September 2014 Trail Conditions

[mstone]

It’s jarringly ironic that they will ticket cyclists for riding on the sidewalk (presumably to keep pedestrians safe?) but won’t ticket motorists to keep cyclists safe. Actually stating that clearly speaks volumes. Maybe they are just waiting for complaints, since that apparently is what determines policy?

[dbb]

Pedestrian was down at Lynn and Lee at about 0830. Appeared to have been crossing Lee to the west of Lynn. She was helped to stand up by police/fire that were there.

[bobco85]

@dbb 95424 wrote:

Pedestrian was down at Lynn and Lee at about 0830. Appeared to have been crossing Lee to the west of Lynn. She was helped to stand up by police/fire that were there.

Article with more details: http://www.arlnow.com/2014/09/26/pedestrian-struck-in-intersection-of-doom-crosswalk-near-key-bridge/

[rcannon100]

And when the girl was hit on a bicycle at the intersection, the new reporting noted that Park Police issued her a ticket in the hospital.

Here, where witnesses report the pedestrian was in the cross walk with the light and the SUV “plowed into here” – there is absent any reporting of a ticket being issued.

[dasgeh]

Yeah, very disappointed there wasn’t a ticket issued on scene (if the reporting is correct).

And huh?

Quote:

An officer is posted weekday mornings from 8:00 to 9:30 a.m. at the intersection packed with drivers, pedestrians and cyclists, an officer said.

[mstone]

@dasgeh 95437 wrote:

Yeah, very disappointed there wasn’t a ticket issued on scene (if the reporting is correct).

I’m sure they’ll deliver the ticket to her hospital room in due course.

[dbb]

We might be getting somewhere when the media takes to using the “intersection of doom” term. What world class community wouldn’t be proud to have something like that? We might be able to leverage this.

[TwoWheelsDC]

The beg button on the west side of the W&OD and Columbia Pike most definitely isn’t working. And of course none of the people who line up on the east side have the sense or inclination to press the one on that side. Maybe just make the walk signal a normal part of the light cycle???

[Rootchopper]

The contrast between Arlington and Alexandria is remarkable. In Arlington, the police seem utterly incapable of any meaningful traffic enforcement at the Intersection of Doom. Last week, I was taking a left from the MVT onto N. Lynn using the crosswalk. A motorist blew through the red light without stopping as I began my cross. This happens several times a month. An Arlington police officer was positioned across Lynn St and watched the infraction occur. I even pointed at the car! The police officer did nothing. I ride through this intersection 8 or 10 times a week. I’ve seen many people taken away in ambulances in my 3 years of working in Rosslyn, but apparently nothing will convince the authorities to take meaningful action.

On S Union St in Old Town this morning it was business as usual. The street was all but deserted. An Alexandria motorcycle cop was ticketing cyclists for running a stop sign at Wolfe Street. (I was not ticketed.) I ride Union Street 8 or 10 times a week. In the early morning it is deserted but for a dog walker or two and a few commuters in cars and on bikes. Doing an Idaho stop at the stop signs (except for the intersection with King Street) is of absolutely no consequence to anybody’s safety and yet there is heavy handed traffic enforcement.

And you wonder why bicycle commuters like me get upset.

[dasgeh]

@TwoWheelsDC 95462 wrote:

The beg button on the west side of the W&OD and Columbia Pike most definitely isn’t working. And of course none of the people who line up on the east side have the sense or inclination to press the one on that side. Maybe just make the walk signal a normal part of the light cycle???

This can lead to a really dangerous situation. Please report:

des@arlingtonva.us

Street Light & Traffic Signal Hotline
703-228-6511

After-Hours Traffic Signal Outage
703-558-2222

[rcannon100]

It’s also that enforcement begins to miss the point. When you have major urban intersections where utilization exceeds capacity, creating dangerous situations, traffic police can be helpful in facilitating traffic flow. ATown likes to call itself an urban-village. Well it is time for it to grow up and accept that there are parts of ATown that are more URBAN and less VILLAGE. And as the grown up cities do, maybe its time for A Town to do.

If you are going to post police to ticket the random person while ten other scofflaws go wizzing by, what’s the point. Why not post the police person as a traffic cop, controlling and facilitating traffic flow.

[baiskeli]

@dasgeh 95465 wrote:

This can lead to a really dangerous situation. Please report:

des@arlingtonva.us

Street Light & Traffic Signal Hotline
703-228-6511

After-Hours Traffic Signal Outage
703-558-2222

Or use the “ArlingtonVA” app that lets you report such problems from a phone. Available on the App Store and Google Play.

[cyclingfool]

@Rootchopper 95464 wrote:

The contrast between Arlington and Alexandria is remarkable.

Seems less like contrast and more like two sides of the same coin. But your observations are spot on.

[Arlingtonrider]

@TwoWheelsDC 95462 wrote:

The beg button on the west side of the W&OD and Columbia Pike most definitely isn’t working. And of course none of the people who line up on the east side have the sense or inclination to press the one on that side. Maybe just make the walk signal a normal part of the light cycle???

This brings up another problem. The only beg button on the east side of Columbia Pike that I’m aware of is for crossing Four Mile Run, not for crossing Columbia Pike. So there’s a non-working beg button on the west side of the Pike and nothing at all to help get across from the east side.

[Steve O]

@Arlingtonrider 95474 wrote:

This brings up another problem. The only beg button on the east side of Columbia Pike that I’m aware of is for crossing Four Mile Run, not for crossing Columbia Pike. So there’s a non-working beg button on the west side of the Pike and nothing at all to help get across from the east side.

The problem here is actually bigger and different. This was discussed earlier this summer on the Arlington Infrastructure thread.

This intersection needs a bike traffic signal.

[Author]

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