MacArthur Boulevard Bikeway

MacArthur Boulevard, like Rock Creek Parkway, is a road that frustrates drivers. Cyclists love it, but when drivers get stuck behind a cyclist they get angry. They wonder why the cyclist is in front of them instead of using that "perfectly good" bike path. WABA at one point considered the MacArthur Boulevard Bikeway Improvement Project as one of it's top priorities, but it no longer shows up as one. Neither the Phase I report, nor the project status can be found on the Montgomery County DPWT Bikeways site. So what happened to it? The WABA preferred alternative included rebuilding the bikeway and adding bike lanes along the road. Which seems like a good idea. Another good idea, to run a path along the abandoned Glen Echo Trolley line, was tabled in a County Council meeting in January of 2005 where they 

Agreed that a provision not be added to the Master Plan to convert the former Glen Echo trolley right-of-way to a shared use path between Glen Echo Park and the Capital Crescent Trail through Brookmont and to revisit the issue in the future.

So it seems no changes are planned for one of the areas most popular bike routes and cyclists and drivers can continue to frustrate one another.

Comments

[Contrarian]

Here's all you need to know about MacArthur. WABA had lobbied for bike lanes, and the State of Maryland had agreed to pay for them. Under Maryland law (the most restrictive in the nation, incidentally) cyclists are required to use a bike lane if it is present, so if the bike lanes had been built they would have gotten the cyclists off of MacArthur once and for all.

However, the town of Glen Echo vetoed the bike lanes. The reason? They are opposed to anything that would lead to more traffic on MacArthur. They want the cyclists out there slowing traffic. Glen Echo is highly resistant to anything that might ease traffic -- there are no traffic lights on MacArthur in Glen Echo, but that several busy intersections are controlled only by stop signs (such as where Clara Barton enters). And let's not forget the one-lane bridge.

Interestingly, the compromise that seems likely to proceed is to put in 3-foot bike lanes. These do not meet the Maryland legal definition of a bike lane (5 foot minimum) so cyclists are not legally required to use them.

You can read about it here:
http://www.glenecho.org/echo_files/2004_05.html

[Mike Plakus]

I know AASHTO guidlines call for 1.5 meters for a bike lane but where is it codified in MD law? Just curious in case I need it for a defense in court. MD 450 has lots of paint on it that partitions off about 3-4 ft on the right side from 65th ave to just before it passes under the beltway and I rarely ride to the right of the line due to the lack of space, abundance of debris and frequent sewer grates with from 0 to 4 inches of space between the line and the grate.

[washcycle]

Thanks for the great Glen Echo link. I had trouble finding info on it.

[Joe]

There is new information on the MacArthur Boulevard bike lane initiative. See http://www.glenecho.org/echo_files/2007_03.htm for Glen Echo's point of view and http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/content/dpwt/capital/dcd/htm/MacarthurBlvd0506.pdf and http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/content/dpwt/capital/dcd//index.asp?pageid=2&pid=97 for the latest from Montgomery County. The issue is far from dead.

[Helen]

Info and analysis is available at http://www.montgomeryplanningboard.org/agenda/2007/documents/20070208_Bikeway.pdf
I'm not sure which parts of this document have been accepted or changed, most notably use of "bike lanes" vs. shoulders and signing. Cyclists should also note that it calls for them to "dismount and walk your bike" on the 1-lane bridge at Cabin John. I'd like to know more about a previous comment that said that the state (ie: Md.) had agreed to pay for the bike lanes.