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Posts Tagged ‘complete streets’

Download, print and bring this poster to the meeting to show your support for Cycle Tracks on M St

Come speak up in support of an improved M Street SE/SW.   DDOT will be holding its third and final meeting on the M Street Southeast/Southwest Transportation Study. The study is evaluating proposed alternatives for multi-modal transportation improvements to the M St SW/SE corridor. Public comments will be taken during the meeting.

The study area is roughly 1.7 square miles along M Street SE/SW and the Southwest Waterfront from 12th Street, SE to 14th Street, SW and from the Southwest/Southeast Freeway south to the Anacostia River/Washington Channel M St. This area is very significant to bicyclists in Washington, DC as it is the crossroads for major bicycling routes and trails including the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail.  Also, there is access to two of the three bridges (South Capitol & 11^th Street) in DC that cross the Anacostia River.

DDOT has held two previous public meetings, a very well attended January meeting and much smaller meeting in May. Public input was taken at both meetings and bicycling was overwhelming supported by attendees. Most attendees indentified bicycle lanes in the area and cycle tracks on M Street as a high priority.

The M St SW/SE corridor is rapidly developing into a major destination for employment and entertainment. DDOT has also identified M St in the DC Streetcar concept plan. Streetcars and on-street parking on M St should not come at the cost of bicycle access.  Bicyclists should have safe and protected access not just to M St, but on M St!

Come to this final meaning and support bicycling in the SW/SE waterfront area Thursday night (September 13,2012)at 6:30pm at the Amidon Bowen Elementary School, 401 I Street, SW. Read the complete meeting announcement online. We have created a small poster (8.5″ x 11″) you can download, print and bring to the meeting show your support for Cycle Tracks on M St.

(To be clear, this is about M Street SE/SW, not M Street NW)

End of the Sidewalk by M.V. Jantzen, on Flickr

As you’re riding along a side path or walking along a sidewalk of a busy suburban road, the path mysteriously ends. There is nowhere to go except onto the busy street, a grassy shoulder, or a narrow dirt path. Suburban bicyclists and pedestrians know this situation all too well.

WABA testified in support of Prince George’s Co. Council Bill CB-2-2012 titled “Adequate Public Pedestrian and Bikeway Facilities in Centers and Corridors” at the February 15th, 2012 meeting of the Planning, Zoning, Economic and Development Committee. Co-sponsored by Eric Olson (District 3) and Mel Franklin (District 9), CB-2-2012 would require new developments to fill in the missing links in walking and biking facilities from the neighborhoods to the new development.

WABA strongly supports this bill and the leadership of Councilmembers Olson and Franklin in creating safe bicycling and pedestrian connections in Prince George’s Co. During the hearing there was discussion about the proposed financial limits for developers, the maximum required distances of the connection and how “adequate” connections should be measured. We believe these are important points of discussion but should be made in the regulation process and not through legislation. The full text of the bill can be downloaded here.

2011 was not the year for bike lanes in the District.  Since 2006, DDOT has  installed on-street bike lanes at a rate of four to eight additional miles per year. Less than one mile of new bike lanes was installed in 2011.

As DDOT nears the end of the timeframe laid out in 2005′s Bicycle Master Plan, the target for miles of bike lanes installed per year gets fuzzy. On average, the Master Plan calls for 10 miles of new bike lanes per year. The more recently adopted 2010 DDOT Action Agenda sets a goal of 80 miles, total, of bike lanes and protected cycle tracks by 2012.  As of today, the District has about 50.

DDOT had planned to install about 6.5 miles in 2011.  Of that 6.5 miles, approximately 4.25 miles are studied, designed and ready for installation.  But these have not been installed due to internal delays at DDOT.  The bike planners seemingly have done their part, but 2011 will end without these lanes installed, as it is now too cold for road striping.

The other 2.25 miles of that 6.5 that were slated for installation but have been put on hold for various reasons including a lack of ANC approval or a delay in necessary roadwork and signal work.

The map below shows on-street bike projects we expect in the next year.

• Red indicates projects slated for 2011 that are planned, designed, and ready–but not installed.
• Orange indicates projects slated for 2011 but pending additional work (ANC approval / additional roadwork) before they are ready for installation.
• Purple highlights projects slated for 2012.

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After installing less than a mile of bike lanes in 2011, DDOT needs to dramatically improve its performance just to meet the 10 mile per year average of the Bike Master Plan, much less the 80 mile goal of the Action Agenda.  This year’s performance is unacceptable, and signifies broken promises to the District’s cycling community.

Director Bellamy and, ultimately, Mayor Gray need to recognize that this year’s performance is unacceptable, and that major improvements are needed in 2012.

(For a description of the HIA project, CLICK HERE.)

