Cyclists to Get A Bigger Piece Of the Road Arlington Board Approves Adding 21 Miles of Lanes
By Fredrick Kunkle
Washington Post Staff Writer
Washington Post, 2 August 2001

Arlington County bicyclists will eventually be able to cruise along more than 21 miles of bike lanes as part of a new program to set aside more room on the county's main streets for bicyclists.

The County Board, capping nearly two years of study, approved a five-year plan last Saturday to expand the number of bike lanes from two miles to 23.3 miles on portions of 25 arterial streets. About five miles of bike lanes will be added in fiscal 2002 at a cost of $50,000. The entire bike lane network is expected to cost $250,000.

"In previous years, we did a section here and there. This is the first time the county really looked at it systematically," said Richard Viola, bicycle and pedestrian coordinator in the county's Department of Public Works. "We looked at the whole county."

For example, when the bike lanes along Patrick Henry Drive are completed, a cyclist will be able to connect with trails in Upton Hill Park or pedal onto the bike path along Interstate 66, Viola said.

"I think what this will do is help the people who are not quite as comfortable riding in the street," said Eric Goodman, chairman of the county's Bicycle Advisory Committee. "I think it will be a very positive thing for Arlington. Hopefully, we'll see more people biking."

For most of the targeted roads, the bike paths will occupy existing space in the curb, or parking, lane. For some roads, both travel and curb lanes will have to be narrowed. On-street parking also may be affected.

For example, Wilson and Clarendon boulevards will become slightly narrower, but the number of vehicular lanes on the one-way streets will remain the same, Goodman said. He said a side effect of adding bike lanes on urban streets should be that the narrower lanes "calm," or slow down, vehicular traffic.

None of the streets will be widened to accommodate the five-foot-wide lanes, and the cost to set them up and maintain them is minimal, county officials said.

The board approved the bike lane network as amendments to the 1994 Arlington Bicycle Transportation Plan and, because it reduces the number of vehicular lanes, to the 1986 Master Transportation Plan.

The lanes will be a boon to cyclists who commute to work every day and to inexperienced riders who find urban traffic intimidating, said Rob Swennes, president of the Virginia Bicycling Federation and a member of the county's Bicycle Advisory Committee.

"It increases bicycle safety by letting the motorist know that this part of the roadway is not for you, it's for the bicycles," he said.

Swennes said the county sought to balance the needs of vehicles and bicycles by adding bike lanes only on streets where there is more capacity than needed for existing traffic, such as Williamsburg Boulevard.

County staff nixed adding bike lanes to other routes where there was recognized demand for a bike path but no way to avoid causing vehicular traffic jams, such as Columbia Pike, Swennes said.

Although some experienced bikers pooh-pooh the lanes as unnecessary for negotiating their way through traffic, others say the lanes may simply raise the profile of biking as an alternative to the automobile. If anything, the bike lanes reinforce the idea that two-wheeled, people-powered machines must be reckoned with in transportation planning.

"It's always good to have bikes in the news," said Bob Hirama, another member of the Bicycle Advisory Committee.

There are approximately two miles of bike lanes along Patrick Henry Drive, North Veitch Street and South Eads Street.

About five miles will be added to the following streets:

• Patrick Henry Drive from Wilson Boulevard to North George Mason Drive.
• North Rhodes Street from Arlington Boulevard to Wilson Boulevard.
• North Scott Street from Lee Highway to Key Boulevard.
• Yorktown Boulevard from North George Mason Drive to 26th Street North.
• Key Boulevard from North Scott Street to North Nash Street.
• North Veitch Street from Lee Highway to Wilson Boulevard.
• South Abingdon Street from 31st Street South to 34th Street South.
• 34th Street South from South Abingdon Street to South Stafford Street.
• South Stafford Street from 34th Street South to 32nd Road South.
• South Eads Street from Glebe Road to 23rd Street South.

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