[Jason Hardin]

@Steve O 129552 wrote:

Just checking: are you young (ish), fit and male? “Doable” and “reasonable crossing option” may not apply for people 15 years older, 40 pounds lighter or heavier and 6 inches shorter.

I guess that’s a ballpark description, as long as young (ish) is defined pretty broadly (I’m 40+). To be clear, though, no, I don’t think hauling a bike across is a reasonable option for most people as is. I think with a runnel it becomes a reasonable option. It still might not work for everyone, but it’s definitely an improvement over the status quo and would at least provide an alternative that doesn’t really exist now to the Fort Myer/Lynn intersection.

If you’re suggesting that the overpass be reworked entirely to reduce the grade, I think that would be terrific to have, but that’s a much different project in terms of scale than just adding a ramp to the side of the current facility. It also brings some different cost/benefit questions to the table. No reason both couldn’t be pursued, though, even if one is a longer-term project. These are great conversations for the BAC.

I do want to note that I think the value of a bikeshare station there is independent of any improvements to the overpass. We looked at that site before thinking about overpass as a potentially viable crossing, as the site seems to make sense purely in terms of residential density and proximity to potential destinations.

[Jason Hardin]

@Steve O 129478 wrote:

Presumably, when you say you’ve “done it,” you mean you have carried your bike up and down the stairs. From personal experience, I have found that carrying a CaBi bike up stairs is really, really hard.

That would be awesome to make that crossing of 50 bikable. It would give people on bikes who currently tangle with cars at the Ft. Myer/Lynn & 50 intersection (+ ramp onto WB 50) a much nicer option for getting over to the south-side frontage road (and ultimately to the new-ish Rte. 50 south-side trail). Personally I would probably continue to tangle than to use a runnel on that bridge, but if I could stay on my bike, I would use it.
Also, having used the runnel from 4MR to Arlington Mill with a CaBi, I can assure you that is not a piece of cake, either.

Jason, if the county begins to think about this, could you (and other involved parties) please come to the BAC meeting early in the process, so that the design can be vetted with the community of citizen volunteers who are very familiar with biking in the County. Thanks.

Yes – CaBis are many things, but easily portable up/down stairs they are not. That said, I have in fact carried/rolled a CaBi across that overpass, as I wanted to get a sense of whether it would be too steep to make sense as a bike crossing even with a runnel. Getting it up and then down the stairs wasn’t the easiest thing to do, but it was doable, and I think with a runnel it’s not too steep to be a reasonable crossing option.

I think bringing it to the BAC is certainly a good idea, and I’ll see about making that happen.

[Jason Hardin]

@lordofthemark 127052 wrote:

Just so you know, that trail has a name – the Lucky Run trail, after the nearby stream.

Thanks – that’s good to know. Has a much better ring to it than “Four Mile Run Trail spur,” which is how I’d been thinking of it.

[Jason Hardin]

@TwoWheelsDC 125979 wrote:

In the future, I think Lacey Woods park would be a good infill location, as well as VHC.

That’s actually one of the next few stations we’ll be installing. It’ll go in at the north end of the park, giving the option to use either Washington Boulevard or drop down a few blocks and use the Custis Trail. I don’t have a firm installation date (we’re waiting on new stations to arrive, and we also need to construct a concrete pad for it) but it could be by the end of the year.

Beyond that, we also have several more in the vicinity that I expect to see installed by next summer as we expand westward. That includes stations at/near Virginia Hospital Center, Westover Library, the two other Westover-area stations mentioned here, and East Falls Church Metro.

[Jason Hardin]

@bobco85 125967 wrote:

Being on the main strip of the Westover restaurants, you’d better make that a BIG station!

Definitely. We’re planning to construct a concrete pad that can hold up to 18 docks. We’ll begin with a smaller station, but we wanted to make sure we could easily expand the station as needed, as I’m sure it will be the destination for many trips.

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