Drive along any major road and there are signs, signs everywhere there's signs telling you how to get here, how to get there and how far it is to this or that. That's not so true for cyclists. I carry a couple of maps with me in case I decide to do something new (Let's see, I'm in Shirlington and I want to get to Georgetown...), but it's time that better way-finding tools were made available in the public space.
There are little, individual directional signs we could all name (how to get to Army-Navy Drive from Four Mile Run, signs on the CCT at Jones Mill Road directing cyclists to the Rock Creek Park trail, etc...), and I'm a big fan of the new DC bike route signs that actually tell you where you're going and how far away it is, but I'm looking for something more universal. Also, to paraphrase "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" - how do they know where we're going?
I'm asking for bike/ped maps, scattered throughout the area - especially where two bike routes or trails meet. Someone I talked to about this suggested using the abandoned call boxes in DC - like the one pictured here being used as a historical marker. Paint them silver and green - like a bike route sign - with a bike on them so that they're recognizable from far away. On the 'inside' place a small tough bike map of the area (constructed of the same material as the maps Metro is putting inside its stations). Not a map of the city, just the immediate 1 or 2 mile radius. I like it, except that it only covers DC.
Still a regional design guideline could be adopted allowing DC, Maryland and Virginia to come up with their own designs (including call boxes) - or even distinctive designs for neighborhoods. They don't need to be as fancy as a call box either. A small map on bus stops, stoplight poles or the top of bike racks could be used. They should be simple, difficult to vandalize, easy to update and most importantly - ubiquitous.
They would serve not just cyclists and pedestrians who are lost, but they could serve as advertisements for non-cyclists. Often when I take a newbie on a bike ride, they are surprised by how close places are. The car and the metro can make things seem more separated then they actually are. "Wow, is Adams Morgan really this close?" Yes. Maps in frequent locations might help make that point clear - and in so doing, encourage more cycling.
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