Sycamore St. "Boulevard" Work Complete

[chris_s]

Oh hell yes. *happy dance*

[dasgeh]

BTW, I finalized noticed that 26th Street is an awesome alternative to Lee Hwy in N/W Arlington. It goes uninterrupted from Military to (let’s say) Underwood, at 66. It seems to be a quiet neighborhood street, so probably doesn’t need any more treatment than signs, and maybe some signals to cross the major streets (but even those don’t feel from major up there). Oh, and it’s hilly, but not that steep (at least on the segments I’ve been on), and it’s basically the best you get in N Arlington.

Something to keep in mind as we develop a neighborhood network.

[bobco85]

@run/bike 114774 wrote:

Haven’t seen this covered elsewhere so I thought I’d post; Arlington County just completed the repaving and re-striping of Sycamore between Lee Highway and 26th St. N to create more of a traditional “boulevard feel”. As part of this work they took the road down to one lane in each direction and added bike lanes. That stretch was a noticeable gap in the Sycamore St. bike lane system. I’ll try to add some pictures when I get a chance.

That’s awesome to hear! I would usually cut off at 22nd Street (bike route) because between Lee Highway and 26th Street the lines for the bike lane were all but worn away (that plus a slight uphill make it hard to keep up with fast-moving traffic).

@dasgeh 114804 wrote:

BTW, I finalized noticed that 26th Street is an awesome alternative to Lee Hwy in N/W Arlington. It goes uninterrupted from Military to (let’s say) Underwood, at 66. It seems to be a quiet neighborhood street, so probably doesn’t need any more treatment than signs, and maybe some signals to cross the major streets (but even those don’t feel from major up there). Oh, and it’s hilly, but not that steep (at least on the segments I’ve been on), and it’s basically the best you get in N Arlington.

Something to keep in mind as we develop a neighborhood network.

To add to this, if you move onto 27th then 28th Streets, the bike route will take you all the way west to Westmoreland Street. It is signed pretty well. I tend to ride this route east coming from Westmoreland usually, although I cut off at Old Dominion to head toward Cherrydale.

[kcb203]

I regularly bike this on my way home from work, going from the W&OD at East Falls Church up Sycamore. I never liked the part just north of Lee because of the potholes and lack of bike lane.

[scoot]

@dasgeh 114804 wrote:

Oh, and it’s hilly, but not that steep (at least on the segments I’ve been on)

Have you ridden the block from Thomas to Upshur? (Not sure if that’s technically 26th or 31st there) Anyway riding from Military to Marymount is a nice little workout.

I did not realize that 26th street was continuous so far west from there. That is good to know. When I go that way, I usually take Yorktown Blvd, which also feels very bike-friendly and has lots of small rollers. Yorktown is a little far north to serve as an alternative to Lee Hwy for local traffic though.

[runbike]

@run/bike 114774 wrote:

I’ll try to add some pictures when I get a chance.

Pic as promised:

The new look heading northbound on Sycamore (taken a block up from Lee Highway). The road funnels down to one lane very quickly once it crosses over Lee. You can’t really tell from the image but they have bumped out the yellow line a good 3 feet or so from the median. I wonder if future work will fill that in with more greenery, making it look similar to Patrick Henry over in Westover.
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Comparison shot of the old configuration courtesy of Google Streetview (you can even see the old, faded sharrows):
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