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@Brendan von Buckingham 191121 wrote:

According to DOT sign standards white signs indicate requirements (speed limit, one way, etc.), yellow signs indicate advice (curve ahead, reduce speed ahead, etc.). By using a white sign they are saying that it is required for bikes to use the bike lane.

What law would a bicycle violate by taking the lane? Seriously. I don’t know of any Virginia law, but you seem to have thought about this, so…

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Doesn’t painting sharrows automatically revoke Vision Zero policy?

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@Kolohe 190982 wrote:

The absolute minimum is to take advantage of the fact that 3 corners of the Quincy/Washington Blvd intersection are public land, so it should be completely unnecessary for the bike lane to end right at that spot. Which is the case now.

Repaving doesn’t usually touch the curbs, so I doubt it’s likely we’ll get any change to the roadbed. Also, I’d be shocked if Arlington gave up school land for streets.

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@Judd 190981 wrote:

The buttons contain an arrow indicating the direction to cross, which is valuable when buttons are located on the same pole and relying on sound alone would make it difficult to tell which crossing has the right of way. The arrow is high contrast (usually white arrow on black housing) which is easier to see for individuals who are not completely blind. Pushing the button typically gives a warning of the current status of the signal. Most of the ones in Arlington now say “Wait”. If you hold the button down for about a second it often will tell you what street your at. In this case it should be “Wait to cross Walter Reed Drive at South Four Mile Run. Wait!” Most of the recently installed ones that I’ve seen say wait continuously until the pedestrian signal changes and then they either beep or give an audible “Walk sign is on across Walter Reed Drive.”

The County has the ability to make the ped signal come one whenever the traffic signal comes on, but still have the button there to activate the audio. So for most users, the button does nothing. For the vision impaired, the button tells the box to make a sound when that direction has green. Arlington has this in a few places, and this should be the set up on the W&OD.

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@peterw_diy 190983 wrote:

Which would mean that at many intersections with mere stop signs it would often not be legal to proceed due to poor sight lines. Shoot, there are intersections where even on a bike, without six feet of hood and dashboard in front of the rider, it’s difficult to check cross traffic from behind the stop line. It’s absurd to expect people to follow such laws.

I don’t think it’s absurd for RTOR. Just wait.

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@komorebi 190979 wrote:

Thanks for the feedback, dasgeh. I’ll pass it along to WABA. Some responses/questions below.

The next bridge to the west, on Glebe Ave, is under construction. But the Mt Vernon Ave bridge was construction-free when I rode through last week. Is there a new project on the Mt Vernon Ave bridge that I’m not aware of? The bridge is admittedly very narrow, and I’ve recommended that WABA give some thought into how they stagger the timing of the different rides to avoid conflicts.

See Casey’s note — there is definitely something going on with Mt Vernon Ave. It sounds like the east side is open, but I strongly recommend talking to DES to make sure they don’t make changes that impact the ride.

@komorebi 190979 wrote:

On a typical Saturday afternoon, how is the traffic if you’re trying to turn left from Nelly Custis onto Lorcom? I’ve gotten stuck there in the past waiting to make that turn, because of the amount of Lorcom traffic in both directions. The hill leading up to Military/Lorcom sucks, but at least there’s a left turn lane to wait in and you’ll get the light eventually. That seemed to me to be the lesser of two evils.

At Military and Lorcom, the left turn lane doesn’t get a protected light. I live less than half a mile away, and I would take Nelly Custis. There’s also a crosswalk, and I’ve moved over to it to get a break in traffic when necessary.

@komorebi 190979 wrote:

I also strongly prefer not to use the MVT for group rides, but I recommended an exception in this case because (1) this is an open section of the MVT, without any blind curves; (2) using this section of the MVT avoids some of the dangerous highway-ramp crossings on the Route 27 trail, including the one that requires people to make a sharp right on a narrow platform or risk tumbling down a steep hill; and (3) thisÂ’ll show people how to ride the MVT-LBJ-Pentagon connector, which is a useful route to know about.

I’ve done led group rides on this stretch of the MVT, and recommend against it. Your route also has highway crossings – unfortunately, they are a fact of life in that party of the County. I find the 27 trail a much more useful connector than the LBJ connector, because 27 is so much shorter.

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@mstone 190968 wrote:

In my experience with the law as enforced, if you’re in a car and want to turn right you can do any damn thing you want because car.

Yes, because those doing the enforcing are almost always in cars.

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@peterw_diy 190959 wrote:

For any motorist in the right lane where right on red is allowed, blocking the crosswalk is pretty much required to proceed safely. So yeah, it’s often not a big deal and is far more understandable than blocking right of way or littering private property with these rolling e-waste** contraptions, both of which are easily avoidable.

