[DrP]

@Tim Kelley 153480 wrote:

From my inbox:

“There is a collapsed sanitary sewer pipe behind Saint Ann Catholic School ( 980 N. Frederick St ) near the bike/pedestrian trail (Custis Trail). Our Contractor Sagres Construction will be performing the emergency work. We will be closing the westbound line on the trail and users will have to share the east bound line on the trail. We will put up work ahead signs and lane closure sign on the trail. We are tentatively planning to start on Thursday 1/26/2017 and plan to be completed in 1 week time.”

I am very glad to see that it is truly only one lane that is affected and that it is a very short stretch. Thank you Arlington and Sagres Construction.

[DrP]

If unmarked police bicycles are reducing cyclists deaths and getting drivers to watch for cyclists in a short amount of time, how do we get police in the US to do this?
Do we all forward this to the police?

[DrP]

@sjclaeys 153650 wrote:

Big tree across the Custis Trail near Lyon Village right before the S-curve of death. No way to get around other than over.

Tree is gone, although there is a lot of debris remaining, so it does require a bit of care.

I am glad it is gone since I did not read this before heading out this morning and that would have been a wake up call coming from the S-curve of death. Depending on where it actually lay, the S-curve of death might have been living up to its name.

[DrP]

First commute home from my new job. Glad that the sun is setting after five so that I could do the first bit, which I tried once in December, while it was light out. I was on 4MRT and W&OD by the time it was getting dark enough to need some light.

The parts of the commute through Ballston for my trip to the gym were not as pleasant as all the people who think the bike lane is for parking were out. Also those who do not look in the bike lane before making a right turn. Sure as I yelled at him he noticed, but then he decided to just stop and luckily I did too or would have ended up in his hatchback. So, stopping short in the bike lane was supposed to be helpful to whom, exactly?

[DrP]

First bike commute to new job. Quite pleasant weather-wise. Took a little longer than I had expected. Also, I kept thinking that there was something wrong with the back wheel since things seemed to be moving (by evening commute, I realized that the rack was loose and the heavy panniers were swaying. Now fixed), which may have added to the time.

[DrP]

@Judd 153571 wrote:

I actually agree that it’s not a very attractive bridge.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It is hideous. VDOT clearly only designs giant highway interchanges. I can understand why they are complaining if that is the option. They need something more like what is across route 7.

I think I know the culvert the letter mentions – 4MR (the stream) goes under Washington St about where that traffic light for the fire station is. There is no trail of any kind there. They would need to take land from other places (e.g., car repair, fire station, etc.) to get the re-routing I think the letter is implying – which would be continue 4MRT into Issac Crossman Park and then continue the trail until about where the bridge over the stream is near the fire station. That isn’t going to happen either. Too much land needs to be taken from others and I am sure there are folks who will complain about bicycles in the park – they are prohibited at present. Also, we do not need another under-road crossing next to 4MR that will flood in the rain – because then we will need to go to the road to cross and piss everyone off.

[DrP]

Glad to hear about Madrid. I was trying to remember what the biking was like there, especially since I was there the same trip as Salamanca, but I just wasn’t sure what I was remembering. Adds another in the column of good work by Spain. (and the DC area is about as hilly or more so than Madrid – I have walked both cities extensively. Barcelona isn’t completely flat nor is Salamanca, or really any old city – they were usually built along or surrounding rivers which need some down hill to operate properly. I admit that I saw few cyclists in Alcaniz, Spain, where I was in between Zaragoza and Barcelona. That town was built on a steep hill, with the old castle at the top (no river up there – it was along the base of the town. But it was good for protection and seeing the enemy from miles away). It was tough walking the town and driving it, although it would have been fun to ride from the top to the bottom, switch-backing on the way down. I would like to get back to Lisbon and see what they have – that was a city where I thought the tourist map needed to be a topo map.).

Good to hear about London too. Especially the bikeshare system. I had heard about the “no car zone” and that people where biking more there. Perhaps when I get there again, I will try the bikeshare out.

[DrP]

I recently returned from a trip to Genoa and Turin. Genoa seemed to lack bike-friendly infrastructure and I saw very few cyclists. Turin had some decent infrastructure in the center of the city (on the bus ride from the airport, the bus gave a cyclist a whole 3 inches – and that cyclist have moved to be almost on the curb and in generally it didn’t look like as much infrastructure in that region). Bike lanes and bike trails, plus [TO] Bike, their bike share system (see photo). I think one can get one day membership, but it was not clear to me how from the machine, but my Italian isn’t great. I did see people using the bikes as well as their own all over. Less so in Genoa (nor did I find a bike share system there).

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I meant to comment more on my previously posted trip to Spain. This is a good place for some comments, because I must say that I have noticed differences between the two countries. On an earlier trip to Spain, I was in Salamanca (a university town) and that was bike friendly with trails and the like, whereas a different set of trips to Italy (Bologna, Florence, and Rome) there was a mixed set of infrastructure – more in Bologna than the others, but still seemed slim. Overall, where I was in both countries, there seemed to be better infrastructure for cyclists in Spain, including lots of signs on roads between the towns indicating that one needed to give cyclists 1.5m (not that I could figure out that distance when driving. I think I goofed once and gave only 3 ft and the cyclist glared at me), whereas I have not seen such signs in Italy. Italy has not seemed quite as bike friendly, which I find kind of amusing given the well known bicycle manufacturers. Perhaps I have missed the bike friendly areas in Italy, but from the last several cities and towns I visited, while there are people cycling, the infrastructure wasn’t there.

