September 2016 Road and Trail Conditions

[bikesnick]

I am happy that bicycle lanes are showing up in Tysons, but this is rather an abrupt end.
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[scoot]

@bikesnick 145365 wrote:

I am happy that bicycle lanes are showing up in Tysons, but this is rather an abrupt end.

That looks really dangerous. Imagine encountering it under darkness on your first-ever ride along this road. I’m guessing that there is neither paint nor signage giving any prior indication that merging left is required?

I thought Tyco Road was up for a diet. So hopefully it won’t be an issue for long.

[consularrider]

Kind of reminds me of the bike lanes in Germany, but at least there would be a curb cut and paving to a continuation on the sidewalk.

[bikesnick]

@scoot 145369 wrote:

That looks really dangerous. Imagine encountering it under darkness on your first-ever ride along this road. I’m guessing that there is neither paint nor signage giving any prior indication that merging left is required?

Actually there is a sign that says the bike lane ends; I should have been back a bit when I took the picture.

[ursus]

When I was at the Wiehle Road intersection with the W&OD at about 10:30 AM today, they had torn up the median in the middle of Wiehle. Signs were up saying that the sidewalk was closed which isn’t an exact description. No signs said how one was supposed to detour, so things were a mess.

[ursus]

When I rode through the new section in Vienna, I was thinking, this seems the widest section of the entire W&OD trail. Does anyone know?

[W Odie]

@ursus 145530 wrote:

When I was at the Wiehle Road intersection with the W&OD at about 10:30 AM today, they had torn up the median in the middle of Wiehle. Signs were up saying that the sidewalk was closed which isn’t an exact description. No signs said how one was supposed to detour, so things were a mess.

As of 2:10 pm today the crossing at Wiehle Ave is open again. They removed the 2-inch high curb that was obstructing the north and south few feet of the crossing. Now the entire width of the crossing is flush with the road, which will be much safer for bikes.
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[consularrider]

Ok, everything out there is wet, but why was the wundermap not showing any rain right now when it was pouring at my house? :confused:

[bentbike33]

The right lane of eastbound Maine Ave in front of The Wharf construction site is completely blocked by dumpsters. So, the partial right lane that has served as a de facto bike lane is gone this morning.

[Sunyata]

This morning, I was shocked to see the majority of the eastbound lane of Pershing Drive between N Kenmore and N Jackson covered in steel plates (seriously, it is almost a block long). Since the plates were very wet, I chose to take the very outside of the lane between the plates and the yellow line. I know I might be a minority of people that use that as a commute route, but be careful out there. The plates looked REALLY slick.

[scoot]

@Sunyata 146530 wrote:

This morning, I was shocked to see the majority of the eastbound lane of Pershing Drive between N Kenmore and N Jackson covered in steel plates (seriously, it is almost a block long). Since the plates were very wet, I chose to take the very outside of the lane between the plates and the yellow line. I know I might be a minority of people that use that as a commute route, but be careful out there. The plates looked REALLY slick.

Yes, I noticed this last night, although I was heading the other direction. I hope this is remedied soon because it looks very dangerous.

I would advise either avoiding that block or else adopt ride on the left edge as Sunyata describes. Traction on steel plates is usually poor even when they are dry. There is just enough space between the plates and the yellow line, but I would be a bit concerned that some driver may try to squeeze past on your right.

[gibby]

@bentbike33 146527 wrote:

The right lane of eastbound Maine Ave in front of The Wharf construction site is completely blocked by dumpsters. So, the partial right lane that has served as a de facto bike lane is gone this morning.

Appreciate the heads up. My cyclo-intuition must have been on high alert today since I normally take that route, but decided to join the hordes up 15th and across the mall instead. I imagine it’s getting pretty mucky with the rain too.

[dkel]

As of midday today, the W&OD is closed westbound from Northside Park/Mill St in Vienna. There is a detour marked at Mill St, but since I get off the trail at Northside Park, I didn’t follow it.

[hozn]

The detour path looked pretty nice. We’ll see this afternoon.

I was annoyed that the walk signal at Maple wasn’t working (light wasn’t changing) this AM.

[Emm]

@gibby 146535 wrote:

Appreciate the heads up. My cyclo-intuition must have been on high alert today since I normally take that route, but decided to join the hordes up 15th and across the mall instead. I imagine it’s getting pretty mucky with the rain too.

I’ve been trying to find a way to avoid the Mall on my way in to work–the pedestrians crossing without looking (and often with no walk signal at lights) has become a real issue this year along Jefferson Dr. On the way home I take 7th-capitol sq place-9th-L’Enfant Plaza SW to the Case bridge to avoid the Mall, but the way TO work that route seems a little funky. It seems like Case Bridge, then some serious sidewalk gymnastics to get over to G st. I may do it this week sometime when I’m not running late (HA!) to see if it’s do-able during the morning rush hour.

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