[dasgeh]

The light timing didn’t come up last night (we were talking about ebikes & scooters), but I reported it directly to signals.

Is it possible the light is not in rest in wait — i.e. the ped light turns white when the corresponding traffic light turns green, but the ped light counts down and goes to red before the traffic light goes yellow/red.

I recently encountered this problem on Washington Blvd at Longfellow (just east of Westover) — the ped light was red, the traffic light was green and (the kicker) there was NO BEG BUTTON to get the ped light to come on. I have also reported this but seriously SMH

[dasgeh]

@komorebi 192936 wrote:

Question for the e-bike experts: my friends have a bike trailer for their 22-month-old twins. But the twins are getting bigger and the hills in Ithaca aren’t getting any flatter, so they’re thinking of getting an e-bike for kid-hauling duties. Is there an e-bike out there that would fit both of them (she’s about 5’4″, he’s about 5’9″) and that would work for pulling a bike trailer? Or should they get a longtail e-bike instead, and if so, which one would you recommend?

Yes, there are lots of ebikes that will fit someone 5’4″ & someone 5’9″ and would pull a bike trailer. I would highly recommend buying local if they can, because they’ll be able to get service when they need it.

But I would also recommend a long tail. 2 kids aren’t going to fit in a trailer much past 2 years old. (And I’m generally not a fan of trailers in the city). Long tails are great. If they can buy local, that’s ideal. They want a smaller rear wheel as the kids get older, because having weight near the ground is better (though I didn’t mind so much until the kids were 5+).

It’s possible they could get a normal-tail ebike now and use it with the trailer. Then when the kids outgrow the trailer, buy a long tail – by then, the kids will be happy on the back of the longtail without seats (depends on the kid, but 3-4 seems standard) and one parent gets to use the normal-tail ebike.

[dasgeh]

@Tania 192922 wrote:

I had to go back and look at the pics posted here because I couldn’t believe that the pole at the IOD was actually the pole everyone is kvetching about.

I believe the issue is that this is brand-new, best-in-class infrastructure. The pole isn’t the worst in the County and isn’t that bad, but will make crowding worse at a very crowded place. There’s a very easy alternative. It should not have been designed or built where it is.

If it was designed to be somewhere else and the contractor screwed up, then that’s easy — the contractor should fix it, no cost to the County. If it turns out the County screwed up and designed it there, we need to make sure that sure designs don’t happen again, and discuss whether it’s worth the $$ to fix now.

[dasgeh]

@Judd 192654 wrote:

When you do a conversion kit, do you also have to change out your tires to e-bike rated tires?

E-bike rated tires are built to withstand greater forces, and will last longer. For everyone. If you convert, you can stick with your old tires, but when those go, I recommend upgrading to really bomb-proof tires. But I recommend bomb-proof tires to everyone riding for transportation anyways.

[dasgeh]

@Steve O 192627 wrote:

Perhaps, although that does not explain why it could not have been installed at N. Lexington.

Sometimes neighbors oppose lights at neighborhood streets because more people use the street if there’s a light.

[dasgeh]

To whom did you persist? Methinks we need to focus a new persistence on getting the root heaves on the TR Bridge ramp shaved again.

[dasgeh]

@Dewey 192605 wrote:

I think the OneMotor friction drive was supposed to fill this niche but it’s expensive for such a small battery.

This is one I’ve seen in the wild: https://www.geoo.com/

In my 2 second interaction with the rider, she said she really liked it. But yeah, not cheap.

[dasgeh]

@Judd 192600 wrote:

For the equity component, is there some GIS type information available to do some analysis on the impact of certain infrastructure? The Capital Trails Coalition was able to leverage a tool provided by Rails to Trails Conservancy that showed how many people at a certain level of income and other demographics would be served by building particular trails. Carlin Springs Road near the Pike would be my top selection for a high equity ranking followed by South George Mason and Walter Reed Drive.

This data almost certainly exists, but I don’t think we’ll have the resources to use it in this round — unless there’s an amazing GIS coder out there who has some time to work on this.

Because of limited time and resources, the plan for this round was to go on our opinions. But, again, if someone has time to work on the data between now and September 9, that would be awesome.

[dasgeh]

@n18 192598 wrote:

I might start commuting from Oakton(West of Vienna) to Reston Bike room, but need to arrive wearing work clothes. I usually take this path, which is going to the W&OD first, then to Reston(8.4 Miles one way, or if I use Hunter Mill RD, 6.3 Miles). I already have 2 bikes(Both use 700c wheels), and plan to add an E-Bike conversion kit to one of them. The question is which kit is suitable? I am seeing kits from 250 to 1200 Watts. I think the limit in Virginia is 1000 Watts, and the 1200 Watts ones come with wiring option to reduce the power for compliance. One kit I am eyeing is this one, but I don’t know the minimum wattage needed. It’s $300 and the battery is nearly $400 extra. A complete Ebike(starting at $650) seems more attractive.

I am also inspired by those who lost weight. I used to do 25 Miles/Day on a manual bike, and lost some weight, but didn’t do that consistently, so I gained it back when real life interferes. Now I only do a measly 10 Miles/Day. When I use it a lot, I lose one pound for each 50 Miles. I still have 30 to 50 LBS to lose. I probably would do more mileage if I used an Ebike, since hilly places I am avoiding now are open to me. However, I want to easily take the conversion kit out on the weekend when I leave my bike outside and go shopping, etc., and so that means front wheel change and removable battery, or get one of those kits that attaches to the front gears(assuming they are easily removable).

