Cycling in Alexandria

[lchoro]

Originally Posted by Sassypint

I've been looking to relocate somewhere where alternative transportation is a safe and viable option to driving a car. So, the other day I googled best towns for cycling, and Alexandria popped up on one list for top five best middle-sized cities. Alexandria seems to have a good bus system, I like the climate and politics, diversity, etc, but just now I did a google street view of random streets, and I gotta say, why did it make that list? No bike lanes or trails, heck even the sidewalks look pretty puny. Did I just look at the rare couple of streets that had no bike infrastructure, or is that how it really is and that list is full of crap? TIA

They have the Mount Vernon trail that runs north and south. You can get to it from Old Town Alexandria by riding along the marina where there is less traffic. You can use it to commute to Crystal City, Pentagon, National Airport, and Rosslyn which are on the path. You can take one of the bridges into the city to work or sightsee.

Falls Church or Arlington is probably the best positioned if you want to use the bicycle path as the main commuting road. You can go east into the above destinations on the W&D and Lee-Custis trails and go west to Reston/Herndon. I would plan on a commute of 30 to 45 minutes. It is a little trickier to get into Tysons Corner since it is like an island with only major highways feeding into it.

If you're coming from Alexandria, you can get to the Four Mile Run trail to go west to destinations since the Mount Vernon trail intersects it.

I would not have kids under 14 unescorted on the trails because of the speeding on the trails.

[brooklynborndad]

Originally Posted by Sassypint

I don't recall the exact street names, I just dropped the little street view guy at random places, like near the hospital, near the water (old town I think?), near shopping areas. I do remember the street view dates were from like 2014, so it's possible they've been updated since then.

1. The hospital is at Seminary and Howard. You are correct there is no bike infra there. There is currently a huge knockdown drag out fight about a complete streets project on Seminary from Howard to Quaker, which would add bike lanes, which would also serve a buffers for sidewalk, and make the street safer generally.

2. Old Town - no PBLs there. There ARE several regular bike lanes, depending on where you were looking. Many of the side streets are bikeable to a modestly confident rider without bike lanes - the advantage of an urban grid. Further north and south on the water is the Mount Vernon Trail

3. The shopping areas are a mixed bag.