Starduster
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Judd, you hit everything I wanted to highlight plus many issues I simply *lived with*. These are all the reasons my wife *will not* ride the Pike. And I was leading Papillon shop rides through here, once or twice with children, because there was no other option.
. Join us if you can.@Judd 175466 wrote:
I’ll probably be there.
Completely agree with Dave’s feedback about Columbia Pike and Frederick. When I first moved here, I nearly hit a pedestrian in this crosswalk because there aren’t rapid flashing beacons where I come from and a flashing yellow signal means proceed with caution. My experience with RFBs have been that they’re useless and don’t get cars to stop.
Other issues:
There are several parts of the Pike where the pavement is frequently very torn up and warped (like 6 to 8 inch pavement depressions and swells) because it’s places where heavy busses stop. Scott St, S. Courthouse, S. Barton and Walter Reed in front of Papillion are frequent victims. This is dangerous for both cars and cyclists and could be fixed by replacing with concrete road surface as is done in several parts of DC.Everything about the ramps on Washington Blvd as evidenced by the number of crashes involving cyclists there in the past year. Cars exiting Washington Blvd on the Pike frequently do not stop and drivers frequently do not look both ways before rolling through. The Google Maps Streetview illustrates this: https://goo.gl/maps/weP1YXu9NRJ2 Shuttle driver pulled into the crosswalk, looking left so that he can make a right on red. This could be helped by adding stop strips before the light, barring right on red, raising the crosswalk, and squaring off the turns with a curb bump out or the installation of flexposts. Some targeted enforcement from ACPD every once in a while might be nice as well.
Heading eastbound, the variable lane signals to exit on to 395 are frequently disobeyed. Here’s the street view: https://goo.gl/maps/bygXKqm5Hw12 During morning rush cars can exit on to 395 from either lane. During most other times, only the right lane can turn right, but cars will still frequently turn from the left lane even though the right lane goes straight (or can turn right). This means that every time I bike here, there’s a strong possibility that a car will right hook me when I’m legally using the right lane to go straight. This could use some enforcement.
The W&OD Trail Crossing needs an LPI or a dedicated cross signal where all traffic is stopped. Trail traffic is high for this crossing and currently cars turning right off of Four Mile Run conflict with the trail crossing. It’s particularly difficult when the car starts to make a right turn on red and then the crosswalk activates.
The north sidewalk on the bridge over Four Mile Run is terribly narrow and can barely accommodate two pedestrians using it at the same time. It can not accommodate a bike and a pedestrian at the same time, which is a shame because there is a CaBi station across the bridge at the Arlington Mill Community Center. I seem to recall that there was discussion of widening this or putting in a pedestrian bridge. I believe the four lanes of traffic are wide enough that a foot could be taken from each lane to widen this sidewalk.
The entire length of the bike should have dedicated bus/bike lanes.
The County should turn this parking lot (https://goo.gl/maps/rLieNmsnKgH2) that was formerly the site for recycling dumpsters into the Arlington Bicycle Campus, a dedicated facility for bicycle education courses. I will commit to providing free bicycle education courses taught by League Certified Instructors for free if the County will spring for some asphalt sealant and paint.
I’ve got lots of other comments but they stray more in to PACs territory.