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@Tim Kelley 123163 wrote:

Even toned down, the red still jumps out quite a bit? That may just be one of the issues with the existence of those roads.

I think they stand out because they’re long, direct, and continuous. Not really because of the color scheme.

The fact is that one usually has to use circuitous routes and add mileage to find comfortable routes for utility cycling. Which illustrates just how far we still need to go before we have a transportation network that is truly accommodating to people who would like to get around by bicycle.

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@Tim Kelley 122987 wrote:

@lordofthemark 122977 wrote:

but – this being 2015 and all – really what we should have is an interactive tool – wherein you put in weights (this could be done with words, and the machine would turn it into weights) of how important to you traffic volume/speed is, hills, and things like turns and visibility and other things that tend to matter when you are riding quickly. You would then get your own personalized comfort map. I mean would that be that hard to code?

Didn’t RideTheCity do that when it first started? They had the triangle with the dot you could move around to change the distance/hills/traffic attributes of a route. Not sure why they don’t anymore. Looks like they do have a “rate the route” option now.

I remember seeing that; that was a neat idea. The current options of Safer / Safe / Direct route are far more vague. And the directions don’t seem accurate either. RideTheCity tells me that I should jump from S Joyce up to the I-395 exit 8C off-ramp when going from Penrose to Long Bridge Park! I guess that’s what I get for choosing “Direct”…

[ATTACH=CONFIG]9473[/ATTACH]

Trimet is using the adjustable triangle (weights quick vs. flat vs. bike-friendly), but it’s only for Portland:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]9474[/ATTACH]

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@Tim Kelley 122944 wrote:

@scoot 122941 wrote:

I’ll follow up with a list of specific nit-picky comments.

Thank you! An email to info@bikearlington.com would be helpful.

Done. Spent way more time on that than I had budgeted for it

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@elbows 122980 wrote:

I wait until 8 am in order to go through JBMHH in order to avoid biking east through this area.

Are you waiting until 8 am in order to go through the cemetery? If the cemetery gate is closed, you can still go down McNair to Marshall, exit JBMHH through Wright Gate, and then take the 110 Trail to get back over to Memorial Bridge. Not as nice or as direct a ride as the cemetery route, but it is open earlier.

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@chris_s 122993 wrote:

How quickly we forget.

Fair enough. The construction has been ongoing ever since I moved to Arlington, so I did not have a point of comparison pre-construction. Repaving aside, the design is worse for bicyclists now than it has been over the last two years.

Somehow I never noticed any lane control signage previously. I don’t see the point of a time-dependent variable lane configuration at this location, and I think it is confusing and dangerous. What problem is VDOT trying to solve, that cannot be solved by choosing one of the two solutions full-time?

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@Raymo853 122948 wrote:

Now that the work is nearly done, I think the situation is now worse for bicycles and pedestrians. Primary two causes: 1. The automotive speeds through the area are much higher. 2. The section allowing cars traveling NE along Columbia Pike to expand from two lanes to 2.5-ish (bold on the ish) for the merge onto I295 is just poorly laid out and causes all sorts of unpredictable car movements.

The new configuration is awful. The eastbound splitting into 3 lanes just before S Queen is a disaster. And the idea of lane-control signals (to determine whether the left lane can go up the ramp or whether the right lane can stay on the Pike) is overkill. My current approach eastbound there:
– take the right lane (while staying in the left half of it for added visibility and assertiveness)
– keep an eagle eye on anyone overtaking on my left
– try to time my arrival at the 2-3 split point not to coincide with an overtaking vehicle
– then continue straight ahead in the middle of the right lane under the bridge.
Disclaimer: I don’t ride that route too often, and I’ve never had to do it in morning rush hour.

Pedestrians also have it worse now. Longer crosswalks to deal with, and the vehicles are traveling through them much faster than they were previously.

This new interchange alone should bump Arlington back to Bronze…

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@Tim Kelley 122946 wrote:

How would you change the descriptor language in the text block?

Something like Steve O’s idea (Very Comfortable/Comfortable/Less Comfortable/Least Comfortable) was what I had in mind.

