New Alexandria Bicycle Maps

[CaseyKane50]

@Emm 178472 wrote:

I just think it’d be really fun to ride on EVERY SINGLE ROAD the city calls bike friendly, and then decide if we agreed with them or not .

Since we don’t have buttons to click on, I will use my own scoring

I am sure the City will appreciate this kind of feed back. I will confirm how they would want hills to be rated and whether they would want to limit the rating to hills that have infrastructure or are currently rated as a designated bike route.

I am in for the ride.

[Steve O]

I do not understand why hills would not be shown anyplace they exist. I have not seen the map, but I suspect it shows where there is bike infrastructure and where there is not. What would be the point of NOT showing a hill, regardless of whether the city has gotten around to making that particular street part of the bike infrastructure network?

[CaseyKane50]

@Steve O 178500 wrote:

I do not understand why hills would not be shown anyplace they exist. I have not seen the map, but I suspect it shows where there is bike infrastructure and where there is not. What would be the point of NOT showing a hill, regardless of whether the city has gotten around to making that particular street part of the bike infrastructure network?

Don’t know. I checked the Arlington map, the DC map, and the Fairfax map. Only Alexandria and Arlington flag hills on their maps and they only include hills that are on designated bike routes or that have some type of bike infrastructure. Fairfax and Washington have opted not to include hill details.

[josh]

@CaseyKane50 178502 wrote:

Don’t know. I checked the Arlington map, the DC map, and the Fairfax map. Only Alexandria and Arlington flag hills on their maps and they only include hills that are on designated bike routes or that have some type of bike infrastructure. Fairfax and Washington have opted not to include hill details.

These maps look busy enough as-is, I’m imagining a topo map overlaid (underlaid?) and it seems it would be nearly unintelligible. I haven’t seen the Alexandria map, but I’d think that if the bike infrastructure is distributed well enough (big if) one could get a sense of the general topography even if only the bike route hills and such are marked.

[peterw_diy]

@josh 178503 wrote:

These maps look busy enough as-is, I’m imagining a topo map overlaid (underlaid?) and it seems it would be nearly unintelligible.

The older versions laid simple V shapes pointing uphill. Here’s how an older version indicated the steep drops on Braddock to Valley & Timber Branch:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]17936[/ATTACH]

[mstone]

@josh 178503 wrote:

These maps look busy enough as-is

^ this

[komorebi]

@Emm 178472 wrote:

I just think it’d be really fun to ride on EVERY SINGLE ROAD the city calls bike friendly, and then decide if we agreed with them or not .

So I actually tried mapping this out, and it turned into a really interesting route optimization problem. I’m sure a GIS/mapping expert could do a better job, but here’s one suggested route for all of the on-street bike routes, bike lanes, or shared lane markings south of King: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/27995029.

Anyone want to go for a bike ride this Sunday?

[komorebi]

@komorebi 179372 wrote:

Anyone want to go for a bike ride this Sunday?

All right — based on conversations at tonight’s Fridays at the Fountain, it sounds like there’s interest in doing this! Here’s the plan: optional breakfast meetup at the Whole Foods on Duke Street at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, roll out at 9:00 a.m. Bring sunscreen, a copy of the Alexandria bike map so that you can make notes about any errors on the map, and lots of patience (because I’m going to be slooooow on the hills).

[lordofthemark]

@komorebi 179372 wrote:

So I actually tried mapping this out, and it turned into a really interesting route optimization problem. I’m sure a GIS/mapping expert could do a better job, but here’s one suggested route for all of the on-street bike routes, bike lanes, or shared lane markings south of King: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/27995029.

Anyone want to go for a bike ride this Sunday?

I probably won’t make it. Please feel free to ride very slowly on Seminary. There is discussion going on on Next door, and I am not happy. I am sure Jim will talk me down, but I am in the mood for a full on Critical Mass approach on Seminary.

[CaseyKane50]

@komorebi 179376 wrote:

All right — based on conversations at tonight’s Fridays at the Fountain, it sounds like there’s interest in doing this! Here’s the plan: optional breakfast meetup at the Whole Foods on Duke Street at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, roll out at 9:00 a.m. Bring sunscreen, a copy of the Alexandria bike map so that you can make notes about any errors on the map, and lots of patience (because I’m going to be slooooow on the hills).

I will be there, at least for the first hour of the ride. I will have extra copies of the current map with me.

Below is a table showing all of the streets or trails (hills were included that either noted bike infrastructure or on-street bike route) that were flagged as having hills in the Alexandria Bicycle Map published in 2015-2016 . Of note, six of the hills have earned the coveted double caret that seems to represent a steeper climb – Chambliss Trail, West Braddock (westbound between Russell and West Windsor), Howard, King (westbound between Russell and Upland), Mt. Ida (westbound between Commonwealth and Sycamore) and Walnut.

