dasgeh]

I think it would be helpful if Arlington made it more clear to those who reserve the picnic shelter when the reservation is made that there is no vehicle access. Like a bolded sentence at the top of the confirmation that NO MOTOR VEHICLES ALLOWED WITHIN (XXXX) FEET OF THE PICNIC AREA. Park [here] and be prepare to carry materials to the shelter.

My office reserved this shelter for our annual picnic last year. It worked out very well _except_ lots of people showed up with coolers no expecting to have to carry them so far. Some were mobility impaired. A few muttered that they would have brought their wheeled cooler, but didn’t realize there’d be the walk. Luckily, we were there with the bakfiets, so we just made runs from the parking lot to the shelter. Somehow, no one else wanted to ride it, so hubby and I had to do all of the runs, which was ever so slightly annoying.

[DismalScientist]

They also could have gotten on off Four Mile Run Drive near Ohio Street. And we know which forum members caused that bollard to be removed.:rolleyes:

If lost drivers are moving at basically a walking speed on the trail, I don’t see this as an issue we should devote much energy to. Just embarrass them and lead them off the trail.

It’s the drunks traveling 30-40 mph that are more of the problem. Then, there is the tradeoff involving bollards that can stop these folks vs. the damage the bollards cause cyclists to be examined.

[dasgeh]

@DismalScientist 90902 wrote:

If lost drivers are moving at basically a walking speed on the trail, I don’t see this as an issue we should devote much energy to. Just embarrass them and lead them off the trail.

The issue is that there are a number of blind corners and cyclists traveling at non walking speeds. I slow down in those corners so I could avoid an oncoming bike or ped, but if a car is in front of me, I’d need to stop, and I don’t slow down that much. Also, cars cause much more wear on the trail surface than cyclists. Maybe a stiff fine that can go towards fixing trail surfaces would work…

[americancyclo]

@dasgeh 90904 wrote:

The issue is that there are a number of blind corners and cyclists traveling at non walking speeds. I slow down in those corners so I could avoid an oncoming bike or ped, but if a car is in front of me, I’d need to stop, and I don’t slow down that much. Also, cars cause much more wear on the trail surface than cyclists. Maybe a stiff fine that can go towards fixing trail surfaces would work…

There was a work truck under 66 Monday on my way home around mid day that surprised the heck out of me. no cones or warning to trail users to slow down, and they were blocking more than half the trail.

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