FABB Blog

 

Assaults on Reston paths

Over the past couple of weeks five people have been assaulted on Reston paths, including a cyclist who was severely beaten by a group of youths. From the report on NBC4, String of Assaults, Robberies on Reston Paths May Be Connected
The incidents occurred near Moorings Drive and North Shore Drive, Southgate Community Center, Hunters Woods Park, and Hunters Woods Village Center. More info on Reston Patch and on the Fairfax police website.

Labels: reston

posted by Bruce Wright at 10:15 PM permalink

 

Automated underground bike parking

Check out this article about an innovative way to store bikes; Japan's Automated Underground Bike Storage. Because of increased demand for secure bike parking in congested urban areas, an underground solution was developed. There's a video showing how it works toward the bottom of the article:

Labels: bike parking

posted by Bruce Wright at 9:25 PM permalink

 

Aggressive riding on the W&OD trail

Is it just me or is there an increasing number of aggressive bike riders on the W&OD Trail lately? Cyclists who are either training or just want to go fast will pass too close without warning, and otherwise put other trail users in danger by their aggressive behavior. Is it because more people are using power meters or they are trying to beat times on Strava?

The trail is getting too crowded for this kind of behavior. We try to avoid the trail on busy summer weekends, but there aren't many safe routes between Reston and Vienna so we all to often end up using it. We've lost our cool too many times, yelling at rude, aggressive riders who are usually oblivious to their own behavior.

An example was on Sunday morning when I was bike commuting to work from Reston to Vienna. I approached a couple walking side by side coming toward me near the soccer fields. A cyclists was coming behind them, moving very fast as I approached. At the last minute the cyclist realized he couldn't safely make the pass, and instead of braking, he passed me on my right. As I came to a stop I yelled at him as did the cyclist behind me. He just kept going. When I got to work my coworkers and I traded stories of encounters with other aggressive riders.

On Saturday in the Vienna area, where the trail is narrower than other places, the trail was very crowded. As we were returning to Reston from running an errand in Vienna we were slowed behind a line of slower riders and walkers. Several riders behind us tried to pass as we signaled and pulled out to pass. The cyclist ended up off the trail on the gravel and barely managed to continue on. Another cyclist tried to pass on the right as we were passing the slower riders.

Is this kind of behavior getting worse? According to Bob Mionske, that seems to be the case in Portland where their bike facilities are also getting very crowded.
We all need to show common courtesy to other trail users. We all have a right to be on the trail but we also have a responsibility to obey the trail rules and treat others with respect. Fast riders don't belong on the trail when it's crowded. If you want to go fast, use the road. If you're walking or running consider using the other W&OD Trail, the gravel sidepath that isn't over-crowded.

FABB continues to advocate for better on-road bike conditions in part to give cyclists an alternative to our overburdened trail system. We only have a very limited number of good bike facilities in the county, and those are being overused. Why not explore the county using the Fairfax County Bike Route Map or google map bike directions. And please, let's just all try to get along.

Labels: aggressive riding, mionske, W and OD Trail

posted by Bruce Wright at 10:28 AM permalink

 

Public hearing on bikesharing application

The Board of Supervisors is holding a public hearing on Tuesday, June 18 on two "Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) applications to be submitted to the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) for FY 2014 funding." The following is a description of the two projects, from the Board Package (p. 263):

Labels: bike share, transportation alternatives

posted by Bruce Wright at 2:03 PM permalink

 

Evolution of Transportation summary

Last night several FABB members attended the Evolution of Transportation event sponsored by Fairfax County and others. It was held in the Mosaic District at the Angelika Theater. Some of us rode there and it was good to see the bike racks in the parking garage nearly full.

The event included several talks, a "panel" discussion (more talks), and was supposed to include a question and answer session. The talks lasted beyond the scheduled meeting time so it was disappointing that none of the questions were asked. One of the main reasons for us to attend was to hear a dialogue about the future of transportation in Fairfax.

The event started with the premiere of the short film History of Transportation in Fairfax County.  It was interesting to hear about the history of roads like West Ox Road, Rolling Road, and others. Unfortunately there was no mention of the role that bicyclists played in the development of paved roads in the U.S. The Good Roads Movement was begun by bicyclists in the late 1800's. There was also no mention of walking or biking.

Chairman Bulova introduced Congressman Connolly who discussed the importance of Dulles Rail, noting that it took over 40 years to become a partial reality. He listed the many major transportation projects that have been completed in the recent past including the massive Springfield Interchange Project, the Dulles Rail Project, interchanges on Route 28, the Beltway HOT lanes, and others. Just think what kind of a bicycle network we could have by using just a small portion of the cost of these projects.  He also talked about growing up in Boston where he walked and biked everywhere.

