[Tim Kelley]

@bobco85 147820 wrote:

I think the map looks greatly improved from last year, so I only have a few points of criticism. FYI to all: make sure you check out the back page of the comfort map, too, as it also looks great.

In general, these are the things I noticed:

• The shadows cast by some of the lines helps them stand out, but sometimes they overlap in weird ways (just north of Patrick Henry Dr/16th St N) or create the sense of an overpass instead of an intersection (N Fillmore St/Lorcom Ln)
• I am echoing others on this: it would be very useful to see a short extension of all roads/trails into surrounding jurisdictions (Rock Creek Trail, Potomac Yard Trail, Capital Crescent Trail, C&O Canal Towpath). Right now, it looks like the W&OD Trail and Mount Vernon Trail both end before hitting the county line.
• I like the detail of only having the darker outline on the side(s) of the street that has the bike lane when only one side has the bike lane (Wilson Blvd and Clarendon Blvd in Clarendon have the outline on one side whereas Barton St has the outline on both sides). Could sharrows be marked with a dashed outline?

Minor quibbles or improvements:

• The path in Long Bridge Park is absent
• Connector Rd from Boundary Channel Dr to the Pentagon Metro entrance should be included
• There should be arrows on more of the neighborhood streets leading out of the Lubber Run Park Trail (3rd St N, 2nd Rd N, 2nd St N, 1st Rd N)
• There should be arrows on 9th St S leading from the W&OD Trail
• There should not be arrows at the Bluemont Junction Trail/Kensington St crossing (it’s nearly flat)
• In the Somewhat Comfortable section (back page), the image shows a car buzzing a pink cyclist who is riding on the sharrows
• In the Least Comfortable section (back page), it should say “pink” instead of “red”
• In the Route Colors and Markings section (back page), the speech balloons don’t all point to people, and I wonder about having a “Share the road” balloon being spoken by someone in a car (presumably at a cyclist, something many of us have had yelled at us)

Thanks–some of these are good suggestions!

[Tim Kelley]

@kcb203 147821 wrote:

I’d downgrade the Roosevelt Bridge crossing. It’s the scariest bike route in the area, even though it’s separated from car traffic. The path is very narrow and the barriers are very low, both to the cars on one side and the 40′ plunge to the water on the other.

It was considered, however we made the decision to not rate off street trails, as this mostly pertains to the comfort of riding with vehicular traffic, and not the actual width or hilliness of a path. It would also add a whole other layer of colors and would make for a very busy map and legend.

[Tim Kelley]

@Judd 147814 wrote:

Tapatalk evidence that Tim Kelley can answer questions before they are asked?

Top Men…

[Tim Kelley]

No, it’s not spam. APS SRTS (Arlington Public Schools Safe Routes To Schools) is promoting this.

Get on it!

[Tim Kelley]

@Judd 147803 wrote:

I would put a steep hill arrow on the 9th street south access to the W&OD. I just had a convo with Komorebi last week about the time she didn’t gear down before starting up the hill.

I find the 9th st s crossing at Walter Reed in need of a caution arrow. Lots of lanes and also traffic turning off the Pike changes the landscape quickly.

I’d change S. Courthouse from the Pike to Sixth St S to most comfortable now that it has Nike lanes. I’d change the portion from 6th S to 2nd S to less comfy based on the narrow lanes and heavy bus traffic. That stretch is about as comfy as the Pike for me.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for the suggestions!

[Tim Kelley]

@TwoWheelsDC 147806 wrote:

What I mean is, instead of a cutoff right at county lines, give some indication of how comfortable a given segment is as you’re leaving the country. Going back to Wilson, I think having the orange line transition to grey as you hit the border would give the user a sense that the comfort level of that road changes once you get outside the county. If you didn’t know better, you might assume that a route has the same comfort level in Fairfax (or Alexandria) that it does in Arlington, but that isn’t always the case.

We actually considered adding map monsters. Alexandria, DC, FAIRFAX?? Yar, there be dragons.

[Tim Kelley]

@TwoWheelsDC 147801 wrote:

One critique I have with this map is that it doesn’t really focus on where people might be riding to once they move off the map. Obviously, this is meant to be an Arlington map, but if you’re riding on Wilson or Rt. 50, say, and you cross into Fairfax (to go to a destination like Seven Corners), the road quickly goes from “less comfortable” to “basically horrifying.” Also, there are several places that show decent bike infrastructure or comfortable routes along Arlington’s border, suggesting there is a destination to get to, but those routes lead to nothing (Chesterbrook is a good example). So without better regional context, it would be difficult for a lot of people to use this to plan a route to destinations outside the county, or from outside the county in.

TL;DR: To make this a more effective planning map, I think it would be better to at least give the user some indication of what Arlington’s bike routes connect to in surrounding jurisdictions.

So you’re thinking that some sort of “regional” map, which would require other jurisdictions deciding that having a level of comfort map, would be a good idea? I like it!

[Tim Kelley]

From an email:

“Hello – We had a status meeting on 4MR last week with the contractor, so we have an update on the trail detour. They had a delay with their sub-contractor setting up the MOT. They expect to begin setting up the MOT next week (Oct. 31st). We expect that the detour will take effect the following Monday, November 7th. We will send out some reminders about the detour starting next week.”

[Tim Kelley]

@JorgeGortex 147787 wrote:

I knew they were a PAL because they were wearing a bright yellow PAL vest

[ATTACH=CONFIG]12619[/ATTACH]

Hmm–the bright yellow vests say BikeArlington and we’ve given out several thousand of those already. Are you sure it wasn’t orange with the PAL logo? We haven’t given out quite so many of those, but they have gotten a reach beyond the initial 150 volunteers on the list so it might be hard to track down who it was. That being said we’ll ask our PAL Ambassador to reminds folks who are PAL volunteers to be good role models.

Jorge, have you joined the group? https://www.facebook.com/groups/1524506764490426/

[Tim Kelley]

So it’s been almost 18 hours and there haven’t been any comments or critiques?! We had 125 posts on the first release…what’s up? Who are you people?

[Tim Kelley]

@Judd 147776 wrote:

Are these going to be mass mailed again?

No, we don’t have the budget to print and mass mail 115,000 copies, but if you visit the page linked above, there are directions where you can have one mailed to you individually for free.

[Tim Kelley]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]12608[/ATTACH]

Kudos on this fabulous piece of advertising too!

[Tim Kelley]

@JorgeGortex 147656 wrote:

So I dig the PAL effort and volunteers but have to relate that i was a bit bummed last night on my evening commute home up the Custis when I got buzzed by a PAL just as I was approaching the bottom of the Lyon Village corkscrew. No lights, no bell, no pass call, now hello, and right off my elbow. That’s not ambasador behavior… and I found it extra ironic given that it was my first time riding Rosslyn to Westover on the trail in a long time… and despite my rather sad level of speed and fitness I was still wishing people well as they called passes or passed someone else.

Every person met is an opportunity to spread the bike love.

George

Thanks–can you tell us more? How did you know they were a PAL ambassador? Wearing a reflective vest? Pulling a trailer? Male/female?

[Tim Kelley]

It’s not done yet!

[Tim Kelley]

@Judd 147474 wrote:

I’m 6’3″ which I think is on the ginormous side.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Meh.

[Author]

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