Wilkes Street Bikeway Update

[Fairlington124]

Noticing that the project was listed as “Active Construction”, and being skeptical, I contacted the point-of-contact for the project. His response:

Quote:

Good afternoon. Thank you for your inquiry regarding this project. We are in the early stages of the construction process. I will be meeting with the contractor within the next few days to discuss their construction schedule and when they will physically start construction.

Thank you,

Christopher Balallo, P.E.
Civil Engineer III
City of Alexandria
Department of Project Implementation
703.746.4632 (direct)
http://www.alexandriava.gov

Topic

[Fairlington124]

Plans have been posted to Alexandria’s LocalMotion webpage:

http://alexandriava.gov/uploadedFiles/ProjectImplementation/info/Wilkes%20Street%20Bicycle%20Facilities%20Plans.pdf

Looks like some basic intersection improvements along the way. Unfortunately the project doesn’t include widening the path between Alfred and Patrick, which is the narrowest part of the bikeway. Iideally they’d match the width of the path between Alfred and Columbus.

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.8007121,-77.049054,247m/data=!3m1!1e3

[CaseyKane50]

@Fairlington124 128065 wrote:

Plans have been posted to Alexandria’s LocalMotion webpage:

http://alexandriava.gov/uploadedFiles/ProjectImplementation/info/Wilkes%20Street%20Bicycle%20Facilities%20Plans.pdf

Looks like some basic intersection improvements along the way. Unfortunately the project doesn’t include widening the path between Alfred and Patrick, which is the narrowest part of the bikeway. Iideally they’d match the width of the path between Alfred and Columbus.

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.8007121,-77.049054,247m/data=!3m1!1e3

If you look at drawings SM2 and SM3 (pages 14 and 15), you will see a note – “proposed trail widening by others”. My understanding is this part of the Wilkes Street Bikeway is on private property, so the city is planning to do that work, instead of having the contractor handle it.

[scorchedearth]

The proposal for the crossing of Route 1 is a classic ‘get everyone out of the way of the cars’ tactic and doesn’t take into account how people behave. It’s pretty disappointing in that respect.

[AlexandriaBiker]

@scorchedearth 128189 wrote:

The proposal for the crossing of Route 1 is a classic ‘get everyone out of the way of the cars’ tactic and doesn’t take into account how people behave. It’s pretty disappointing in that respect.

Yes that is disappointing. The original discussion was to allow bikes going west to cross the intersection on the diagonal and be on the proper side of the road to continue traveling up Wilkes. Instead Alexandria will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on the project and the bike community will have business as usual, a less than safe intersection.

[scoot]

I agree: the Route 1 crossing is a poor design. There will be conflicts between eastbound cyclists using the road and westbound cyclists who choose the crosswalk. Also there will be conflicts with left-turning drivers (from Wilkes onto northbound 1) who might not expect to see westbound cyclists taking the diagonal.

How much more would it cost to do this correctly?

[Fairlington124]

From an e-mail I got today:

Quote:

Good afternoon. I’ve met with the contractor and he has informed me that they will begin the Alfred Street curb ramp installation on Monday, November 23.

Thank you,

Christopher Balallo, P.E.
Civil Engineer III
City of Alexandria
Department of Project Implementation
703.746.4632 (direct)
http://www.alexandriava.gov

[AlexandriaBiker]

I rode through the Wilkes and Patrick St intersection again today thinking about this project. In the entire Wilkes St bike way this is the most dangerous intersection, and no significant changes are being made to improve bike or ped safety. That needs to be changed.

One solution might be to put a 10 second leading pedestrian interval on the signal allowing bikes and peds to clear the intersection before motor vehicles on Wilkes are given a green light. This would allow bikes to clear the intersection without cars interfering and allow pedestrians to cross at least half way before motor vehicles from Wilkes St enter the intersection.

Without a change to the proposed design the intersection will not meet the spirit of the Complete Streets or Vision Zero initiatives in Alexandria.

[CaseyKane50]

Demolition on the sidewalks and curb cutouts is underway. Access to the Wilkes Street path was blocked at South Alfred Street and at South Columbus Street this morning.

South Alfred Street
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South Columbus Street
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[consularrider]

Are there ant detour routing signs?

[CaseyKane50]

@consularrider 128614 wrote:

Are there ant detour routing signs?

Not yet. I have sent emails, but haven’t gotten a response. Originally, I had been told the work would not require detours. Yesterday, a city employee at the site told me the work was only going to take one day.

[jonathankrall]

FWIW, there is a posting about this bikeway over at GGW:
http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/28852/check-out-alexandrias-efforts-to-make-crossing-a-busy-street-on-a-bike-safer/

[CaseyKane50]

The contractor has finished putting in the bike signs and pavement markings. They had to stop putting down the markings on Fayette Street, as that portion of the road between Wilkes and Duke is a private road. The City still needs to finish realigning the path between Alfred and Patrick and hopefully make some adjusts to some of the signals.

A Do Not Enter sign instead of bollards
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Sidewalk markings at Patrick Street
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One of the Wayfinding signs
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Another stop sign for bike riders, this one is westbound coming out of the Wilkes Street tunnel
[ATTACH=CONFIG]10455[/ATTACH]

[Author]

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