The way I read the law, right on red requires a car to stop behind the stop line, and to not proceed beyond the stop line unless the drivers is sure it is safe to proceed. If the driver can’t see, that’s not permission to go beyond the stop line to look – they should be staying put until the can know it’s safe to proceed.

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@Judd 190963 wrote:

All of the routes are going to get pre-rides to identify any issues. The zig zag is indeed tough for any bike. I don’t think I’d be able to get a cargo or long tail through there.

Issues that jump out at me:
0. The Mt Vernon Ave Bridge is under construction. Have you confirmed how the rides will cross & that it’s family friendly? (5 mile)
1. The zig zag is just not possible for a bakfiets. It really shouldn’t be on any family ride route. (5 mile, and maybe 15 mile)
1.5. If you want/need to add length to the 5 mile ride, the Long Bridge Park Esplanade is just lovely for a family ride. But I would not drop down to the street — I would out and back on the Esplanade. (5 mile)
2. After the Ballston pit stop, I’d consider routing people south to 5th Street, then taking that to Quincy, so people can see the protected part of Quincy, which WABA pushed for. (30, 50 mile)
3. That section of Lorcom to Old Dominion/29 to Old Dominion is pretty high stress. You can stay in the neighborhood and avoid all of that. (30 mile)
4. I would take Military to Nelly Custis to Lorcom (instead of Military to Lorcom — it’s just more pleasant. The Military/Lorcom intersection is really annoying with a really annoying light and you have to stop on a steep kicker). (30, 50 mile)
5. By Mom’s, I’m not sure why you wouldn’t take the exit from the trail at McCoy park, instead of hooking around at the sidewalk. The curb cut at Uhle on that sidewalk sucks. (30, 50 mile)
6. After Mom’s, the route turns onto Key Blvd to get to Rhodes — that’s not the bike boulevard part of Key, that’s the apartment parking lot part of Key, and it’s not great. All the cool kids stay on Veitch, which turns into 15th (and passes some new stuff at Courthouse, where the Arlington BAC meetings are) to get to Rhodes. (30, 50 mile)
7. I understand wanting to use trails, and the W&OD, FMR & Custis will have people, but probably not be crowded. The MVT, on the other hand, will likely be crowded. I have taken smaller rides on the MVT, and it’s been an issue. Instead, I would use the 27 Trail to get from Columbia Island to Boundary Channel Drive (the Pentagon). (30, 50 mile).

-Gillian “I’ve been planning & leading family friendly rides around Arlington for 7 years” Burgess

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@Judd 190941 wrote:

Draft routes are now available for the Sweet Ride and Shindig at waba.org/sweet Our very own Komorebi created the routes and found some great pit stop locations. The 5 and 15 mile routes are designed to be low stress and family friendly. The 30 mile and 50 mile routes add some more road riding and climbing.

Thanks for the routes. Are you all taking feedback on them? For example, that switch back to get from the FMR trail to Potomac Ave is not cargo bike friendly.

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@Drewdane 190916 wrote:

I think the point is that some people are going to be inconsiderate no matter what. The people who park bikes on wheelchair ramps and toss scooters into the creek are the same ones who park their cars blocking curb cuts, ditch their shopping carts in the middle of the lane in parking lots and spit their gum out on the sidewalk. IOW, just standard, run-of-the-mill nest-shitters.

FTFY

Cars can’t be picked up and moved aside, so I’d say if the inconsiderate have to get around, I rather have them on scooters.

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Would be horrible on trails, but it’s a good signal if you ride exclusively on roads/painted bike lanes.

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I think your both right and one issue that fills the gaps in your arguments is culture change. We live in a society that sees speeding as not only acceptable, but expected. We live in a world where one of the more progressive sit coms around saw fit to make swerving at cyclists the butt of the an episode-long joke. (Blackish – here’s the petition to ask them to address it).

We need a pretty massive culture change around driving. We need it to get to the point where neighbors chatter about the one car that consistently runs that stop sign. We need to get to the point where people call each other out for speeding, and where drivers are the ones asking for it to be harder to make a car speed. Where driving aggressively isn’t sexy.

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@accordioneur 190821 wrote:

Tell her, “Honey, I made that mistake because you look so slender and petite.” It won’t get you a jersey but it might get you back in her good graces

Don’t do this. No one wants to feel like their worth is tied up in being slender and petite.

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Costco has “youth-adult” helmets with a red LED light on the back for $20. Pretty great

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