North Arlington On Street Route — Need Advice

[eminva]

Hello —

I usually commute in the morning via the Custis, but today I took a different route. For those of you commuting eastbound through the streets of North Arlington, what are you supposed to do when you approach the Kirkwood/10th Street intersection while riding eastbound on Fairfax? I want to end up going east on Wilson. I could go with the cars on 10th Street to Wilson, but the bike lane ends abruptly so I would need to move into the travel lane as I approach the intersection. Or, do I make a left turn to stay on Fairfax for that last block, which has a bike lane, but makes for un-bike friendly intersections to negotiate at both ends?

Also, I noticed that the bike lane markings have been removed from Clarendon Boulevard in front of the infamous Starbucks. I knew from this forum that that is a tricky spot to negotiate, and that there have been several accidents there. Were the markings removed to send the message to cyclists, “You’re on your own here”? (as luck would have it, when I rolled through this morning, a car was parallel parked blocking the exit, so I was in no danger of overcaffeinated motorists flying into my path).

Thanks in advance.

Liz

Topic

[dasgeh]

The problem is that these “buffered bike lanes” are the width of a regular lane, at least in some places. I was driving *gasp* to Courthouse, headed East on Clarendon in the right lane, and a car drove up beside me through the buffered lane. I was gesticulating wildly, and long story short, she didn’t realize that wasn’t a normal lane. Maybe green paint would have helped? A sign?

[Author]

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