On July 1, WABA received the exciting news that we have been chosen to move forward to the next round of the Pew Trust/Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Impact Project.  Out of nearly 250 applications nationwide, only 40 were asked to submit a full proposal.   If chosen, this grant will fund a comprehensive Health Impact Assessment on WABA’s push to add an on-road bike facility on Alabama Avenue SE, from Martin Luther King Avenue to the Suitland Parkway.  Ultimately, the Pew Trust and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation will choose and fund just ten HIA proposals for this coming year.

The HIA is another piece of our outreach efforts in Wards 7 and 8, an area of the city underserved by bicycling infrastructure.  WABA assisted in the completion of a “rapid” HIA with our partner Dr. Keshia Pollack at Johns Hopkins University and her HIA graduate students this spring, and those results formed the base of our Pew trust HIA proposal. The graduate students’ work provided a tantalizing glimpse into what could be discovered if a full HIA can be completed. More research to fully inform future bicycle policies and plans for Wards 7 and 8 is desperately needed.

This past weekend a teen bicyclist was struck and critically injured by a hit-and-run driver while attempting to cross Alabama Avenue in the immediate HIA area of study. With more cyclists taking to the streets daily, our road infrastructure has to do a better job of protecting them, throughout the city and in every ward.

Our full proposal is due to the Pew Trust on September 15th and they plan to announce the winning projects by the end of the year. If chosen, we will begin work immediately in January of 2012.

Street striping plans for the Columbia Rd., NW bike lanes (click to download PDF version)

Last night at the July meeting of the DC Advisory Neighborhood Commission 1C tabled its vote on the  proposed Columbia Rd., NW bike lanes.  These proposed bike lanes would extend from Connecticut Ave. NW to Harvard Rd. NW.

This 1 mile section of bike lanes creates a continuous on-street bicycle facility through Adams Morgan and it connect various disconnected sections of bike lanes along Columbia Rd.  Furthermore, the Columbia Rd. bike lanes would complete the connection to bike lanes / sharrows on Adams Mill Rd to Woodley Park and the sharrow bike route on the new 18th Street (once the Adams Morgan Streetscape Project is completed).

Representatives from the DDOT bicycle program were on hand for the meeting with the most up-to-date street striping plans (pdf) for the Columbia Rd., NW bike lanes.  The plans reflect multiple, minor changes after two meetings with the ANC’s Planning, Zoning and Transportation subcommittee over the past few months.

Kristen Barden, Executive Director of the Adams Morgan Partnership, voiced support for bicycling by mentioning the Partnership’s sponsorship of a Bike to Work Day pit stop.  However, this support was tempered over concerns of lost of parking spaces–especially in the 1700 block of Columbia Rd in front of Safeway–and the inconvenience and disruption of traffic for the construction of the bike lanes.

Some parking space (total exact number unknown, best guess was near four) will need to be removed to create loading zones for delivery trucks on the 1700 block of Columbia Rd. for Safeway.  Currently, delivery trucks illegally park in the center median.  To legally accommodate trucks, the new loading zone must be created which require the removal of parking spots.  The connection of a loss of business with the loss of car parking was made many times.  However according to DDOT, bike counts on Columbia Rd. often exceed 150 bikes per hour making one of the busiest bike corridors in the city which brings high numbers of customers to Adams Morgan’s businesses.

The other major concern of the bike lane project was centered around the inconvenience of the construction while the 18th St. streetscape project is underway.  DDOT estimates the 1 mile section of bike lane striping will take only a few days.  They have an outside contractor lined up for the work with a larger crew than the city’s striping crew.   The inconvenience should be minimal.

ANC1C’s subcommittee on Planning, Zoning and Transportation will most likely discuss the bike lane project at their August 1st meeting at 7 p.m. at the Kalorama Recreation Center.

WABA will continue to track this project and keep you up-to-date on it’s progress. But please remember that WABA’s presence at community meetings is not a full substitute for the cycling community’s presence.

(And in the interest of full disclosure: Yes, this bike lane would run past our office.  And our office is located where it is largely because of the high concentration of cyclists in the area.)

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From Greater Greater Washington:

Event planners need to be mindful of common bikeway access points when setting up street closures. It is not appropriate to use a one-size-fits-all security approach anymore where people are treated as cars or non-cars. Fine, close off the Mall. Set up a perimeter. But take into consideration those of us who bike and go about our daily lives as residents of this city.

There is no need to close off bike access on 15th Street. This is how cyclists, including many tourist cyclists, access some of the area’s best trails. Moreover, there is no security interest that is being protected by closing this street.

When setting up a security perimeter, please look closely at these locations instead of blankly eyeing a map and setting up roadblocks. There are freeways and overpasses in this area not just a flat street grid. Many of these roads are dangerous for pedestrians and bikers, both of whom will be forced to use these areas when left with no choice but to wait in a security line.

