Washington Blvd pushback

[OneEighth]

If you were interested in/affected by the restriping of Washington Blvd in Arlington, you may wish to hop onto Nextdoor.com and weigh in on the thread “New Traffic Pattern on Washington Blvd Claims Another Victim.”
Got some folks arguing in favor of going back to the way things were.

[scoot]

Victim? Did some poor driver get run over by a bicyclist?

[OneEighth]

A parked car got hit for the third time, but the OP laid the blame on the bike lanes.

[Judd]

@OneEighth 169207 wrote:

A parked car got hit for the third time, but the OP laid the blame on the bike lanes.

Another victory in the #WarOnCars

I’m rarely in that area. Are the bike lanes car buffered there or are they door zone?

[bentbike33]

@OneEighth 169207 wrote:

A parked car got hit for the third time, but the OP laid the blame on the bike lanes.

They shouldn’t park in the bike lane. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzE-IMaegzQ

[huskerdont]

I’ve been going a bit out of the way and using those lanes once in a while, and continuing on Wash Blvd where the lanes peter out. Basically just to use them and take the lane where they disappear. I think it’s important that they be used, and so far I haven’t seen too many other folks. They’re a bit shoehorned in but do help on a couple of the uphills; most drivers have been pretty patient where they end and I take the lane. But I can’t see how the bike lanes would be at fault. If anything, they might reduce the effects of an accident if they caused drivers to go a bit slower. But there will always be commenters on places like there and ArlNow who blame bicycle lanes or traffic calming when the real fault is bad driving. I wouldn’t leave my car parked on a road like that overnight on a bet.

[JorgeGortex]

@OneEighth 169192 wrote:

If you were interested in/affected by the restriping of Washington Blvd in Arlington, you may wish to hop onto Nextdoor.com and weigh in on the thread “New Traffic Pattern on Washington Blvd Claims Another Victim.”
Got some folks arguing in favor of going back to the way things were.

I’ve lived on Washington Blvd since 1995, and travelled this section of the road since I was strapped in a car seat with the parents… and I have to say that this new stripping is bad. It is confusing, narrowing in a poor way, and downright dangerous in others. I still would not ride my bike through this section. I truly believe that they made the area more dangerous. I don’t blame this on cyclists or drivers, but on the civil engineers who designed it and those that installed it. I’ll also take the highly unpopular (I’m sure) stand that maybe this stretch of road, as it exists now, is not well suited for all the activities its offering at this particular time. Blaming bad drivers isn’t going to change the fact that there are bad and distracted drivers. What the exact answer is I can’t say, but I felt safer as a driver in the pre-striped days than I do now, and my opinion on riding this stretch of road is unchanged- nope.

JG

[dasgeh]

@JorgeGortex 173387 wrote:

I’ve lived on Washington Blvd since 1995, and travelled this section of the road since I was strapped in a car seat with the parents… and I have to say that this new stripping is bad. It is confusing, narrowing in a poor way, and downright dangerous in others. I still would not ride my bike through this section. I truly believe that they made the area more dangerous. I don’t blame this on cyclists or drivers, but on the civil engineers who designed it and those that installed it. I’ll also take the highly unpopular (I’m sure) stand that maybe this stretch of road, as it exists now, is not well suited for all the activities its offering at this particular time. Blaming bad drivers isn’t going to change the fact that there are bad and distracted drivers. What the exact answer is I can’t say, but I felt safer as a driver in the pre-striped days than I do now, and my opinion on riding this stretch of road is unchanged- nope.

Huh. I rode it a few times in the fall taking kids to soccer at Jamestown. I thought the striping (with the exception of the disappearing bike lane) was awesome, and definitely made it safer for biking. I’ve driven it maybe twice and didn’t see a problem. Seems like an overall improvement to me.

[lordofthemark]

Can’t speak to the issues here in detail, but a road or lane diet is going to make driving more nerve wracking. That is how it works. When driving feels comfortable, people go faster and/or pay less attention.

The part of King Street south of Janney’s with the conventional bike lanes put in a few years ago, have gotten plenty of feedback as nerve wracking to drive on. Well the data show a reduction in collisions there. Despite a very very modest decline in speeds. My belief is that the narrow lanes are so nerve wracking drivers pay attention, and so are less likely to hit each other or anything else.

[DismalScientist]

Sure you are not talking about Williamsburg? Jamestown isn’t anywhere near Washington Blvd.

