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@arlrider 220846 wrote:

Isn’t the posted speed limit 15 or 20 MPH out there? If they wanted to discourage the pelotons, all they’d need is a few cops with radar guns.

It is 15 MPH now.

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@darkwave 220815 wrote:

Nope – of the two inner lanes – one is clockwise and one is counterclockwise. Which you do need for pedestrians. Forcing pedestrians to only go one direction means that they are forced to complete the loop of the island if they walk there, which is a far bigger ask for pedestrians than it is for cyclists. And limiting pedestrians to one narrow lane (narrower than requirements for a DC sidewalk) would be unfeasible because at certain times of day there are too many pedestrians of differing speeds for such a narrow lane.

I’m not a fan at all of this – my preference was that they a) eliminate the buses, b) install automated speed cameras, and c) post signs indicating that the road is to be shared.

Good point that pedestrians should not be forced to make a complete loop. I also think that buses, including school buses, need to be eliminated because they will destroy the cherry trees if they are confined to one lane. Speed cameras enforcing the speed limit would be a great idea, but there are so many drivers in DC ignoring tickets that I don’t think that the end result will be the drivers changing their habits.

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@amanka 220789 wrote:

I rode there the other night. If the lines painted on the pavement represent what’s actually going to happen, the primary ride lane on the right (CW) is smaller than the CCW lane and runs up to the curb and over the gratings. What a disaster.

My recollection, which could be faulty, was that both lanes were clockwise with the one nearer the golf course for pedestrians and the one nearer the car lane for cyclists. Cyclists also allowed to use the car lane if they could keep up with cars (15 MPH). That more or less made sense to me. If it is the way you wrote, I agree it would be a disaster, especially when there is cross wind which is often.

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@Starduster 219246 wrote:

“Mommy, what’s a Belvedere?”

It’s an old Plymouth. Perhaps there is one abandoned on the trail.

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@ursus 218989 wrote:

Hopefully they don’t allow the new painting to fade. It also would be nice if they fixed all of the potholes near the northwest end of Phase 1.

It’s faded a lot in about two weeks. The painting in the section in front of Phase 2 doesn’t have this problem. They probably used a different material for the pavement.

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@lordofthemark 218988 wrote:

Phase 2 of the Wharf is well on its way. While the buildings have not opened yet, the western half of the second phase of the sidewalk level cycle track s now open, looks great. More like bike lanes than phase 1, and the sidewalk is a bit wider, so may function more like actual bike lanes. You still get dumped onto Maine for now, the last bit of the cycle track is not done yet.

Further good news (which I have wanted for some time) is that the cycle track in front of Wharf Phase 1 has been repainted – yes, the bike symbols and arrows are back, and there is even green paint as you approach the “street” crossings.

It’s still far from the best facility in the area, but I am hopeful it will function better in the near future than it has in the recent past.

Also to note, further construction on the oval at Potomac and South Cap. Still some ways before it’s comfortable going from the bike lanes on Potomac SW to those on Potomac SE.

Hopefully they don’t allow the new painting to fade. It also would be nice if they fixed all of the potholes near the northwest end of Phase 1.

You probably don’t have this problem since you are biking to work, but there now is a bike/Segway touring company which completely blocks the path when a tour is being assembled. Perhaps the worst part is people testing their bikes/Segways, especially the latter, move randomly and often not in control before their tour starts.

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Thanks greatly for posting that. I had to miss it due to a dentist appointment.

I was thinking this morning about the fact that school buses will still be allowed. For between 30 minutes and an hour, 30 or more Fairfax County school buses were parking in what will be bike/pedestrian territory on the Potomac River side of HP. I spoke to a Metro policeman there who told be they were there because they had driven students to the Kennedy Center and there was no other place for them to park. The first two times I passed them I had to breath their fumes. (There used to be No Idling signs.) The next time I passed was when they decided to leave and immediately go into the left lane cutting me and a couple of others off. At least of the proposal is approved, the buses won’t be able to park there.

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The tour buses being eliminated would be the most welcome part of this for me, and in my opinion they need to be eliminated if one lane is allotted to bikes and pedestrians because there are sections where buses would damage trees if they have to stay on the left instead of going up the middle. It has been a pleasure with very few buses due to COVID the last two years, and I have been dreading them coming back in large numbers.

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@lordofthemark 216338 wrote:

Hmm. The vast majority of “citizens” did nothing for the building of the bridge, and if it was like any other local issue around here, some citizens probably opposed it. I guess that’s the problem with a generic kind of name.

I mean I’d guess that encouraging people to ride, improving the local bike culture, etc, also is a contribution to the regional park system.

There appear to be two Alexandria reps on the NVRPA board, Scott Price and Sean Kumar. I suppose I could contact them to make my case.

I thought that the name was due to the fact that citizens paid for part of the cost of the bridge directly. I recall donating some piddling amount, probably to the W&OD, at the time.

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@Sophie CW 215325 wrote:

Yesterday’s ride included Francis Lewis Park at 147th Street and 3rd Avenue in Whitestone, Queens, NY. He was one of the Founding Fathers of the US who signed the Declaration of Independence. My elementary school was named after him as well as a major street in Queens.
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I grew up in Whitestone and Beechhurst. As you know, the schools were usually called by their numbers, not their names. I went to kindergarten in PS 79Q. We moved late in that school year from Whitestone, south of the Cross Island Parkway, to Beechhurst, north of the parkway. I went to PS 30Q which hasn’t existed since about 1960 from 1st through 3rd grades and then PS 193Q from 4th through 6th grades. (That was Alfred J. Kennedy school.) I then went to JHS 194Q (William Carr).

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Having ridden my bike across the old bridge going to work at the Naval Research Laboratory for over 30 years before I retired, I am almost sad that I have little reason to go across it now. I did try it this morning and will do it again after more work has been done at both ends.

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Within the last week or 10 days, the speed limit on the entire Hains Point hamster course has been lowered to 15 MPH, even the part on Buckeye Drive. The signs are quite small, and many car drivers (peloton bikers too ) seem to be ignoring them.

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@consularrider 210936 wrote:

Park St as an alternative has been touted before, but has more stop signs.

It is also longer.

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@consularrider 210898 wrote:

The detour used to be marked, Little Falls to Fairfax Dr/Lincoln St to West St and back on the W&OD

I used it yesterday. A detour sign is up now heading west but directs one south, not north.

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I was riding westward on the W&OD early this morning. Soon after I crossed the new bridge, I came to a barrier at Little Falls Street with no indication of a detour. How is one supposed to continue westward?

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