ABAC Meeting Summary – July 2010

[Mark Blacknell]

Arlington Bicycle Advisory Committee
Meeting Summary
July 12, 2010

Attendees: Mark Blacknell (Chair), Eric Goodman(Co-Chair Pedestrian Committee), Megan Jones, Geof Gee, Allen Muchnick, Jakob Wolf-Barrett (Revolution), David Goodman (Arlington County), Barry Skidmore, Chris Eatough (Arlington County), Randy Swart, Ed Blanton, Michael Raizen, Angela Koch (Revolution), Allan Reiter, Tish King, David Patton (Arlington County), David Kirschner (Arlington County), and Dwight Hlustick.

1. Introduction: Chair called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. and introductions were made.

2. Distribution of June Meeting Minutes: These were approved with a few minor corrections. Mark noted that it will be the Committee’s regular practice to post approved minutes to the BikeArlington forum for free and open distribution.

3. Bike Arlington Updates:

· Bike Sharing – Chris said the Bike Sharing program had been approved by the Board by a vote of 5 to 0. Paul DeMaio is in charge of engineering and Chris is charge of marketing. There will be a separate map for bike sharing which will show the locations of depots and will include DC. There were a number of supports at Saturday’s Board Meeting. This was good since very few members of the BAC were able to attend the meeting. The Internet location for the project is http://www.CapitalBikeShare.com <http://www.CapitalBikeShare.com> . A number of events have been scheduled to raise awareness of the program. These events mostly consist of rides, movies, and the Arlington Fair scheduled beginning July 24. Most of the events are scheduled for Monday and Tuesday evenings. Chris passed out a list of scheduled events. The (110) bikes for the program are due in August 14. The system scheduled to be launched in mid-September. Cost is $80/year for membership. The first 2000 people to sign up will be recognized as “Founding Members.”

· Bike Friendly Businesses – Eight Arlington businesses are known to have signed up. There may be more that have sent their applications directly to LAB. July 16 is the final date LAB will accept applications. However, this is a six month cycle so business can apply in another six months.

· Upcoming events and projects – The Bike Arlington forum continues to handle questions and answers on the Internet. Bike education classes are going pretty well and most of them are fully booked (20/class). Mark suggested that bike routes to the County Fair should be advertised and that the Arlington County Fair should be generally embraced as an opportunity to demonstrate the utility and convenience of transportation cycling in Arlington County. Chris will see what he can do in that area. David G. is again trying to get an ART Bus with a bike rack to the Fair so it can be used for demonstration purposes.

4. Trail Update: The math equations which were chalked on the Trail have been removed. According to Mike there is a pothole on the W&OD Trail at the Lee Highway crossing.

5. Introduction of new Events and Advocacy Coordinator at Revolution Cycles: At this point Angela Koch, who recently joined Revolution, was introduced. Angela is Revolution’s bike advocacy coordinator. Angela is from Portland, Oregon where she worked on bike advocacy issues. She is mainly interested in entry level riders and helping them get started in biking. As part of this endeavor Revolution has started Ladies Night at their various stores including Rockville (7/28), Clarendon (7/29), etc.

6. Staff Report and Issues: David Goodman reported that they are working to get a consultant to do way-finding for the trail network. The first priority is Rosslyn where there is a need to connect on-street with off-street routes. $50,000 is available at present for the project.

According to David Patton, the County plans to install automatic counters on the street and trails to count bikes and pedestrians. The County may get 6-8 new counters. The County may put one on the Mt Vernon Trail as well as some of the Potomac River bridges. This will require approval of the NPS. Also the County plans to do a major count in September at all 23 locations in the County using mostly volunteers.

According to David G., they are working on completing the Washington Blvd. Trail towards Ft. Myer. The project is in engineering and work should be started in 2011. The connecting trail to Boundary Drive from the Humpback Bridge now needs an Environmental assessment. $400,000 is needed for the project. There is funding of $200,000 from Transportation Enhancement funds. The County hopes to get the rest of the money next year.

