A crash did not happen but it was a near miss at a dangerous intersection.
Every morning at the corner of S. Eads Street and 23rd Street South in Crystal City cars routinely “block the box” by piling into the intersection and blocking northbound Eads Street traffic. Usually it is 23rd Street motorists who pile into the intersection. But Eads Street drivers also get fully into the intersection to turn right even though they know they’ll be stuck there with no real chance to complete the turn because of the backup from the Jefferson Davis intersection light.
It is a very short block between Eads Street and Jeff Davis Highway (US 1) heading east on 23rd. Apparently the light on 23rd at Jeff Davis does not synchronize with the one at 23rd and Eads. This creates a huge incentive to pile into the intersection on 23rd Street to avoid waiting for two light changes to get to Jeff Davis (and to catch the Jeff Davis intersection change to green even when when the Eads light is still red.)
Many times I have weaved through stopped traffic blocking both bike and motor lanes. There is always a fear that the light at Jefferson Davis Highway will turn green at that point releasing the stalled drivers who may, or may not, be paying attention to cyclists trying to get between them.
This morning among the offending vehicles completely blocking the box was a Metrobus. When the light turned green for Eads Street traffic nobody could go anywhere and it wasn’t possible to weave past such a large obstacle with either a car or bicycle. So, although we had a green light, Eads Street, traffic could not proceed until the Metro bus finally moved. At that point Eads still had the green light and the 23rd Street light had long been red, so I and the vehicle to my left (on Eads) proceeded into the intersection only to be nearly hit by a motorist who decided to follow the Metrobus (red light notwithstanding.) The Eads Street vehicle to my left laid on the horn and I yelled, but frankly only our own reflexes prevented a crash since the 23rd Street driver seemed oblivious and did not stop.
Even though no crash happened, I want to document that this is a very perilous intersection. The daily need to move between stopped cars blocking the Eads Street travel lanes is dangerous. The almost institutionalized violation of the law is disheartening. I have reported the situation to the Arlington police. They did monitor the intersection for a few days. But they can’t (or won’t) be there every day.
It seems that the best solution is to adjust the signals on 23rd Street so that there is never any real advantage to blocking the Eads intersection in hopes of being released by the Jefferson Davis light. If the light at Jefferson Davis Drive did not turn green first people would not feel the need to try and jam into the intersection to “make it”. The two lights would handle a seamless flow of traffic whereby the people on either side of the Eads Street intersection would be in the same position.
This is an example of how a community commitment to cycling needs to be holistic, while responsibility is fractured. I’m not sure who controls those traffic lights or if the safety of cyclists (which, after all, are in a marked cycling lane on Eads Street at that point) even matter in their equations. Can somebody advise who to notify about traffic light timing?
No crash this morning. But with the situation it is likely to happen to somebody. Maybe not me, but surely somebody.
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