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Cycle Track Demonstration Project Grant Request

 

This page provides additional information for the Cycle Track Demonstration Project Grant Request to complement Arlington County's funding request to the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation.

Safety is the greatest concern of anyone considering riding a bicycle. Should one perceive riding as dangerous, then s/he would choose not to ride. Bike lanes are a first step in exacting space from streets for a balanced transportation system. However, bike lanes have problems with motorists driving in the bike lane, double parking in the lane, and debris collecting in the lane causing flats, to name a few. Through this project we hope to create the next level of bike facility - the European-style "cycle track", or physically separated bike lane.

For this Cycle Track Demonstration Project, we are requesting funding to retrofit bike lanes into cycle tracks with painted lanes through intersections. These funds would assist in creating continuous cycle tracks that could be studied, and if successful, become the new standard of bike facility design for Arlington County.

 
Boulder cycle track
Cycle track in Boulder, CO
 
Notice the 4 - 5 foot physical separation of the motorist travel lane from the cycle track. The buffer can be planted, as in Boulder example, providing improved asthetics, decreasing dooring, and water filtration.
 
 
 
Copenhagen cycle track
Cycle track in Copenhagen, Denmark
 
Notice the physical separation of the cycle track and parking lane with cobblestones. The cyclists here feel confident enough to cycle without helmets, as is the norm in Northern Europe.
 
 
 
No dooring on cycle track
Cycle tracks can help prevent dooring of cyclists
 
With a 2 - 3 foot buffer, cyclists are less likely to be doored by attendent motor vehicle passengers.
 
 
 
European cycle track
Well-designed European cycle track
 
This is another good example of individuals feeling confident enough to ride without a helmet. Parents often transport their children in bikes like the one this woman is riding because cycle tracks make it safe to do so.