WABA is attempting to work with Park Police on a number cycling-related issues including clarity of signage, authority for bicycle prohibition/access on NPS property, and treatment of cyclists post-crash.  We will also specifically focus on bicycle access during periods of heightened security.

Did others experience similar access issues at any other locations over the holiday weekend?  Let us know in the comments so that we can adequately express the detailed areas of concern.

Thanks to the many cyclists and cycling supporters who have emailed Mayor Gray, Director Bellamy, and Councilmember Wells in support of the L & M Street cycletracks.  We have gathered well over 1,000 signatures.

These proposed cycletracks will fall entirely within the District’s Ward 2, so we are grateful for the support of Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans, who today stated:

I continue to support alternative transportation options in Ward 2, including the expansion of cycletracks to L & M Streets.  A solid bicycle infrastructure is key to getting cars off of the road and meeting the needs of the ever-growing number of cyclists across the Ward and city.

If you have not yet signed/emailed in support of the completion of the L & M Street, NW cycletracks, you can do so HERE.

Much of last week’s confirmation hearing for DDOT Director Terry Bellamy went smoothly.  He said the right things, including stating support for improved bicycling.  But when asked about specific projects, things went less smoothly.

Specifically, Director Bellamy said that the L and M Street cycletracks were “on hold” and that “we may not do them” due to concerns over parking removal.

CLICK HERE to email the District leaders responsible for the future of the downtown cycletracks.

In recent months, we have seen little progress in improving the District’s cycling infrastructure.  This is especially disappointing given the success, obvious even to the most casual rush-hour observer, of the 15th Street cycletrack and the Pennsylvania Avenue lanes (which are frequently characterized as a cycletrack as well).

The L & M Street cycletracks are crucial to providing a much-needed east-west connection through downtown that is safe and accessible–not only to experienced cyclists but also to the many novices who cycle downtown, encouraged by the success of Capital Bikeshare and other infrastructure improvements.

For many, these cycletracks are seen as a litmus test for the Gray administration’s support of cycling.  While District cyclists have been consistently reassured that Mayor Gray supports cycling and shares our vision of a bike friendly District, we have seen extremely limited improvement in bicycle infrastructure or enforcement during his tenure to-date.  This project provides the Mayor and DDOT Director Bellamy the opportunity to continue the progress in improving the District’s downtown for cyclists.

Please take a moment to email Mayor Gray, DDOT Director Bellamy, DDOT Bike & Pedestrian Coordinator Jim Sebastian, and Councilmember Tommy Wells stating your support for the L and M Street cycletracks.

Yesterday, Greater Greater Washington and The WashCycle initiated a discussion of the proposed R Street bicycle accommodations in Eckington.  Neighborhood listservs lit up on the topic, with many focusing on the details of the plan.  While the details of such a plan are always important, it is equally important to take a step back, look at the wider view, and recognize that the inclusion of bike facilities on R Street, NE is part of a much-needed effort to integrate the Metropolitan Branch Trail (MBT) into the communities that surround it as well as the regional transportation network.

For many years, the train tracks and Metro’s red line presented a significant barrier to east-west travel across the District, and thus the roadway network was designed to filter people out of the local communities that bordered the railroad and onto the major east-west routes.  In the case of Eckington, this means Rhode Island Ave. (often via Lincoln Rd.), Florida Ave. or New York Ave. (often via Eckington Place).  But in all of these neighborhoods, the evolving transportation network did not easily accommodate travel toward the train tracks.

Today, after decades of work by DDOT, Rails to Trails, and WABA, significant portions of the completed MBT are open, creating a vibrant recreational and transportation space for residents to enjoy. Consequently, there is much greater demand from pedestrians, joggers, bicyclists and others for easier access to this area–the same area that the local roads are designed to get people away from. It is clear that the existing road network will require tweaks to adjust to these new patterns of demand.  In some cases, one-way streets may no longer be the best means of serving travel.  In others cases, one-way travel for automobiles not seeking access to the trail may remain appropriate, but adjusting roadways to allow opposite-direction travel for cyclists and pedestrians will be needed.  For cyclists, this means contraflow facilities such as the one proposed on R Street NE.

As the Metropolitan Branch Trail is completed and the adjacent neighborhoods develop, there will be increased cyclist and pedestrian traffic in these communities, and the roadway network must be adjusted to allow for safe access to the trail.  The failure to provide such facilities will only lead to cyclists taking less safe or illegal routes to get there, and that serves no one.