It was noted (again) that the County has determined that the eastbound trail (Southside) on Route 50 is not feasible due to grade issues along Ford Myer’s perimeter. Therefore, the County will concentrate on the North side trail. Engineering is just starting for the project.

Columbia Pike parallel bikeways – The County is continuing work on signage and marking. Work to fix the Glebe Road crossing will continue.
There is a Neighborhood Conservation project to improve the trail to Randolph School. This involves $500,000 (Doctors Run).

Bike Parking – Growing list of needs for bike parking. Bike pit improvements at Ballston Station will proceed. Some decorative bike racks have been installed in Rosslyn. Randy believes the County needs standards for decorative bike racks.

According to David Kirschner, sharrows have been installed on Walter Reed Drive. The County plans to install a flashing yellow light at the crossing of the Four Mile Run Trail at Shirlington Road. This would serve as a warning to motorists that pedestrians are present. Hopefully, they will be installed this year. Dwight believes they are also needed at the crossings on Walter Reed Dr. and Arlington Mill Road. According to David these lights (or similar) have been installed by Alexandria on Mt. Vernon Ave. near S. Glebe Rd. and near the Braddock Rd. Metro Station (on Braddock Rd.).

According to David G., the County is still working on the problem of loops detecting bikes at lights and the lights’ timing for bicycles.

Eric Swanson brought up the issue of bike lanes with respect to the new asphalt on Lee Highway, noting that it represented a rare chance to improve bike facilities on a major Arlington transportation corridor. According to David G., this is not going to happen even though VDOT was notified on April 3 that there were bike lanes planned for Lee Highway and that VDOT was to install the lanes when resurfacing the road. He was told that the project was done using Stimulus funds and there was no allowance for the lanes since they were not included in the original VDOT submission. This represents as failure of VDOT to follow its own policy, and Mark and Alan decided to work on a letter to VDOT with respect to this issue.

Mark said that a stop sign is needed for Fairfax Drive (near the U-turn at Northside Social) to control bike traffic for the new bike lanes. The County will investigate this issue.

David Patton is investigating getting a paved shoulder to Chain Bridge on Glebe Road. Some portion of VDOT funds are reserved expressly for the purpose envisioned.

An easement for an emergency access route through the Army Navy Country Club has been secured by the County Board as part of multiple conditions related to a zoning variance granted to the ANCC. News coverage of some member dissatisfaction with the plan was noted. The easement appears to really only follow a boundary of the Club and does not cut through a significant part of the property. Estimates for actual design and construction are uncertain.

7. General Discussions re: BAC Outreach:

· Civic Associations – Mark will meet with the Aurora Highlands Civic Association to discuss bike sharing, neighborhood access, and other bike infrastructure projects related to the neighborhood.

· There was significant discussion of various approaches to reducing user conflict on Arlington’s major Multi-Use Trails. Ideas concerning enforcement, user education, etc., were explored, but no action items arose. This discussion (with focus on action items) will be continued.

8. Liaisons:

East Falls Church Metro Station: The new plan was accepted by the County Board. If and when it is fully realized, it will result in significant changes to traffic patterns and management in the area.

Pedestrian Advisory Committee: The committee discussed bike sharing especially with respect to location of the bike depots. The new snow ordinance was discussed and approved by the committee with some concerns. Also, the committee discussed National Parking Day which will occur in September. During this day, a parking space may be used for something other than automotive parking as long as the parking fees are paid.

Traffic Calming: No meeting in July.

9. Regional Issues – Allen Muchnick: There will be a COG/Sierra Club meeting on regional long term planning on July 13 and 14 at the NRECA Conference Center (4301 Wilson Blvd.). There will also be a USDOT listening session at USDOT Headquarters.

10. Items for August/Future Agendas: Mark will continue to work on securing attendance from the ACPD. The BAC may want to consider participating in “Parking Day” on September 17th.

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