Congressman Connolly introduced Peter Rogoff, head of the Federal Transit Administration. Peter's main point was that we haven't properly maintained our current transportation assets and they are crumbling. It's much easier for people to get excited about new projects. He noted that young people are driving less and relying more on transit and other modes.

Tom Biesiadny of Fairfax County DOT discussed the many county transportation projects underway including bicycle and pedestrian projects around the future Tysons and Reston Silver Line Metro stations.

The panel discussion was led by Adam Tuss, transportation reporter for NBC4. It's safe to say that all of the panelists noted that we won't be able to build enough roads to continue relying on the car for all our transportation needs. We'll need more choices including being able to walk and bike to nearby destinations.

David Alpert of Greater Greater Washington said that what we need to do is reclaim the freedom of movement and access we had in earlier times when kids were allowed to ride and walk longer distances and our roads were smaller with slower speeds. It was relatively safe to get around using various modes of travel.

In Fairfax we have many areas like the Route 123/Route 7 interchange, the Route 50/Beltway interchange and others that contain large empty zones that could be used much more productively. Some of those interchanges could be transformed into more urban forms. One challenge is that VDOT needs to be more willing to make changes that they think would slow traffic but would make for more livable places.

Boomers and Millenials want walkable/bikeable places. The sharing economy is growing, freeing some people from the need to own a car or bike if they have access to carshare and bikeshare. David walked from the Dunn Loring station to the theater but it wasn't a pleasant walk, and the big streets around Mosaic are not pedestrian- or bike-friendly. Had bikeshare been available he would have used it.

As was noted by Dan Reed on Greater Greater Washington today, Fairfax is not alone when it comes to the need to tame or big roads.

Josh Sawislak of Mobile Work Exchange noted that one way to reduce congestion is telework. It's a new concept for many people, but it works better than most think. We have a great deal of transportation capacity that is overburdened for only relatively short periods each day. By removing a small percentage of those people, through flexible work schedules or occasional telecommuting (or biking) we could greatly reduce congestion without the need for more capacity.

Frank Weith of Volkswagen Group of America started off his discussion by noting that he lived in Munich, Germany for several years. The city could be used as a benchmark for personal mobility. Travel between various modes is relatively seamless and is a good model for the U.S. The Tysons Mobility Hubs are based on a similar concept, specifically a system used in Bremen, Germany.

Frank also described the future of car travel that included a couple of Volkswagen commercials and a discussion of the advanced features being added to cars (that many people think will lead to increased driver distraction). It is possible that the connected car could reduce crashes in the future but it requires a great deal of infrastructure before becoming a viable option.

After the many talks there was no time for the questions submitted by the audience. We wanted to know what can be done to keep from creating islands of mixed-use development near transit that are surrounded by big roads, like the Mosaic District.

A single, synthesized question was asked of the panelists: How can we remake our transportation system so that there is space for everyone, not just cars. David pointed to the need for a grid of streets rather than having just a few big roads where all traffic is funneled. It's counter-intuitive to many people that having more roads can make places more ped and bike friendly. A connected grid of streets can lead to smaller blocks, lower speeds, and more options. Not many roads in DC have nine lanes like Gallows Road.

Frank noted that it's difficult to walk and bike in his neighborhood and that we need to connect the gaps in our bike and ped networks.

Thanks to Chairman Bulova for holding the event. She apologized for the lack of time for questions; maybe we need a second Evolution of Transportation meeting to respond to the first one...

Labels: chairman bulova, congressman connolly, david alpert, evolution of transportation, greater greater washington, tom biesiadny

posted by Bruce Wright at 4:18 PM permalink

 

Chairman Bulova answers transportation questions

Chairman Bulova recently participated in an online chat to talk about transportation in Fairfax County. The chat preceded the Evolution of Transportation event that was held last night. More on that event in a future blog post.

Several people asked about bicycle access and trails and sidewalks. Here are Chairman Bulova's responses to two of the questions:
Regarding the first answer, unfortunately the details about the countywide plan are not on the county website, at least not yet. Toole Design Group, the plan contractor, was hosting all of the countywide plan info. When their contract ended in July 2012, they turned over the info to Fairfax County and the data are still not posted on the county website. Also, we're trying to find out more about the $110,000,000 earmarked for bike and ped projects. This is a draft list of "Potential Improvement Projects" that was developed by the county and Toole Design Group during the countywide planning process but we haven't seen the final list nor have we heard that there is dedicated funding.

