My Morning Commute

[Terpfan]

@GovernorSilver 124881 wrote:

As I was crossing the Rt. 1 to Washington St I noticed the bridge itself also had broken glass all over it. City of Alexandria manages this bridge, right? Already called VDOT about the broken glass on the MUP along Rt. 1.

Rode on the sidewalks along Washington St. Traffic was indeed higher speed. Somewhere north of King St. I encountered pedestrians walking two and three abreast so I switched to the road – by this time and location car traffic had lightened up considerably. I didn’t have to be on the road long before reaching Abingdon and its access to MVT. I think I might do St. Asaph or something – a street with stoplights and slower traffic would be ideal.

Took my normal route up 15th, then Madison through National Mall. Got all the way to 3rd St NW before encountering the metal barricade. I didn’t want to get in trouble with the cops for salmoning on Madison, so I took Maryland -> 4th St. -> Pennsylvania -> Constitution -> etc. to K St. I Idaho-rolled through some red lights to get to 3rd St. baiskill was right – the cops, soldiers, and whatnot were too occupied with other things to chase me down and ticket me.

Pleasant morning ride overall.

Thank you for calling VDOT. I keep toying with the idea of bringing handheld broom with me when I go that way. And I’ve always whined, but never took the time to contact anyone. Could you share whatever contact they may give for it? I’ve found the NPS one on here before and used it to report broken boards on the bridges, downed trees, etc and surprisingly they respond quick.

[GovernorSilver]

@Terpfan 124973 wrote:

Thank you for calling VDOT. I keep toying with the idea of bringing handheld broom with me when I go that way. And I’ve always whined, but never took the time to contact anyone. Could you share whatever contact they may give for it? I’ve found the NPS one on here before and used it to report broken boards on the bridges, downed trees, etc and surprisingly they respond quick.

To contact VDOT I called the 800 number at the bottom here:
http://www.virginiadot.org/

The City of Alexandria map on Google appears to include the bridge itself in its borders so I submitted a ticket to them via the Call.Click.Connect webpage. Here is the ticket:
http://request.alexandriava.gov/CCC/#tab=Status&ticketNo=81781

I might have picked the wrong category – the ticket is under “Sidewalk Repairs”. I somehow missed there is a “Sidewalk Cleaning” category.

[ShawnoftheDread]

@ShawnoftheDread 108145 wrote:

I’ve seen plenty of enforcement. What I haven’t seen is any evidence that the enforcement is against failure to yield to those in the crosswalk or red light running. Every time I’ve seen a car pulled over it has been for going straight across Lee from the left hand turn lane on northbound Lynn, which does nothing to address Doom, especially since that lane feeds directly into another left hand turn lane.

And again this morning. ACPD officer is busy talking to a motorist who egregiously stayed in the left turn lane to go into the left turn lane 10 feet in front of him (oh the horror) while oblivious to cars turning right on red into a group of cyclists crossing with the walk signal.

[Terpfan]

@ShawnoftheDread 125058 wrote:

And again this morning. ACPD officer is busy talking to a motorist who egregiously stayed in the left turn lane to go into the left turn lane 10 feet in front of him (oh the horror) while oblivious to cars turning right on red into a group of cyclists crossing with the walk signal.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]9715[/ATTACH]

This morning they were doing HOV enforcement by the Liberty Gas Station. I’m presuming cyclists would fall under the motorcycle provision when it comes to riding in HOV lanes, but I have no idea. Either way, he didn’t even bat an eye at me and was zeroed in on his HOV enforcement mission.

[americancyclo]

@Terpfan 125064 wrote:

This morning they were doing HOV enforcement by the Liberty Gas Station.

Where is this? Is it really HOV? I thought that was only on 66?

[chris_s]

@americancyclo 125112 wrote:

Where is this? Is it really HOV? I thought that was only on 66?

Route 1 has HOV restrictions during rush hour, see for example the sign in this streetview image.

[GovernorSilver]

@chris_s 125128 wrote:

Route 1 has HOV restrictions during rush hour, see for example the sign in this streetview image.

While the sign is just as TerpFan reported, that’s Washington St, not Rt. 1.

Rt. 1 is Patrick and Henry.

[Terpfan]

@americancyclo 125112 wrote:

Where is this? Is it really HOV? I thought that was only on 66?

