Fall Bike Tour: A Professional Development Event with WTS-DC, COMTO-DC, and WDCSITE
By Cerasela Cristei and Khatereh Vaghefi, WTS-DC
November 2022
In harmony with many jurisdictions in the DMV area, WTS-DC held its second bike tour of the year on Saturday, November 5, in spectacular weather conditions. This time, the event was a joint organizational effort with COMTO-DC and WDCSITE.
The tour was oriented towards professional development, and it started with an hour-long panel discussion featuring Christine Sherman Baker (Principal Planner and Vision Zero Program Manager at Arlington County), Christine Mayeur (Vision Zero Specialist at DDOT), and Shari Schaftlein (Director, Office of Human Environment at FHWA).
The 12-mile ride served as an engineering, planning and construction educational tour and also a test ride for the inexperienced bikers in the group. We are so excited that these bike events inspire and empower new users of the great bike and pedestrian facilities being planned, designed, and built in our area.
The tour meandered around several notable planned projects, including the Army Navy Drive Complete Street and 23rd Street South Realignment projects (Arlington County), the Long Bridge Project (VPRA), and the Boundary Channel Drive Interchange Improvements project (VDOT & Arlington County). Jeff Parker (WSP), the tour leader, talked about the pedestrian and bicycle facilities planned for each project. The tour also visited some recently completed projects, including the South Clark Street two-way cycle track and the short path connecting the Richmond Highway Trail to the Four Mile Run Trail.
Jeff challenged the group to think about bicycle stress levels for the different types of facilities encountered and the ADA considerations, focusing on the specifics of implementing them well and their importance (like having detectable surfaces to identify the difference between sidewalks and bike lanes at the same elevation). Several participants worked on the planning and designs for the projects we visited, and they shared their knowledge with the group. Educative and informative discussions during the ride made the event enjoyable for everyone – receiving in situ and firsthand information about projects that we may get to implement in the near future.
Several other projects were mentioned during the ride. Unfortunately, we did not have time to visit all the great projects happening in the area.
- The second entrance to the Crystal City Metro station on Crystal Drive: https://www.arlingtonva.us/Government/Projects/Project-Types/Transportation-Projects/Crystal-City-Metro-Station-Second-Entrance
- 18th Street Realignment preliminary proposal (improved sidewalks/bike facilities): https://www.arlingtonva.us/Government/Projects/Project-Types/Transportation-Projects/18th-Street-South-Realignment
- Arlington National Cemetery Southern Expansion & Roadway Realignment (includes a new multi-use trail adjacent to the cemetery, pedestrian and bicycle facilities, and a new tunnel between the cemetery and its new maintenance compound): https://www.arlingtonva.us/Government/Projects/Project-Types/Transportation-Projects/Arlington-Cemetery-Southern-Expansion
WTS-DC thanks WDCSITE and COMTO-DC for collaborating with our chapter on this event. WTS-DC also thanks Jeff Parker (WSP) and our panel speakers for adding information and perspective to the scenery of our bike ride!