[table=”width: 500, class: grid, align: center”]
[tr]
[td]Street[/td]
[td]Direction[/td]
[td]Notes[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Birch Street[/td]
[td]Eastbound[/td]
[td]Between Russell and Holly[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Braddock Road, West[/td]
[td]Eastbound[/td]
[td]Between Beauregard and Hampton[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Braddock Road, West[/td]
[td]Westbound[/td]
[td]Between Hampton and Beauregard[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Braddock Road, West[/td]
[td]Eastbound[/td]
[td]Between North Van Dorn and Howard[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Braddock Road, West[/td]
[td]Westbound[/td]
[td]Between Quaker and Early[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Braddock Road, West[/td]
[td]Westbound[/td]
[td]Between Valley and Crest[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Braddock Road, West[/td]
[td]Eastbound[/td]
[td]Between Valley and Cameron Mills[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Braddock Road, West[/td]
[td]Westbound[/td]
[td]Between Russell and West Windsor (Two carets)[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Campus Drive, East (Pvt.)[/td]
[td]Westbound[/td]
[td]Between Beauregard and Dawes[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Chambliss, North[/td]
[td]Southbound[/td]
[td]Between Larstan and North Morgan[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Chamblis, North Trail[/td]
[td]Northbound[/td]
[td]Between Doris and Grigsby (Two carets)[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]George Washington Masonic (Pvt.)[/td]
[td]Westbound[/td]
[td]Between Callahan and Upland[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Gunston[/td]
[td]Westbound[/td]
[td]Between Martha Custis and Fitzgerald[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Gunston[/td]
[td]Eastbound[/td]
[td]Between Valley and Fitzgerald[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Howard, North[/td]
[td]Northbound[/td]
[td]Between Jordan and Seminary (Two carets)[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Janney’s[/td]
[td]Westbound[/td]
[td]Between Skyhill and Quaker[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Janney’s[/td]
[td]Eastbound[/td]
[td]Between West Taylor Run and King[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]King[/td]
[td]Westbound[/td]
[td]Between Russell and Upland (Two carets)[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Monticello[/td]
[td]Westbound[/td]
[td]Between Russell and Old Dominion[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Morgan, North[/td]
[td]Westbound[/td]
[td]Between Beauregard and North Chambliss[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Mt. Ida[/td]
[td]Eastbound[/td]
[td]Between Russell and Holly[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Mt. Ida[/td]
[td]Westbound[/td]
[td]Between Commonwealth and Sycamore (Two carets)[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Old Dominion[/td]
[td]Southbound[/td]
[td]Between Chalfonte and Alison[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Peagram, North[/td]
[td]Northbound[/td]
[td]Between Richenbacher and North Pickett[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Seminary Road[/td]
[td]Westbound[/td]
[td]Between Quaker and Ft. Williams[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Upland[/td]
[td]Eastbound[/td]
[td]Between Hilton and Hilltop Terrace[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Upland[/td]
[td]Southbound[/td]
[td]Between King and Hilltop Terrace[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Walnut[/td]
[td]Southbound[/td]
[td]Between Russell and King (Two carets)[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Windsor, West[/td]
[td]Westbound[/td]
[td]Between Russell and Braddock[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]

[komorebi]

@CaseyKane50 179386 wrote:

Below is a table showing all of the streets or trails (hills were included that either noted bike infrastructure or on-street bike route) that were flagged as having hills in the Alexandria Bicycle Map published in 2015-2016.

Interesting, thanks. For the part of the city that we’ll be riding tomorrow, I noticed that two of the places previously marked as hills are no longer marked as such on the new map:

[table=”width: 500, class: grid, align: center”]
[tr]
[td]Street[/td]
[td]Direction[/td]
[td]Notes[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Braddock Road, West[/td]
[td]Westbound[/td]
[td]Between Quaker and Early[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Campus Drive, East (Pvt.)[/td]
[td]Westbound[/td]
[td]Between Beauregard and Dawes[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]

I can’t imagine that those hills suddenly got flatter in the past two years, but I guess we’ll find out tomorrow. :rolleyes:

[Judd]

Pre-ride strategy session.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[lordofthemark]

This was an absolutely terrific wonderful awesome ride. Even I (who like to ride in West Alex, and scout around for bike infra) got to ride places I have never ridden. And to ride with a group in places I have only ridden by myself. Weather was great, the company was even better. Thanks especially to Komorebi for intricate route plotting, and to Casey for added tidbits of transportation lore.

Looking forward to doing the east side.

[Emm]

Couple photos. LSG also scouted out some trees. Reports will be sent to the City as well as feedback about the bike infrastructure .

And my bike found its soul mate off Seminary Road after the pedestrian overpass to nowhere. As LSG said “It has fenders too so it’s a commuter car!”

And of course lunch at Port City.

Seriously awesome ride Komo, thank you again for organizing!

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[komorebi]

If anyone wants to ride the rest of the bike map, I’ll be doing that on Sunday. Optional breakfast meetup at the Whole Foods on Duke Street at 8:00 a.m. on Sunday, roll out at 8:30 a.m. Draft route is at https://ridewithgps.com/routes/28237147. I left out Old Town, because many of us are familiar enough with that area to provide feedback without needing to ride it again.

Also, if you have feedback about the map but can’t make it on Sunday, PM me. I’m collecting feedback to give to City staff. Thanks.

[Author]

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