Rosslyn Death Zone – evenings Eastbound

[WillStewart]

One alternative I have to consider on my commute is biking eastbound on the Custis Trail to catch a Loudoun commuter bus at 1800 N. Lynn St in Rosslyn. Unfortunately, it looks like there are no safe passage routes from the trail to the bus stop. Does anyone come through here in the evening and have advice (or battle scars) to share? Does walking the cycle appear to be the best course of action? Since I’m focused on a trike (which I could deck out with blinking LED flag masts, reflectors, pulsing lights, etc), lifting the rear wheel and walking 3 blocks is not the most ideal way I want to travel, though continued existence is a strong motivator.

Going westbound in the morning on the Custis Trail is not an issue, as the bus drops us off right at the edge of the Arlington Gateway Park, and it is a hop and a skip to the trail from there.

Commute destination is Ballston, and source is Leesburg, btw.

Topic

[CCrew]

@WillStewart 1664 wrote:

though continued existence is a strong motivator.
.

That’s the whole reason I won’t even consider a trike. I don’t have an issue with it on the trails, but the idea of having my head at bumper height isn’t the least bit attractive. I’ve had enough issues with cars that I’m clearly visible to without adding riding a low slung trike that no amount of flags and LED’s is going to put me at a visibility point that’s at or above the vehicle near me.

Don’t get me wrong – I think a trike would be a hoot to ride; but just not in a location that’s already known for being a veritable kill zone.

[Dirt]

The Lynn Street Death Zone (LSDZ for short) is never an easy place to get through. Generally, however, I have found East-bound to be by far the safer direction to travel. Which side of Lynn Street has the bus stop?

I had my trike decked out with reflectors and lights pretty well. I had two flashies on the back, two on the front and a quite powerful headlight up front. Usually when approaching the LSDZ I switch the headlight over to flashing mode too. I’ve found that adds a bit of emphasis that gets people’s attention. I haven’t had any close calls since I started doing that.

My problem is going west-bound. Unless I’m waiting at the light when I get the walk signal, it is VERY unlikely that a car rushing to get the green light is going to be looking for a bike going straight across the walk. I have on many occasions stopped at that crossing even though I have a light because the cars making a right turn are definitely NOT looking or yielding.

As for the section between Lynn Street and the bus stop, I used to ride on the sidewalks and just take my time weaving through foot traffic. The places where I had to ride had similar sidewalk width to Rosslyn. I used to ride on 14th St. NW between Constitution and the RayGun Building entrance.

Is that of any help?

I have to say that I do feel a lot safer on a bike than I did on the trike…. even completely decked out with reflective gear, flag and flashy lights. There were times crossing streets in the crosswalk WITH PEDESTRIAN TRAFFIC that I had cars lurch forward like they were gonna hit me… or have to stop short to avoid me. It isn’t like I wasn’t visible. My trike is light up like one of the space ships from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and it is the most obnoxious color of hot pink. They’re just not looking where they’re going.

That said: Last year I rode the trike for 3 months and the bike for 9 months. I was hit in Rosslyn 3 times (if I recall correctly) on the bike and 0 times on the trike.

OH! I almost forgot one other thing. I put reflective tape on the SOLES of my shoes. Those were the reflectors that I tended to get the most comments on, because it looks really weird to people coming toward you. I had many cyclists circle back and comment to me that those were really cool and effective as reflectors. That tells me that people could really see them.

Pete

[Tim Kelley]

Another option would be to take streets the whole way. I live in Ballston and commute to Rosslyn and taking streets (with bike lanes almost the entire way!) shaves about a mile off my route and it has less hills than the Custis. Here’s a Google Map route of it.

There there is no worry about going the wrong direction on a one way street, although I would say be careful merging with traffic as you round the corner from 17th onto Lynn. The other option is to just go down Wilson.

[CCrew]

That’s part of my route I take most mornings inbound. Jump onto Fairfax from the Custis. then down to the Key bridge.

Starbucks on Fairfax, Starbucks on Clarendon near the Apple store, and the Starbucks on Lynn are where I’ve had collisions. Must be something about that zombie effect of Starbucks that makes them so dangerous

So from experience Starbucks = road rash

[Mark Blacknell]

“Starbucks on Fairfax, Starbucks on Clarendon near the Apple store, and the Starbucks on Lynn “

Dead on. The exits are slightly more dangerous than the entries, given that they’ve generally only got one hand to drive with. I’ve never passed the Clarendon one w/o taking the full lane there. And I’m still sure I’m going to get creamed (ta da) one day.

[WillStewart]

Thanks, all the above gives me quite a bit to ruminate on, especially additional route possibilities, Rosslyn driver behavior, and itinerant sidewalk sanctuaries. This is like a three-dimensional puzzle that’s about to be solved.

[consularrider]

@CCrew 1672 wrote:

That’s part of my route I take most mornings inbound. Jump onto Fairfax from the Custis. then down to the Key bridge.

Starbucks on Fairfax, Starbucks on Clarendon near the Apple store, and the Starbucks on Lynn are where I’ve had collisions. Must be something about that zombie effect of Starbucks that makes them so dangerous

So from experience Starbucks = road rash

What, no issue with the Starbucks on Clarendon at N Oak St? That’s where I always have to watch for right hooks with cars bearing right there down 17th St N and traffic merging into me from the left with the disappearance of the bike lane as you cross Oak. And you can’t blame Starbucks on Lynn St, it’s the cars coming out of the two parking garages that are the problem, and they have to stick their noses out to see around the cars that are parked too close to the driveways!

I have no experience with trikes, but one of my standard routes takes me down the Custis and eventually to Lynn St. What I’ve started doing is exiting the Custis at N Oak St and taking the contraflow traffic lane to N Nash St, left on Lee Hwy, right on N Moore and left on N 19th to the interection with N Lynn where the bus is waiting blocking the right traffic lane and the bike lane every evening.

[Author]

Replies