Continuing on last week’s year end report, we’re back again to talk about the Education and Engineering components of what Arlington County’s bike team has been up to this year:
Education:
●Bike Safety Classes:
BikeArlington held 13 Bike Safety classes between May and October 2010. Everyone was welcome to register for the classes, and most were free of charge. Almost 200 people received safe cycling education through these classes at 3 levels of instruction:
- Confident City Cycling 1 classes for intermediate riders looking to improve general riding skills and awareness. The first part was a basic rules of the road classroom component and the second part included an on-bike element with a focus on general handling skills.
- Confident City Cycling 2 classes teaching more advanced cycling techniques such as quick stops and avoidance maneuvers. These classes included “on the road” instruction.
- Learn to Ride classes for adults who had never learned how to ride a bike. These classes taught the most basic skills of biking such as balance, steering, stopping, starting, and pedaling. Bicycles for the Learn to Ride classes were provided by the Revolution Cycles City Hub.
●”Sharing the Way” campaign:
From a joint effort between BikeArlington and WalkArlington, the flyer for “Two Wheels or Two Feet, Sharing the Way” was designed, printed and distributed at events such as Bike to Work Day, BikeDC, and at the County Fair. This flyer educates bikers and walkers on the proper way to share multiuse trails and sidewalks and is also available at the WalkArlington and BikeArlington websites.
●Walk and Bike to School Day:
BikeArlington and WalkArlington helped organize another successful Walk and Bike to School Day on October 6th. The location varies each year and in 2010 the event was held at Taylor Elementary School. Safety literature was distributed and the morning events included singing, dancing and music by an alumni band, all enjoyed by a large crowd of students, parents, teachers and administrators.
Engineering:
●Installed new and replacement bike racks:
New and replacement bike racks were installed through the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor, including 5 new decorative bike racks in Rosslyn by the Rosslyn BID. The aging “Bike pit” at the Ballston Metrorail station was recently renovated and the parking facilities, which included a short but cumbersome flight of stairs, was replaced with an at-grade donut configuration which allows the for more accessible higher security racks. Installation of new bicycle racks in Rosslyn-Ballston corridor commercial district brought the total number of available racks in the area to 74. Furthermore, a new rack installation contractor has come on board and more than 50 new racks are slated to be installed.
●New Arlington County Bike Map:
The Arlington County Bike Map has been a popular document for several years, and is often called out as the best map of the County, period. The newest version of the map is even better. Moving from four route categories and colors (Bicycle Lanes, Shared-use Trails, On-street Bicycle Routes, and Other Recommended On-street Routes) to three categories ( Off-street Trails, Bike Lanes and Sharrows, and On-street Routes), the new network provides a much cleaner and easier to follow system. The updated network appears in the 2011 edition of the Arlington County Bike Map which will be available in January.
●Installed/marked new bike lanes and signage:
Over the course of 2010, Arlington’s bike infrastructure system was expanded. There are now 50 miles of shared-use off-street trails, 31 miles of bike lanes and sharrows, and 78 miles of recommended on-street bicycle routes. New bike lanes, sharrows and corresponding signage can be found on North Quincy Street, Walter Reed Drive, Old Dominion Drive, North Lynn Street and Army Navy Drive, to name a few. For more information on sharrows, Arlington’s newest street marking for bikes, read here.
Part 3 of the BikeArlington Year End Review will continue later this week with the summary of enforcement and evaluation activities. Check back then for the details on Arlington’s Bike/Ped documentation project and our participation in the regionwide Streetsmart campaign.
Many people bike to work all year round! Not to say that it is easy - it takes a lot of commitment but it is absolutely possible. Check out "-40C" a short film by Paul Davis that documents his commute it's a fun example of someone pedalling in the extreme.
Posted by: coach outlet | January 10, 2011 at 02:42 AM