Regarding the second question, the county has applied for another grant to conduct a bikesharing feasibility study for the Reston area. posted by Bruce Wright at 3:23 PM permalink

 

Bike facilities on Route 50: Beltway to Arlington

On Tuesday three of us took a brief tour of bike facilities along the south side of Route 50 from Providence District Park just inside the Beltway to Fort Meyer where Route 50 makes a sharp turn north in Arlington. The Route 50 corridor is a major commuter route. The road is located in the center of the county and leads from the suburbs into the city. What would it take to create a first class bike facility along Route 50 along the lines of the recently created "cycle superhighways" in Copenhagen?


The Beltway/Route 50 interchange is a major barrier for bicycle travel in Fairfax. At the interchange Route 50 contains 4 lanes in each direction with high speed exit and entrance ramps to the Beltway.
The speed limit is 45 mph which most motorists exceed; it's very similar to an interstate highway interchange. Few cyclists dare ride through the interchange. Just east of this intersection is the massively over-built Fairview Park interchange that also contains high speed exit/entrance ramps.

Route 50 at I-495/Beltway

With relatively high density development on each side of the Beltway, there's a pressing need for pedestrian and bicycle accommodations connecting the two areas. The Lee Highway and Gallows Road Beltway crossings to the north and south now have bike facilities, but they are both located nearly 3/4 of a mile away.

We left the rec center and entered Route 50 at Jaguar Dr adjacent to Falls Church High School. We followed a narrow sidewalk along 50 to reach the first segment of service road to the east. Service roads are the best option for traveling by bike along Route 50 in this area.

Closed service road at Annandale Road

Bike conditions on the service roads are good, with low volume, low speed traffic. The biggest danger is motorists entering the service drive from Route 50.

We continued on the service road to the Graham Road intersection, which in the past has been one of the most dangerous locations for pedestrians in the county.

Just east of Graham Road the service road turns into Woodley Lane that we followed back to the service road. Just before the Annandale Road intersection the service road is closed with no accommodations for bicyclists or pedestrians. A lane is being added, the median was shifted, and it looks like the service is going away which is
bad news for bicyclists. The same thing happened in Tysons on Route 7 and bike conditions there are worse now than before the recent road construction.

The other side of the intersection was also under construction. You can see from the second photo that orange cones and barrels are blocking the curb ramp and there are no accommodations for pedestrians or bicyclists.

We continued east toward Seven Corners on the service road. The service road turns into a ramp leading uphill toward Route 7, then back down toward Route 50. Just before Route 7 we jogged over to Castle Road, crossed Route 7 and rode through the new transit center near the pedestrian bridge over Route 50. On Castle Road we discovered one of the rare Fairfax County Bike Route signs.

Castle Rd/Rt 7 at Seven Corners Note bike route sign on the right

The service road continues beyond Seven Corners although it becomes one-way in a couple of places where a contra-flow bike lane is needed. The service road disappears where Route 50 crosses the W&OD and Four Mile Run trails. It then continues beyond the Four Mile Run bridge until just before Glebe Road.

At Glebe Road we encountered one of the worst sections of the route, a narrow stretch of unmaintained sidewalk immediately adjacent to the Glebe Rd exit ramp. Another cyclist was riding in the opposite direction so we bailed out to let him pass. This section needs to be fixed soon. The sidewalk should be expanded into a paved trail, with better separation from adjacent traffic.

We followed the paved trail just east of Glebe Rd and continued to our turnaround point at S. Washington Blvd and Arlington National Cemetery.

Sidewalk just west of Glebe Road

The long term vision is to have a first class bicycle facility along Route 50 from Arlington Cemetery to Loudoun County. VDOT conducted a study of bike facilities in Northern Virginia in 2003, the Northern Virginia Regional Bikeway and Trail Network Study. Included were recommendations for  improving bike access along two sections of Route 50/Arlington Blvd; from Fairfax City to Arlington County, and a short stretch from Park Drive to Glebe Road in Arlington.

According to the NoVa Bikeway study, "Arlington Boulevard is recommended as a key regional commuter route. As such, bicycle facilities along Arlington Boulevard should provide a high quality, direct, and safe connection for bicycle users – in effect, serving as a principal arterial for bicycle travel. As such, improvements along this corridor should provide a coherent and clear path of travel for bicyclists, using a combination of trails, pathways, and service roads."

The NoVa Bikeway study does not go into detail regarding needed improvements. Instead it suggests that a new study be undertaken to determine specific recommendations. We hope to work with our colleagues in Arlington County to begin to address the need for better bike facilities along Route 50 by advocating that VDOT conduct a detailed study of the corridor to determine the best solution for bike access. Is it possible to create a cycling superhighway parallel to  Route 50? How much would it cost? We'd like to know.

Labels: arlington county, northern virginia regional bikeway and trail network study, route 50

posted by Bruce Wright at 12:31 PM permalink