[elbows]

Thanks for sharing the survey. I will pass it around.

For what its worth, my two cents on the “gov for a day” question was that I would toll 95 and use the funds to immprove options for intracity travel without a car (obviously I would not be looking to get reelected). Last weekend, I wanted to get to northern PA for a family reunion, I took a bus from DC to Pittsburgh via West Virginia, and then caught a ride with someone to central PA. I considered bicycling, which I think could have been about the same amount of time. Getting around the area without a car is fine, but it is frustrating how challenging it is to get somewhere else without one.

[elbows]

Being at work, I cannot look at the petition now, but why not ask them to come up with a more bike-friendly policy in other ways?

To me, holding my bike on the metro does not bother as much as:

1) not being able to take my bike on metro when going against the rush during rushour and
2) being forced to use the slow and smelly elevators for which there is often a line when giant strollers are allowed on escalators and I am a lot more mobile on the escalator with my bike AND many stations lack working elevators and those that day usually require multiple trips on escalators.

[elbows]

Out of curiousity, what is Phoenix Bike’s need for bikes like at the moment? My condo bike room is full of bikes that are never ridden. I wonder about trying to coordinate a drive. I see on the website that the below is true.

Unfortunately, we don’t currently have a way to pick up donated bikes. However, if you have a group of bikes to donate (condominiums, churches, community bike drives, etc.), or regularly have bikes (bike shops, police departments, etc.), it may be possible for us to coordinate a volunteer pick-up. Contact us with details or questions if you have a bunch of bikes!

[elbows]

Last night while riding on Fillmore north across Lorcom, I suspected after a while of waiting that the light had no bike-sensor. I meandered over and pressed the pedestrian signal and waited a while longer. Eventually, a car arrived and the light changed, but the pedestrian signal never changed, not of consequence to me but worth mentioning, I thought. I believe that this is a marked bicycle route.

If Arlington has lights that do not sense cyclists, perhaps at the least, they should have signage indicating so, particularly on bike routes.

[elbows]

How important do others think the Army-Navy Country Club Connection is? Would it connect to the future, proposed Pike Blvd when/if it goes down that far?

How easy is it to speak at the meeting tonight if one was away in GW National Forest until last night/this morning and didn’t sign up to speak? How long and unpleasant is the meeting?

Thanks!

[elbows]

@culimerc 85921 wrote:

Check into one way rentals for both cars and moving vans. DC being a bigger draw than Pittsburgh, the rates are probably comparatively reasonable.

On numerous occasions when I’ve needed to travel between DC and Pittsburgh and I had something unwieldy to travel with making public transportation unviable, I’ve gone with rideshare on craigslist and been pretty happy. For what it’s worth, I’m a woman. The rental cost options were enough to fund a nonproft for a week.

[elbows]

@consularrider 87072 wrote:

Since you say experiment, does that mean you didn’t push the [poorly located] pedestrian light button? Also, that’s an intersection where the Virginia law allowing you to cross against the light after you have waited two minutes won’t help since there is almost never a big enough gap in the traffic on Rte 50 to safely cross without the light.

That is correct. I did not push the poorly located button. I was very dedicated to my experiment.

[elbows]

I’m not sure I was correct about this, by the way. Sometimes, I’ve gotten the arrow and sometimes I haven’t.

[elbows]

While I’m pointing out lights that I think are not triggered by cyclists, here is another. Heading east on Columbia Pike at the Sheraton, there is a new light with a left turn arrow. It does not seem like the left arrow is triggered by cyclists.

Personally, that light has made my commute on the Pike even less pleasant. I guess it was necessary for others.

[elbows]

@VikingMariner 86360 wrote:

I’m okay with no bike detection. Gives me time to check my grocery list, look at attractive women (is being interested in women sexist?), look at the clouds for patterns, heck and maybe even enjoying the day. So what if I lose 60 seconds of my life to the County. I’m generous like that. :0)

Now a bridge over or a tunnel under the Intersection of Doom? That would be the good fight.

As a note, it can be a lot more than 60 seconds. At Irving and 50, as an experiment, I sat there like a law-abiding cyclist fool, and it was over 5 minutes before a vehicle showed up and the light changed.

[elbows]

At the intersection of Irving and 50, indicate that a bicyclist must be the size of a car to trigger the light to change. I can press the pedestrian button, but I don’t require that much time and it’s kind of a slap in the face. I’d rather work on becoming the size of a car so I am important enough for the light to change for me.

At the intersection of G Mason and 50, there is a sign that says something to the effect that one should turn left to take the bicycle route to Memorial Bridge. That’s a heck of a way to get to Memorial Bridge on a bicycle.

Remove some of the bollards on the path along 50. Some of them seem uneccessary and they can be somewhat dangerous.

[elbows]

@chris_s 84060 wrote:

YES and YES. Last I checked all you need is a government-issued ID (like a Driver’s license). If you happen to have a military or government employee id then all the better. If you’re coming from the Pike, do yourself a favor and go up a neighborhood street like Wayne instead of South Courthouse Rd. Less traffic, less hilly. If you can make the turn onto Walter Reed then Walter Reed >> 6th >> random neighborhood street >> 2nd is pretty nice.

The County has the easement, but they haven’t even committed dollars for designing the connection, let alone building the damn thing (and it isn’t going to be cheap due to major elevation changes along it). If you feel strongly about the need for the Country Club Connection, it’d be a great thing to mention to the County Board at the Capital Improvement Plan Public Hearing on June 10th at 7pm at the County Building at 2100 Clarendon Blvd…

Thanks for the info. I’m going to try to write a brief article about this for my neighbors. http://www.arlnow.com/2012/03/29/army-navy-country-club-bike-path-still-on-hold/

[elbows]

@chris_s 83391 wrote:

Hey elbows, where did you see that the Task Force was meeting? I can’t find any notice on their web page.

Sorry for the slow response. Was traveling. After your query, I looked and noticed that the webpage was wrong. I asked the staff I got the email from. She said that they would try to post the presentation on the webpage for those who missed it but I see that jonathankrall has posted some helpful notes below.

[elbows]

If anyone is interested, there is a meeting on this project tonight.

Four Mile Run Restoration Project – Joint Task Force Meeting TONIGHT! Wednesday, April 23rd. 7 PM. The Conservancy at Four Mile Run Park, 4109 Mt. Vernon Ave, Alexandria, VA. Curious what is going on with the Four Mile Run Restoration Project? There is a lot happening with the project lately! Find out the current status of the project, plans for construction, an update on the bridge removal over Four Mile Run, and learn more about the public art project on the Water Pollution Control Plant Fence. The Joint Task Force meeting will be following by the Arlandria Action Plan Advisory Group Meeting, if you would like to learn more about projects in Arlandria. http://www.novaregion.org/index.aspx?NID=214

[elbows]

I know nothing about that accident, but I do know that I have seen several accidents involving a bicyclist in Arlington and then been able to find nothing about them later. (I think I’ve also searched the police reports in some cases.) It makes me wonder how these things are monitored.

Is this accident in the police reports? I can’t check at the moment

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