I ride these every day, although not the far western end near Sycamore. There’s not too much bike traffic on Washington due to it paralleling the Custis. I find that the bike lanes make things marginally worse, as cars are less likely to give you 3 feet if you are in “your” lane and cars are in “their” lane when there is no buffering between the two lanes. (This is similar to the bike lane on Washington between Longfellow and Harrison versus the lack of bike lane between George Mason and Glebe–I prefer the eastern section without the bike lane.) There is an odd double curve in the westbound bike lane between Ohio and Powhatan. It doesn’t bother me since I ignore the paint when choosing my line. Similarly, I will ride in the buffer area between Nicholas and Ohio, since the bike lane is right up next to the gutter and I prefer to ride further from the curb.

I’m comfortable riding in traffic. For those uncomfortable in traffic, I would still suggest side streets (or the Custis trail) rather than the bike lane.

[accordioneur]

I live nearby and have both ridden and driven this area. I’ve always thought these particular bike lanes are a bad idea. They’re narrow, discontinuous and connect to nowhere. Plus, the W&OD parallels this stretch just a few blocks away.

[lordofthemark]

Now I am going to push back. A. There are discontinuous bike lane all over the region. We can’t get continuous bike lanes everywhere, in the face of street width constraints, and local interest groups. If its okay to ride with no bike lane, surely its not worse (assuming reasonable transitions) to ride with a sharrows for a short interval. B. IIRC these lane connect to the Westover commercial district. Depending on where you are coming from, they provide a route that the W&OD does not. C. IIUC their width meets FHWA/NACTO minimum standards (?)

Granted they are not gold standard. But what is LOST by putting them, since its still possible to ride the W&OD or the side streets (or the sidewalk) or the general travel lanes?

Lane width in the general travel lanes is what is lost, which is why people complain. But that it precisely the point. These projects are there to serve as traffic calming. To get drivers to NOT drive the way they do when lanes are wide. If streets could be completely narrowed, with wider sidewalks that would be great, but widening sidewalks is more expensive than striping some bike lanes and Complete Streets budgets are usually tight. Which aside from benefiting pedestrians (and non-speeding drivers) also helps cyclists indirectly by reducing excess speeds from auto traffic (and apparently focusing driver attention).

[huskerdont]

Despite being a bit shoehorned in, I think these are quite helpful except for the disappearance just when you most feel the need for the bike lane going up hill eastbound after Ohio. The lane up from Sycamore is quite helpful. Before you were in the ending right lane that aggressive drivers would use to get around slower cars on the left. And going westbound, they are actually pretty good throughout. Where the lane disappears near Sycamore, you’re going downhill and can get decent speed to comfortably take the lane.

Those who say that the Custis or W&OD is right over there so go use that, I think, are missing the point. We want infrastructure (or safe roads to ride on) most everywhere so that people don’t have to ride three miles out of their way for a short trip. I personally welcome riding three miles out of the way to go get beer at Westover Market, but if you want people to cycle, that’s not how you do it.

For reference, I’m moderately quick and comfortable enough in traffic, so I’d ride this road anyway, but I feel more comfortable with the lanes. When the lane disappears after Ohio, I feel a decided difference in comfort and really kick it into gear to get through there.

[accordioneur]

@lordofthemark 173542 wrote:

But what is LOST by putting them, …?

First, I would say there’s the ill will engendered with the community at large, which makes subsequent, more valuable cycling infrastructure projects that much harder to get approved,

Second, given that county resources are limited, money spent on this project is money not spent on more useful bike lanes somewhere else,

Third, while it’s easy for us to dismiss residents’ complaints as nothing but reflexive bike hate, it’s possible that the residents really did suffer harm from the bike lanes. I have several hobbies which involve transporting heavy gear and I know I would be harmed if I lost the possibility of parking in front of my house to load and unload, and

Fourth, it is my belief that if we want drivers to drive more responsibly, the answer is education and enforcement, not slowing them down by making roads impassable.

@lordofthemark 173542 wrote:

IIRC these lane connect to the Westover commercial district

At one end, yes. But since the lanes quickly peter out, they don’t connect Westover to anywhere. One could already reach Westover by taking the W&OD to the bike lanes on Ohio St. And to huskerdont’s point the W&OD is 1/4 mile away at most, not three miles.

[huskerdont]

They connect EFC Metro to Westover, and they connect Sycamore to Westover, and they connect the W&OD to Westover. That’s not nothing.

I also drive that road. It is in no way “impassable.” You just have to, you know, watch where you’re going and not run into parked cars, which should be the minimum requirement for keeping your driver’s license.

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