The MBT is a significant development that has the potential to bring numerous transportation, recreation, and economic benefits to the District and the communities that surround it.  But the District cannot simply replace a neighborhood-dividing rail line with a multi-use trail without adapting the surrounding roadway network to the change.  This segment of R Street is the first example of many small but important changes to adjust nearby roads to accommodate the trail itself, to integrate it into the surrounding communities, and to maximize its utility to both local residents and trail users across the District.

WABA hopes that the residents and leadership in Eckington will see this as part of a larger, necessary process to bring the benefits of an improved transportation network to these neighborhoods, and that others along the trail will see the benefits of improved trail connectivity for cyclists.  There remains much work to be done to improve wayfinding, signage, and access.  But not all of the changes must be big or difficult.

The MBT is there.  That was the big and difficult part.  Now, we simply need communities to work together to make it safely accessible to those it was designed and built to serve.  Eckington, by going first, has the opportunity to lead the way in embracing these minor changes to make the streets safer for everyone, and to demonstrate the community’s readiness for the sorts of significant investments the MBT represents.  That was the focus of the speech by Councilmember Thomas at the “Meet the Met” celebration almost exactly a year ago today.  Now that  Thomas is both the Council’s steward of economic development and representative of Ward 5 residents, we hope to be able to count on his support in maximizing the District’s investment in the MBT by making it safely accessible to as many residents as possible–including cyclists living in and connecting through Eckington.

The northern terminus of the cycletracks (V St NW)

The redesigned 15th Street NW Cycletracks are quickly nearing completion in downtown DC. When the project is finished, the two-way cycletracks will connect the new Pennsylvania Ave. bike lanes to V St. NW, adding roughly 1.7 miles of physically separated bicycle facilities to the DC network.

The pilot project began last year with a single contra-flow (or counterflow) lane for southbound bicycles separated from motor vehicle traffic by a parking lane. Northbound cyclists were encouraged to utilize the rightmost travel lane with sharrows, pavement markings that direct drivers to be more aware of cyclists sharing the lane. A study of usage patterns by DDOT found 14 percent of traffic in the contraflow lane was in the wrong direction and 81 percent of riders favored a two-way cycletrack configuration.

Updated plans for the cycletrack were drawn up and made public this summer.  Curiously, the northbound sharrows in the rightmost travel lane were removed as part of the project.  We understand that this was because DDOT wants to encourage cyclists to use the new facilities rather than riding with traffic in the rightmost lane.  However, DC law does not require cyclists to use bike lanes, paths, cycletracks or trails where they are provided, and cyclists should feel free to ride northbound by whichever method–travel lanes or cycletrack–they prefer.

During an exploratory ride by WABA staffers last week, the painting or striping of the project seemed nearly complete, while much of the details–such as signage–still needed to be added. The northernmost section (V St. NW) was the most complete and had new, shorter bollards.  As we headed south, the bollards disappeared (as of Tuesday 12/6) but lane markings continued to the original cycletrack’s endpoint at Massachusetts Ave. NW. Between there and Lafayette Park (at H St. NW) was a brand new cycletrack along 15th St. NW and a block of Vermont Ave. NW, though it too lacked bollards.  There was also a significant number of cars parked in the cycletrack and it seemed as though the parking meters were still operating. Parking signage was also still in place, no doubt adding to the confusion for both drivers and cyclists.

East of Lafayette Park, the cycletrack reappeared on the west side of 15th St. NW opposite New York Ave. NW and continued south past the Federal Reserve.  Again, the lane markings looked great (but still no bollards). The final block of the planned cycletrack on 15th St. NW between Pennsylvania Ave. NW and E St. NW had yet to be striped.  Lastly, the “missing” block where the Pennsylvania Ave. NW bike lane would have extended onto E ST. NW between 14th and 15th Streets NW has been completed!

Our observations were made on Tuesday, December 6th and we realize that more work has been done in the past week. On the Washington Area Bike Forums there was an update today about more work from the past weekend.

There are of course some issues that still need to be worked out.  We are hopeful that DDOT and parking enforcement will help us with cars, trucks and postal workers who insist on illegally using the cycletracks for parking. Another issue will be the routing bicyclists through Lafayette Park. There are currently no signs or pavement markings to help cyclists navigate through the park to the rest of the cycletrack.  There is one lonely turn arrow. More bicycle wayfinding–to direct cyclists to the E St. NW or G St. NW bike lanes, for instance–would also greatly improve the experience of riding in the new cycletrack

Originally, the project was slated to be finished by the “end of the fall”.  With the fall officially ending next week, we are hopeful the end of construction is imminent, and will post here and on our facebook page as soon as the official opening is announced.  On a brighter note, the cycletracks will almost certainly be finished and ready for the spring 2011 riding season, with plenty of time for “discovery” by casual riders. Of course, we’ll do our part to let bicyclists know about this addition to the city’s bicycle infrastructure.  Now, how about those L & M Street NW cycletracks…