ghost bike memorial placed on Columbia Pike (Arlington, Alexandria: apartment, townhouse)

[brooklynborndad]

Blog - Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling (FABB)


BTW, I have essentially given up on biking up Columbia Pike - its not worth the stress, unless and untill Fairfax County improves the conditions up there (which needn't mean a bike lane the whole way from Annandale to the County line, but mostly some more short connections between the service lanes and maybe a couple of more protected crossings). If I need to get my bike up that way, I will put it on the 16 bus and take it off to ride in more bike friendly Arlington.

[irvine]

Originally Posted by brooklynborndad

Blog - Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling (FABB)


BTW, I have essentially given up on biking up Columbia Pike - its not worth the stress, unless and untill Fairfax County improves the conditions up there (which needn't mean a bike lane the whole way from Annandale to the County line, but mostly some more short connections between the service lanes and maybe a couple of more protected crossings). If I need to get my bike up that way, I will put it on the 16 bus and take it off to ride in more bike friendly Arlington.

Columbia Pike in Annandale is all about traffic flow and not the pedestrian so much. Maybe that will change, but it is just very low density out there, and I don't see Fairfax making Columbia Pike more ped and bike friendly.

[JD984]

Originally Posted by irvine

Columbia Pike in Annandale is all about traffic flow and not the pedestrian so much. Maybe that will change, but it is just very low density out there, and I don't see Fairfax making Columbia Pike more ped and bike friendly.

My rather protective parents allowed me to bike by myself on Columbia Pike and Little River Turnpike when I was 11 - it was lower density then, but it is bigher density now, both in terms of development (more apartment and townhouse complexes in both Annandale as the Bailey's Crossroads area) and car traffic. Since it's not near Metro and bus service is periodic, the additional density means more cars there. I expect that some of the additional traffic comes from people who live in Arlington traveling west to the Beltway.

[brooklynborndad]

Originally Posted by irvine

Columbia Pike in Annandale is all about traffic flow and not the pedestrian so much. Maybe that will change, but it is just very low density out there, and I don't see Fairfax making Columbia Pike more ped and bike friendly.

For biking the immediate density is somewhat less important than for pedestrians, because cyclists go further, faster. The need exists for a safe bike route from central Annandale (which is relatively dense, and will get denser if and when the form based code changes really have an impact) and the Baileys area (also slated for greater density, and the terminus of the new street car)

That said I have (while biking) seen pedestrians there. Including in one case someone pushing a stroller in a service lane, despite a near by sidewalk (I called a pass and went around).

They did just add a section of new sidewalk on the south side of Col Pike just west of Lincolnia.

[brooklynborndad]

Originally Posted by JEB77

My rather protective parents allowed me to bike by myself on Columbia Pike and Little River Turnpike when I was 11 - it was lower density then, but it is bigher density now, both in terms of development (more apartment and townhouse complexes in both Annandale as the Bailey's Crossroads area). Since it's not near Metro and bus service is periodic, the additional density means more cars there. I expect that some of the additional traffic comes from people who live in Arlington traveling west to the Beltway.

I am assuming Irvine is referring to the stretch between the western side of Baileys Xroads (where you go by lake barcroft) and the beginning of commercial Annandale (near the historic church). That stretch is definitely too low a density to ever generate significant pedestrian traffic, or (IMO) to support much additional transit. (though there are some TH's, low rise apts, one hirise, and a shopping center)

I do think the density there and in adjacent denser areas is high enough to make it worthwhile to consider how to improve cycling - though I am quite aware that say adding full bike lanes on both sides at the expense of the general travel lanes would be unlikely - but I think you could improve cycling with far smaller measures - some has already been done in the area near the Holmes Run trail - short connections between existing bikeable service lanes.

I guess the more controversial issue would be to add another light protected crossing - not enough cyclists crossing to justify it, and not enough peds - it would really be to be benefit auto traffic turning on to Col Pike at the expense of delaying the through traffic - and I dont recall if there is any as yet unsignaled intersection with a lot of turning traffic. So I don't have my hopes up.

I am real eager to see the new FFX cty bike plan, both for this area and other corridors.

[irvine]

Originally Posted by brooklynborndad

I am assuming Irvine is referring to the stretch between the western side of Baileys Xroads (where you go by lake barcroft) and the beginning of the commercial Annandale (near the historic church). That stretch is definitely too low a density to ever generate significant pedestrian traffic, or (IMO) to support much additional transit.

That's the stretch I was referring to. It is just very low density. But I agree that even almost exclusively automobile-oriented roads could use some pedestrian and bike infrastructure, especially if the road connects some busy commercial neighborhoods.

[JD984]

Originally Posted by irvine

That's the stretch I was referring to. It is just very low density. But I agree that even almost exclusively automobile-oriented roads could use some pedestrian and bike infrastructure, especially if the road connects some busy commercial neighborhoods.

Yes - it is a low density residential stretch with nice SFH neighborhoods. The neighborhoods haven't changed much for decades, but that stretch of Columbia Pike is busier than it used to be, and part of the reason is higher-density developments built elsewhere (and not just in Fairfax) in areas where you generally need cars to get places. Increasing the residential density along that stretch would just make matters worse, without a significant upgrade to the mass transit options. Bike lanes between Annandale and Bailey's might be nice, but probably more for recreational riders than anyone else, unless something was done that, say, made it easy to get from Annandale to Skyline by bike, and then from Skyline to points further east.

[brooklynborndad]

Originally Posted by JEB77

Yes - it is a low density residential stretch with nice SFH neighborhoods. The neighborhoods haven't changed much for decades, but that stretch of Columbia Pike is busier than it used to be, and part of the reason is higher-density developments built elsewhere (and not just in Fairfax) in areas where you generally need cars to get places. Increasing the residential density along that stretch would just make matters worse, without a significant upgrade to the mass transit options. Bike lanes between Annandale and Bailey's might be nice, but probably more for recreational riders than anyone else, unless something was done that, say, made it easy to get from Annandale to Skyline by bike, and then from Skyline to points further east.

I am pretty sure the County has no plans to change the zoning in that area (in contrast to their plans for the commercial part of Annandale, and for Baileys Crossroads) Absent such a very unlikely change, its built out I think.

There's enough retail and enough employment in the Baileys area I would think it would be a useful route for transportation cycling from Annandale to Baileys. To go further east I would wend my way through Culmore and then head towards the trail that runs from near NVCC to Shirlington, where you pick up the W&OD and Four Mile Run trails (or you can go south from Shirlington to bike friendly streets, many with marked sharrows, in Alexandria). You could also get people from Baileys heading west to employment in Annandale.

And of course when PikeRail is completed there will be additional reasons to bike to Baileys from Annandale (granted thats some years away)

[brooklynborndad]

Originally Posted by JEB77

Bike lanes between Annandale and Bailey's might be nice

You don't need bike lanes the whole way. There are already several sections with very bikeable service roads or similar roads parallel to Col Pike. All you need are some connections between them.

Though in this case the problem seems to have been the inadequate number (at least from the bike/ped perspective) of signalized intersections to get across the Pike - which presents different issues.