Just kind of interesting, but not a scientific study. Yet. I think I will continue to travel and check out more areas in the different countries to see if this observation holds up. Of course, testing out the local food and wine too.

[DrP]

@lordofthemark 152916 wrote:

I can definitely say that there are anxiety producing sidewalks in Alexandria, and I suspect there are some left
In Arlington. Both road diets (removing lanes) and lane diets (narrowing them) can reduce speeding, thus improving safety for all modes, including drivers.

As for I66, I thought the project will allow toll payING single occupant vehicles on. It’s not obvious there will be a net diversion away from I66.

Note also, traffic calming is often called for precisely on arterials.

People do not like to pay for roads if they do not have to (I have found this handy in other countries – I get the road all to myself and the high quality road combined with higher speed limits is fun too). Sure there is the Dulles toll road and those users are probably thinking that it is just an increase in tolls, but I am sure that many people will try to not use I66 if they have to pay – I see few people in the toll lanes on I-495, and my friends who have to commute that way do not use those lanes. Washington Blvd is already packed with single drivers after it goes HOV, and I do not envision most folks deciding to pay since their route works now and won’t cost them a ton of money (Hard to find exact figures, but $17/day for longest trip, which might include the outside the beltway portion, is thrown around. An extra $85/week is significant for commuting, if that were the case. Even an extra $20/week can add up for some people).

Note also that one HAS to have EasyPass to use the road, unlike the Dulles toll road where one can pay cash, or the tunnels in Norfolk or some bridges in NY, where they will bill you by mail and you can set up an account to make it cheaper. So anyone who only occasionally needs to use I66 will likely decide a different route. I rarely need it, but will be avoiding it if I have to pay tolls. (I am annoyed about the removal of the Dulles exception).

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@KLizotte 150782 wrote:

If you are going to Crystal City why not stay on Boundary Channel Drive and then pick up Long Bridge Drive? You then skip Army Navy drive altogether.

Apologies if I was confusing. In the past I was commuting to Crystal City, so I am familiar with Boundary Channel Dr to Long Bridge Dr and thus familiar with routes getting me to Boundary Channel Dr. Getting from Boundary Channel Dr to Pentagon City is what I wasn’t familiar with. Your response showed me how to do that and it worked today.

[DrP]

@DrP 150727 wrote:

I saw them this morning on the W&OD just north of Patrick Henry (drewdane – I think this is considered both W&OD and Custis, at least for plowing purposes). I chuckled. I like that they were for all users and not just cyclists. Hopefully the folks they are aimed at (nighttime users without reflectors/lights), can see them too.

And today I saw two more on the Custis. One between the Ballston connector and Washington Blvd and one at the top of the Rosslyn hill. All are different. I am curious what other trail users think. Are there any on the southern Arlington routes, like 4MR around the airport or Shirlington?

[DrP]

Today I tried the route through the Johnson Grove and then Fern out of the Pentagon reservation, although I did take the sidewalk until I crossed Army Navy (pissing off some truck drivers who wanted to turn NOW and a damn cyclist should not have the right to go through such an intersection). That worked well and was similar in time – and generally nicer. I did miss the turn to Fern at first (cars and it looked like it was a cut through for buses) and found the pedestrian tunnel mentioned, but I went back to Fern. Next time would be just fine. (There are a LOT of police cars there. Wow. I hadn’t noticed that on other trips there.)

I tried the return of Columbia Pike to Courthouse to 8th (and 7th and 8th and 9th, as needed) to W&OD. Since I took the sidewalk on Columbia Pike (that is a really narrow road and folks really want you to go their speed), I was likely slower than one would expect (same amount of time to get home as Army Navy to 28th to Meade to 4MR). It was hillier than I expected, but it was nice to see some other neighborhoods. However, unless that tends to be plowed more than trails or I really needed a change, I am unlikely to use that route. But it is good to know how to do that route.

Thank you all. I now have a couple of routes and know about how long it will take me to get to my future office.

[DrP]

@cvcalhoun 150755 wrote:

I have to say, a car company making paint that cyclists have to reapply every 10 days seems to me like self-interest (because if cyclists don’t apply it, then the cyclists can be considered at fault if Volvos run them over). As one who has a hard time remembering to lube the chain as often as every 10 days, I don’t consider this a practical solution to anything.

I was just wondering something similar. One would think that on something like the bicycle, one would want it on there for much longer than 10 days. Clothing is a little different, but still likely to want it on one’s cycling gear pretty permanently. And it isn’t cheap. Those cans look small, so for consistent use from, say, October to April when there is more darkness, that is 7 months with about 3 applications per month, I could easily see something like 7 cans (or more) needed at $20 or more with shipping per can. I think one of those jackets with the reflective dots all over is about the same cost and you can use the jacket the next year too.

[DrP]

Where do we get one of those?

[DrP]

Thank you all for the suggested routes and descriptions both through the Pentagon reservation and going through Arlington not on Columbia Pike. I have mostly stuck to the trails and the Wilson/Clarendon/Fairfax corridor and Williamsburg (one needs hills sometimes), so hearing about the others is helpful. I will test more routes out. I have some time before I need them for real and having options is good, especially as winter and snow starts (I do know about the Custis-Ft Myers/Lynn – Meade – around the cemetery – Washington Blvd – Boundary Channel route (continuing to CC) in case of snow since I tried that last year when the MVT was unplowed).

[Author]

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