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I hate the phrase “ROUTE STRONGLY DISCOURAGED” in the legend; it sends the wrong message. It’s tantamount to telling people that they should give up and get back in their cars (some of these routes have no practical alternative, e.g. Columbia Pike between Courthouse and Orme). Difficult/stressful/challenging riding conditions yes, but should absolutely not be discouraged by BikeArlington. Keep the fourth color in the comfort level scheme; just remove the negative language.

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@dasgeh 122874 wrote:

As was suggested on the Google group, if the key for blue-yellow-orange were “less stressful – medium – more stressful” (instead of “easy – medium – difficult”) and you had a more clear indication of hills (maybe 2 arrows for notable hill, like Custis out of Rosslyn, 3 for difficult hill, say significant length above 5% grade) then you’d have a better way to deal with streets like 41st St or Culpepper, which are low-stress streets (low speed, not a lot of cars) but steep hills. Both of the examples would be blue, but with 3 arrows.

It would be nice if there were a way to flag trail segments that are less than ideal. Most of the trails in Arlington are great, but, e.g., the trail along the southside of 50 beside the Foreign Affairs Training Center is not, and I wouldn’t want to send people there expecting it to be low stress. Maybe all trails get dots, and low-stress trails are blue with dots (as in the current version), then medium stress trails are yellow with dots.

Yes!!!

In general, the color-coding criteria are weighting the amount of car traffic much too strongly relative to other considerations (such as dangerous crossings, too-narrow trails, poor pavement, etc.). I’ll follow up with a list of specific nit-picky comments.

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@dasgeh 122895 wrote:

A garbage truck was flying up Quincy

Couldn’t he have just passed overhead?

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Thanks for looking that up, dbb.

IANAL either, but the code seems very clear. The exception in b2 must be in reference to the central business district.

I wonder if legal ROW changes at all when there are stop signs facing the sidewalk? (e.g. the ones around the south side of the Lincoln Memorial) Or are those unenforceable like the ones at trail crossings in Virginia?

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@S. Arlington Observer 121647 wrote:

In any event one can’t be charged with violating a District law in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Does DC law actually require dismounting in crosswalks? I’ve never heard of that.

Does that mean dismounting is required at the other end of Memorial Bridge, at the crossings of the ramp down to Ohio Drive and of 23rd Street? Or that it is legally enforceable at the GWMP / Rte 27 ramp crossings on Columbia Island?

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@vern 121560 wrote:

I think it would be very difficult to create meaningful and specific language to codify a legal Idaho stop.

Disagree. Idaho stop = interpret stop signs as yields and interpret red traffic signals as if they were flashing red. Seems pretty clear cut.

I regularly ride through a very lightly traveled suburban neighborhood with numerous stop signs. I employ the Idaho stop when no one is around, but will come to a full stop if a conflicting vehicle appears to be waiting for that.

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@MLB 119516 wrote:

For the inbound commute in the morning, you can cross Duke northbound on Dulaney/Diagonal, so skip the tunnel. Take Diagonal up to a left at Daingerfield, then a right onto Cameron at the 4-way stop and then back to the MUP.

It should be noted that Cameron Street is one-way the opposite direction. I wouldn’t ride in the road going the wrong way, as a general principle, but especially not at this location. Drivers won’t see you until the last second given that curve around the Wyndham, plus they can be aggressive about lane changing ahead of the Commonwealth intersection. The sidewalk between Commonwealth and the start of the MUP is an option, but it’s very narrow and hemmed in by a concrete wall, complicating pedestrian encounters.

You might consider Harvard Street, or maybe the alley (unnamed?) that runs under the Cardinal Bank building and along the Wyndham.

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An important lesson. I know this in theory, but I find that my assertiveness still needs work. For instance, I got buzzed the first time I rode Commerce Street in Springfield, eastbound just after Brandon Street (last intersection before the bridge over 95). I was near the gutter, guessing that the lane was wide enough to share side-by-side, but it’s actually just about 13 feet. I think you need 14 to share safely, but it’s tough to judge that on sight.

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