Oh, and I plan to limit my speed to 15 MPH when around other cyclists/peds, even slower in hills, and 20 or so if nobody around.

Thank you.

The only conversions I know of that are easy to take on and off the bike are the ones like the Copenhagen wheel. I wouldn’t rely on changing one bike from e- to not often. Just get good locks.

That kit looks cheap. $650 for a complete ebike is cheap. You get what you pay for, in my experience. We’ve gotten middrive kits from Luna Cycles and they are not without issues (batteries not lasting as long as I’d hope).

[dasgeh]

@zsionakides 192585 wrote:

If it’s going to be awhile to get the underpass fixed, then serious consideration should be put into painting a crosswalk at Manchester where the curb cuts are and putting either a “stop for pedestrians” sign or a 3-way stop between Wilson and Manchester. There are other mid-block crossings on Wilson so this wouldn’t be unprecedented, though a temporary 3-way stop would be much safer for everyone going through the intersection.

The detour was discussed at the BAC. Arlington staff seemed not hopeful that anything would change. I recommend writing powers that be — countymanager and countyboard arlingtonva.us

[dasgeh]

@TimV 192583 wrote:

There was a work crew working on the Wilson Boulevard underpass as I pedaled past this morning. Fingers crossed that the repair to the caved in cement will be done soon.

I seriously doubt it will be done any time soon. According to DPR staff at Monday’s BAC meeting, they are still in the process of getting engineers out there to figure out how to fix it and what the price tag will be. Then they’ll have to find the money. They also seem not to have considered putting up a “dismount and walk bikes” sign and leaving a segment open. Or putting up signage for drivers on Wilson about the detour. All around, not a great performance.

All the streets damaged by the storm were repaired within a week. All the playgrounds were fixed within 6 weeks.

[dasgeh]

Great meeting last night.

We discussed prioritizing the list of projects from the Bike Element (see Appendix D, starting on page 48). We brainstormed a list of projects that could potentially be in the top ten. Next week, we’ll send out a survey to help us “objectively” rank those projects by three criteria: Safety/comfort; Connectivity to the existing network; Equity. The initial list is below; if you would like to nominate other projects to this list, please let me know by FRIDAY (# from Bike Element & Name, please. if you’re nominating a smaller portion of a larger project, please say that; if you have an idea of what needs to be fixed, but need help id’ing the project it’s in, let me know). Also, if you have any ideas for separate capital projects (see below for an example), let me know.

INITIAL LIST OF POSSIBLE PRIORITY PROJECTS FROM THE BIKE ELEMENT
2-16 Lynn & Lee
2-06 Army Navy Country Club Connector
2-19 ANC Wall Trail along 110/eastern end of Columbia Pike
[1-08 Eastern & western ends of Columbia Pike – funded]
3-09 Quincy
3-01 South George Mason
3-02 North George Mason
2-03 FMR/W&OD Trails crossing Shirlington Road
2-04 W&OD through East Falls Church [note Arlington has gotten grant for study, which should start this fall]
3-12 Crystal Drive
3-10 Walter Reed Drive – Superman Hill
3-11 Walter Reed Drive (the rest)
3-05 Ballston western alternative
2- ?? Eastern end of Bluemont trail
3-21 Fairfax Drive
3-22 Wilson Blvd
3-44 Ashton Heights/Lyon Park connector (alt. to Pershing)
2-13 Columbia Pike bike blvds
2-26 Carlin Springs Road Trail
–> Separate possible projects:
Pot of money to add concrete protection to buffered or flex-post-protected bike lanes.

[dasgeh]

@sjclaeys 192565 wrote:

So any update on when the flood damage repair work will begin, such as the W&OD Wilson Blvd underpass?

They are still getting cost estimates. We did have some suggestions about improving this situation (e.g. put up a “walk bikes” sign if there’s space to allow that; improve the signage on street so that drivers expect bikes crossing). We also talked about the need to think about improvements that could be possible with the repairs and about future flooding.

[dasgeh]

@ChristoB50 192530 wrote:

Well, I went ahead and ordered a stiff-bristle broom so I can tackle pea-gravel on the trail when I find it.
After Arl. closed my original trail ticket about the gravel (only clearing 1 of the 3 reported gravel patches along the trail) I opened 2 new, individual tickets (one per remaining patch of gravel.)
This morning, one of those patches was cleared, which was great.
But the other one still wasn’t. (ie, on same trail, perhaps 1/3 mile away.)
We’ll see if I get to try out my broom tomorrow!

If this is a regularly reoccurring problem, I’d email kstalica arlingtonva.us and request that ArlCo work this into regular maintenance — and maybe try to find the source of the problem and prevent it entirely…

[dasgeh]

@mstone 192523 wrote:

Which isn’t the same thing as “does the hit and run law apply”. Note the language of the statute quoted talks about being “involved in an accident”. What’s the legal meaning of “accident” in this context? It’s not in the definitions section, but later the section talks about “person struck and injured” or “vehicle collided with” or “other damaged property”. It does not talk about “person who caused someone else to hurt themselves whilst trying to avoid a collision with the first person”. If nobody was struck or collided with, does this statute apply? ¯_(ツ)_/¯

In this case, the person collided with the ground.

I’m not saying which way a Virginia judge would come down on this, but it’s a reasonable argument. Just like if a person were driving the wrong way down a highway, and other drivers struck barriers or trees while avoiding the wrong-way driver, I would make the argument that the statute applies. The cars (not even persons) collided with barriers/trees.

[Author]

Posts