New bike lane on Lorcom Lane

[vvill]

This section is on my regular commute, whether by car or bike. I was a bit surprised to see how they re-painted the lanes after the re-surfacing as well. I’ve seen many cars just drive through the bike + parking lanes as if the lanes haven’t changed. Either they didn’t notice or are wilfully ignorant.

Before the lane changes I felt a little apprehensive simply because I often rode in the right hand turn lane, and then proceeded to go straight into the bike lane after Nelly Custis, and I was always afraid someone might assume I was turning right and might pull out in front of me.

I haven’t actually commuted by bike lately (since the changes) but I agree it could be more dangerous now for everyone. Cars are now forced to make a later right lane change to turn right, and as you mention they also might not notice the changes because of the crest of the hill.

No idea what the best solution could be here. Sharrows perhaps?

[DismalScientist]

I don’t know about the setup on Lorcum Lane, but I would suggest that sharrows are generally a better idea than bike lanes. Bike lanes give drivers the impression that cyclists are restricted to bike lanes. Drivers should be making right turns from the bike lane, rather than pulling right hooks across the lane. Often bike lanes do not have dashed lines before potential right turns, which exacerbates the likelihood of right hooks. Sometimes the road surface in the bike lanes suggests cyclists should be in the main traffic lane. On downhills, cyclists can keep up with cars and should not be (implicitly) restricted to narrow bike lanes as it make it more difficult to maintain escape routes.

[dalessit]

So who in Arlington county do you contact about things like this?

My point to them will be, I think the traffic flow needs to be understood by both cyclists and cars, if either side has to guess on where they should be, there is a good chance someone is going to guess wrong.

[jrenaut]

I just drove through there, and you’re right, it’s a mess now. But they don’t look done – I think once the paint is finished, and maybe a few “right turn yield to bikes” signs go up, it will be okay.

I think it’s good they took out that right turn lane – half the time it was just clowns passing people in the left lane who had the audacity to follow the speed limit.

[Tim Kelley]

I’ll be sure to pass it along…

[Tim Kelley]

FYI–they aren’t even close to being finished. There are still parking lines, bike symbols and arrows to add along with signs. They should have it taken care of soon.

[elcee]

I just biked through this area and Arlington must have added arrows and extra striping since the first post. I really like the new design, particularly the following:

– On westbound Lorcom Lane there are now 3 distinct lanes as you approach Nelly Custis. There’s a straight ahead car lane, a straight ahead bike lane, and a right turn lane. If you’re biking and want to go straight, then there’s no ambiguity, for either cyclists or drivers.

– On eastbound Lorcom Lane approaching Fillmore, there’s a dedicated left turn lane and a straight/right turn lane. Bikes and cars will have to share the latter; I think the lane is wide enough, but others may be more comfortable with sharrows. In the old design, cars turning left onto N. Fillmore would block cars trying to go straight, and people further back in the queue would simply pull out onto the right-most lane.

P.S. The restriping reminds me of Military Road when it was converted from 2 car lanes to 1 car lane plus a bike lane several years ago. It took a while for people to get used to the new pattern, but I no longer see cars straying into the bike lanes.

[Author]

Posts