TheWashCycle

Monday Morning Commute - cash, sex, drugs and bicycles

Good morning. Riding the Met Branch Trail yesterday I noticed they've removed most of one half of the New York Avenue Bridge and it makes the underpass there so much more open and sunny. But I suppose it won't last.

• State Deptartmen CaBi station has been moved a little and expanded by four docks.
• Capitol Heights, MD got a grant to study turning a street into a green street, which could include bike lanes. They're considering three streets: Old Central Avenue; Chamber Avenue, which becomes Capitol Heights Boulevard; and Suffolk Avenue, which becomes Brooke Road. All three of these are just across the District boundary. "A community input meeting to ask residents where they want to see a green street and what it should include is scheduled for 10 a.m. to noon Feb. 25 at the First Baptist Church of Capitol Heights at 6 Capitol Heights Blvd." If they went with Central or Chamber, perhaps they could team up with the District.
• Stafford County cyclist riding at night on US 17 was struck from behind and killed. No charges for the driver and no mention of lights.
• NPR's Marketplace on stolen bikes. "The San Francisco police officers will routinely bust bike thieves, but there's a shameless open-air market. Within a minute of arriving, I was being offered bicycles. I found a kid with a bike that was about the right size for me, a track bike, pretty fancy machine. I tried to bargain with him a little bit, and he said, 'I looked it up, this is a $700 bicycle.' So he wasn't even pretending to own the bike."

Cedar Lane Bridge at Night

Photo by antibozo

This bridge was recently redesigned to give cyclists more space.

Sunday Video - Tweed Ride

TWEED RIDE // 2011 from Tim Sessler on Vimeo.

Saturday Morning Ride - Responsibility

Good morning

• Check out the sweet, new 39-dock CaBi station at Maryland and Independence Ave SW
• According to the Alexandria Transportation Commission (meeting Feb 1) material, one of the three old rail bridges over the Four Mile Run Trail is to be demolished and a new connection made to the trail.  There will also be a multi-use trail as part of Potomac Yard Park which runs along the railroad tracks. 
• Work on the Capital Crescent Trail adjacent property Lot 31 has been delayed into February.
• The Burke-Springfield-Kingstowne-Lorton Open House for the Farifax County Bicycle Transportation Plan was a success.

Base for Capital Bikeshare kiosk at Wilson and George Mason

Photo by Ken

WABA hiring new Events Assistant

Events Assistant

The Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA) is seeking an Events Assistant to help develop, coordinate and implement our annual fundraiser, BikeFest. The Events Assistant will be working closely with WABA’s Events Coordinator to grow the event from last year’s success. Additionally, the Events Assistant will contribute to other WABA events that occur during the spring biking season.

Position Details

This position requires a minimum commitment of 24 hrs/week. Evening & weekend hours will be necessary periodically. Weekday scheduling is flexible. The position has a firm end date of May 15, 2012, and will remain open until filled.

Compensation

$10-$13/hr., dependent on experience.

 

The Events Assistant Will:

• Assist in all aspects of BikeFest, WABA’s annual fundraiser, including logistics, planning, promotion, coordination of volunteers, and on-site implementation.
• Recruit and coordinate volunteers
• Develop promotional and marketing materials and assist in the implementation of a marketing plan.
• Assist in other WABA events in a variety of capacities/roles as needed.
• Report directly to WABA’s Events Coordinator.

The ideal candidate will have:

• A commitment to WABA’s mission and goals.
• The ability to organize time wisely and multi-task in a relaxed, fun environment.
• Strong attention to detail.
• The ability to work independently when needed.
• Experience with Microsoft Office Suite and online social media tools (Facebook, twitter, etc.)
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• A bicycle (or access to one) and a passion for bicycling

How to apply

Please send a resume and cover letter to jobs@waba.org with “Events Assistant” in the subject line. No calls please.

Friday Afternoon Commute - Pike

Good afternoon. Beautiful day out there.

• Georgetown U has made an effort to be more bike friendly - adding bike parking in parking garages - but still has a way to go. "Georgetown could provide inside storage for bikes on campus over breaks, so students don't have to worry about their bikes getting ruined or stolen," and "the 2010 Campus Plan made the point that not only is more long-term bike parking space needed but also that bicycle rack designs on campus use space inefficiently, forcing bicyclists to use railings or poles to secure their bikes when racks are full or unavailable."
• From the TRB, a study by occasional commenter Darren Buck shows that "Capital Bikeshare use is higher in areas with more available bike lanes. For every kilometer of bike lane within a half-mile area around a CaBi station, there were an additional 0.85 rides per day."
here
• How to connect Columbia Pike's future bike accomodations. One commenter adds "As part of the Pike Multimodal project, the County intends to build a 10′ wide sidepath along the north (westbound) side of the Pike all the way from the Joyce St intersection in the East to at least S Courthouse Rd in the west." The presentation calls it a sidewalk, not a sidepath. See image below.
• Ride for responsibility is tomorrow. I wish I could go, but it's too long a ride for Trike. Also tomorrow, Baltimore's Trail Summit.
• Virginia Bicycle Level of Service Maps.    

Friday Morning Commute - 25 miles in Texas heat

Good morning

• DDOT is having a live chat today.
• Baltimore scratched it's plans to add bike lanes to Mt. Royal Avenue when the presidents of University of Baltimore and Maryland Institute College of Art asked them to.
• The "Motorist to exercise Due Care not to collide w/pedestrians or cyclists" bill that died in the Virginia Senate two days ago, died in the House yesterday. Only VA, Mass, Wisconsin, Michigan, & S. Dakota are without it.
• Dedicated federal biking and walking funding is at risk. Contact your congressperson. 
• Race for White House could become a bike race. [$20 says Gingrich collapses and another $20 says that Romney tries to up the bet to $10,000]

Halo Effect

Photo by karleisenhower

Thursday Morning Commute - She will miss the generous parking lot

Good morning [I realize it is not morning]

• Despite the hit the Met Branch Trail took in MoCo's latest budget, it is not all bad news "Leggett’s proposed budget calls for the continued pedestrian safety improvements and funding for projects such as $982,000 for the Frederick Road Bike Path, more than $8 million over several years for MacArthur Boulevard Bikeway improvements, and $3.4 million for sidewalks on Greentree Road and Md. 355 through fiscal 2014. It also advocates for inclusion of non-vehicular transportation elements, like sidewalks and mixed-use paths, whenever feasible for road improvements and new roads." The Gazette article doesn't even mention the MBT change.
• The Bethesda Post Office, which backs up to the Capital Crescent Trail, will soon be closed, probably sold and converted into housing. "the project will include 7,000 square feet of commercial space, [and] 145 housing units... after the Montgomery County Council approved a development plan amendment Tuesday.   The building will be set back 60 feet from the Capital Crescent Trail." Hopefully it will connect to and open up to the trail, instead of presenting a fenced off blank wall. 
• What Arlington can do to become a Gold-level Bicycle Friendly Community.
• Calvert County is working on a new Road Ordinance. The current one is 15 years old. '[Calvert County Commissioner Evan Slaughenhoupt (R)] also asked if DPW had a standard for developing bike paths. Right now, the county follows the State Highway Administration’s policy, Carlson said, but it is working on an exclusive bike path design. It will not be used for the Dowell Road widening project, however, “because it’ll come up to the front doors of the people,” Sharma said.....The ideal bike trail standard would be like the one in St. Mary’s County that runs by the Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Carlson said. “That’s how it should look.”'