October 2015 Road and Trail Conditions

[bobco85]

More paving on George Mason Drive in South Arlington near Barcroft. Today, the road is being paved between Four Mile Run Dr and Columbus St. There are no lines painted yet, so the bike lane is gone for now.

[JustinW]

@bobco85 126847 wrote:

More paving on George Mason Drive in South Arlington near Barcroft. Today, the road is being paved between Four Mile Run Dr and Columbus St. There are no lines painted yet, so the bike lane is gone for now.

But the ride is smooooov….at least for now!

[GovernorSilver]

@CaseyKane50 126637 wrote:

One section of the newly located trail on the MVT might be open this afternoon. I stopped and spoke to a contractor this morning who said they were going to be putting down temporary lane markings and hope to open the section this afternoon.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]9872[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]9873[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]9874[/ATTACH]

I was quite happy to see it open. 😎

My detours through the airport have been fails anyway.

[bobco85]

@JustinW 126930 wrote:

But the ride is smooooov….at least for now!

True dat!

I also wanted to mention that the signage on George Mason Drive has been improved going west from Columbus St all the way to the top of the hill at Frederick St (across from Wakefield HS).

Previously, there was a single yellow diamond sign with bicycle symbol on it and a sign below it with the text “Share the Road” just west of Columbus/George Mason (the bike lane ends at the intersection).

Now, the signage has been replaced, and 3 separate “Bicycles May Use Full Lane” signs can be found at 1) the place of the original “Share the Road” sign, 2) halfway up the hill, and 3) the intersection at the top of the hill (George Mason Dr/Frederick St) which also has a HAWK signal installed.

When all is done (i.e., painting the bike lanes between 4MR and Columbus St is finished), I’ll post some pics on the “Good News in Bicycle Infrastructure” thread.

[jopamora]

APD is ticketing cyclists at the Crystal Dr. and 23rd St. Intersection. They are also handing out warnings to jaywalkers.

[scoot]

@bobco85 126983 wrote:

I also wanted to mention that the signage on George Mason Drive has been improved going west from Columbus St all the way to the top of the hill at Frederick St (across from Wakefield HS).

Good news. Sharrows would be helpful too. Maybe those will go in with painting?

That hill is the location of perhaps my most egregious driver harassment to date. At 10:30 on a Saturday morning a few years ago, a driver came up behind me laying on the horn, cut over closely between two cars that were calmly passing in the left lane, then floored the accelerator as soon as there was enough space to get back in front of me. Only finally releasing the horn when he managed to “escape” the situation. Did at least give me ~18 inches of clearance, IIRC.

I hope that the new signs are not motivated by others having similar experiences on that climb.

[KWL]

@jopamora 126992 wrote:

APD is ticketing cyclists at the Crystal Dr. and 23rd St. Intersection. They are also handing out warnings to jaywalkers.

Not that I ever ran the light there, but this makes me more than happy Tim pointed out the much better Service Road route through CC.

[bobco85]

@scoot 127001 wrote:

Good news. Sharrows would be helpful too. Maybe those will go in with painting?

That hill is the location of perhaps my most egregious driver harassment to date. At 10:30 on a Saturday morning a few years ago, a driver came up behind me laying on the horn, cut over closely between two cars that were calmly passing in the left lane, then floored the accelerator as soon as there was enough space to get back in front of me. Only finally releasing the horn when he managed to “escape” the situation. Did at least give me ~18 inches of clearance, IIRC.

I hope that the new signs are not motivated by others having similar experiences on that climb.

I, too, have experienced some close-calls on the climb, but the painted sharrows do a really good job of communicating to drivers that cyclists can be there. The sign increase and update is a welcome development, though, to help “drive” the message to the er, um, drivers (didn’t realize the pun was coming).

I think they will paint the bike lanes back in between 4MR and Columbus once they are done repaving. Right now, there are no lane markers either, so I’ve noticed drivers assuming a wide 2-lane road instead of 2-lane with bike lane and taking up the extra space except for the bridge over the stream which is concrete and still has its lines.

[dasgeh]

@bobco85 127051 wrote:

I, too, have experienced some close-calls on the climb, but the painted sharrows do a really good job of communicating to drivers that cyclists can be there. The sign increase and update is a welcome development, though, to help “drive” the message to the er, um, drivers (didn’t realize the pun was coming).

I think they will paint the bike lanes back in between 4MR and Columbus once they are done repaving. Right now, there are no lane markers either, so I’ve noticed drivers assuming a wide 2-lane road instead of 2-lane with bike lane and taking up the extra space except for the bridge over the stream which is concrete and still has its lines.

Who wants to lead the effort for a road diet here with protected bike lanes?

[AFHokie]

@bobco85 127051 wrote:

Right now, there are no lane markers either, so I’ve noticed drivers assuming a wide 2-lane road instead of 2-lane with bike lane and taking up the extra space except for the bridge over the stream which is concrete and still has its lines.

Really looking forward to the new lines…drivers are doing their best to make this stretch feel like a narrow street.

[ursus]

Has anyone been through Clarks Gap since the new route has been opened? Any reports?

[Author]

Posts