This is on Washington St heading southbound in Old Town Alexandria near the southern terminous where it becomes the GWMP again (I want to say Madison St is here, but I always get my blocks confused).

The furthest most right hand lane in both directions is HOV. The hours are different than they are on the Rt 1 HOV restrictions. I think they’re 7-9 in the morning (northbound) and 4-6 in the afternoon (southbound).

[Terpfan]

@GovernorSilver 125129 wrote:

While the sign is just as TerpFan reported, that’s Washington St, not Rt. 1.

Rt. 1 is Patrick and Henry.

Ditto what GS is saying. Also, of note for those who sometimes drive, the hours are different on Rt 1. I think it’s til 6:30 or 7 in the evenings (no idea on the morning hours).

So OT Alexandria actually has two different HOV areas. Which brings back the whole question of if a bicycle is permitted in the HOV lanes from the other thread? But I’ve decided lacking legal evidence to the contrary, it must be.

[chris_s]

@GovernorSilver 125129 wrote:

While the sign is just as TerpFan reported, that’s Washington St, not Rt. 1.

Rt. 1 is Patrick and Henry.

My bad – all of Alexandria’s stroads blend together for me.

[chris_s]

@Terpfan 125131 wrote:

Which brings back the whole question of if a bicycle is permitted in the HOV lanes from the other thread? But I’ve decided lacking legal evidence to the contrary, it must be.

http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/freewaymgmt/hovguidance/chapter3.htm

By law, motorcycles and bicycles are allowed to use HOV facilities. However, a State may elect to restrict motorcycle or bicycle (or both) use of an HOV facility due to safety concerns. If a State does decide to exclude motorcycles and/or bicycles, a certification stating that their presence creates a safety hazard must be submitted to the FHWA for approval. Prior to acceptance, the FHWA will publish the request in the Federal Register, providing an opportunity for public comment. After the State has addressed the comments received (if any), FHWA will approve the request. States should submit their certifications to the FHWA Division Office.

I am not a lawyer.

[dbb]

Riding east on Jefferson in front of the Air and Space Museum about 0710 this morning. A Volvo wagon followed by two Park Police cruisers were ahead of me, all going the speed limit (15). Apparently compliance with the speed laws wasn’t a real high priority for the two Park Police officers as they passed on the right in the bus parking lane so they could get in front of the Volvo.

Well done gentlemen! Leading by example, we are.

[americancyclo]

@Terpfan 125130 wrote:

The furthest most right hand lane in both directions is HOV. The hours are different than they are on the Rt 1 HOV restrictions. I think they’re 7-9 in the morning (northbound) and 4-6 in the afternoon (southbound).

Ahh. thanks. that’s what was confusing me. I thought the whole road was HOV. Thanks for explaining. Shows how much I drive around that area.

[Terpfan]

@americancyclo 125156 wrote:

Ahh. thanks. that’s what was confusing me. I thought the whole road was HOV. Thanks for explaining. Shows how much I drive around that area.

Ah, yah it’s not like 66. But the HOV lane is noticably faster in the mornings and evenings. Even by bike, I’ll pass probably 2/3 of the traffic in OT crossing it. Although this morning was slow even in the HOV.

[GovernorSilver]

Encouraged by TerpFan’s post about riding on Washington St, I decided to give it a try. I think i saved a couple of minutes just by turning left on the sidewalk and heading north along Washington instead of waiting for the beg button driven light (haven’t timed it but it seems to take at least a couple of minutes before the light changes) to cross the street and get on MVT. It was about 8 AM when I got onto the street itself. Traffic was backed up, so I had no trouble riding with the flow of traffic. If anybody wanted to speed on the HOV lane this morning, he/she was out of luck due to the traffic volume.

When I got on the MVT past Abingdon, I noticed the traffic backup was worse than I’d initially realized – it was backed up all the way to the airport. There was a blue SUV that close passed me to get onto Abingdon, in hopes of getting a shortcut around the traffic backup. I passed it later, waiting at a red light with everybody else trying to get back onto Washington/Jefferson Davis Hwy, and never saw it again. A cab further up and I passed each other several times (in parallel of course), but after I reached the airport, I left it behind and never saw it again.

Rest of the ride was just as pleasant, just less eventful. Went down First St NE instead of North Capitol to avoid the construction taking up the right lane. Even with that long way around at the end, I finished my commute nearly 10 min. faster than normal, thanks to taking Washington St. and not waiting at the beg light.

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