W&OD STOP sign ticket dismissed

Falls Church police writing a ticket
at Great Falls St.

The cyclist who was cited by Falls Church police for failure to stop at one of the STOP signs along the W&OD Trail at Great Falls St. contested his ticket in court. The ticket was dismissed on the recommendation of the Commonwealth Attorney. Here is an account of what transpired:

Just wanted to let you know that I had my day in court today. While I was ready to plead my case to the judge, I was told by the officer that I can speak with the Commonwealth Attorney present before the hearing begins. Was I glad that I did.

There was a long line so it took a bit before it was my turn. I told her that I was ticketed for rolling through a stop sign on the bike trail on my bike, she paused for a bit, and asked was I aware that there was a stop sign. I told her yes, and not stopping was a bad judgement on my part. But I also explained to her that my past experiences with these intersections and the confusing predicament that I often found myself in can make it difficult to obey the posted sign when it comes to my own safety. She then asked for the ticketing officer to explain what he saw, and his stance was simply that I failed to obey posted sign.

It was what she asked next that I found to be quite interesting. She asked the officer whether or not this intersection was a city street crossing another city street or a crosswalk crossing a city street. At first, the officer didn't seem to understand her, and was trying to say that it was a busy intersection. She repeated the same question again, and he just seemed to be unwilling to acknowledge the fact that the intersection was a crosswalk to street rather than street to street. I ended up chiming in and stated that the intersection was a pedestrian/cyclist crosswalk crossing a city street.

At that point, she made a comment along the line of "I think I see what's going on here", told me that she felt that I know what I did was wrong, and will be more cautious in the future. In the end, she gave me the "benefit of the doubt" and will recommend to the judge that the charge be dropped. That is precisely what the judge did!

The continuing saga of Stop signs on the W&OD Trail

In today's Washington Post there is a letter from our friend Rhonda Krafchin to Dr. Gridlock about motorists who stop abruptly for cyclists on the W&OD Trail. Her concern is: "If I’m obeying my stop sign, I may have a driver to my right come to an unsigned stop. Before I proceed, I need to be clear what a driver to my left is doing, and that driver may not be stopping." That's why I always recommend that cyclists proceed through a crosswalk "one lane at a time." Once you're sure you've controlled that lane, proceed to the next one.

However, I appreciate motorists who stop to allow me to cross at a crosswalk. For one thing, once I"m in the crosswalk they are required by law to yield. The Stop signs just confuse the issue. The discussion about the W&OD Trail Stop signs has a long history and won't be resolved soon. We wrote the following letter to Dr. Gridlock regarding the situation:

Dear Dr. Gridlock,

You summed up the situation in the first line of your comment on the letter from Rhonda Krafchin in Sunday's Post: "Thus, we continue our conversation about who’s supposed to do what at crossings and when they’re supposed to do it." While I understand Rhonda's concerns, I also appreciate motorists stopping for pedestrians and bicyclists at crosswalks. 

The stops signs on the W&OD Trail adjacent to crosswalks are a contradiction. Normally a stop sign indicates a road user must wait until traffic clears before entering the intersection. From 46.2-821: "Before proceeding, he shall yield the right-of-way to the driver of any vehicle approaching on such other highway from either direction." A pedestrian (and bicyclist) has the right-of-way in a crosswalk once they've entered the crosswalk. From 46.2-924, "A. The driver of any vehicle on a highway shall yield the right-of-way to any pedestrian crossing such highway: 1. At any clearly marked crosswalk, whether at mid-block or at the end of any block;" Trail users can't disregard oncoming traffic before entering the crosswalk, but they aren't required to stop if there is no crossing traffic.

VDOT recently conducted a study of the zig-zag markings adjacent to crossings on the W&OD trail. As part of their study they recognized this contradiction: "RECOMMENDATION 5. A review of the Code of Virginia should be undertaken with respect to those sections dealing with trail users on multiuse pathways and their obligation to comply with non-signalized traffic control devices. The purpose of the review should be to determine if legislative changes could help alleviate the confusion about right-of-way, and if so, to suggest appropriate legislative change proposals. Such a review could be initiated, or led, by VDOT’s Traffic Engineering Division with assistance from staff at VTRC. A cursory review of the Code language in this study suggested that trail users on multiuse pathways may not be obligated to comply with non-signalized traffic control devices where the trail intersects a roadway. In addition, the research found there is confusion among motorists and trail users about right-of-way laws regarding the W&OD Trail where a STOP sign is directed toward the trail users. This confusion could compromise safety at these and other similar multiuse trail/roadway intersections."

A major problem with the W&OD Trail stop signs is that police have used them as an excuse to target cyclists for not coming to a complete stop, even when there is no crossing traffic. However, in at least one instance, a cyclist was ticketed by police who used 46.2-821 as the reason. That ticket was dismissed since a trail is not a "highway."

Bruce

Falls Church police ticketing W&OD cyclists

Returning home from a meeting at WABA yesterday afternoon we rode through Falls Church on the W&OD Trail and came across two Falls Church police in the process of issuing a ticket to a cyclist at the Great Falls St. crossing.

From what I was able to gather, the cyclist had rolled through the stop sign when motorists were stopped and waiting. Under normal circumstances, i.e. where there is no stop sign, this would be perfectly legal. Current VA law states that no pedestrians and bicyclists "shall enter or cross an intersection in disregard of approaching traffic." It says nothing about coming to a complete stop before entering the intersection.

Writing a ticket in this situation accomplishes nothing other than to punish cyclists. I've seen police on bicycles roll through the W&OD stop signs. The stop signs themselves are not VDOT sanctioned and VDOT has questioned their legality. There is at least one instance in which a similar ticket was thrown out because the cited law does not apply to a bicyclist on a trail. When we tried to point this out to the officer he told me to back off, that I was hindering his "investigation." If I were issued a ticket in this situation, I would fight it in court.

Annandale-Falls Church area bike plan meeting report

Last night cyclists from the Annandale and Falls Church area gathered at the Mason District office to hear about the countywide bicycle master plan. After a presentation by Bob Patten of Toole Design Group, cyclists marked up detailed maps of the area to highlight existing routes, popular destinations, and barriers to travel.

This was the sixth of eight meetings focused on different parts of the county. The Annandale-Falls Church bike plan area is located inside the Beltway south of I-66. There are several major barriers to bike travel: I-66 in the north, the Beltway, I-395, and Lake Barcroft. The bridges over the Beltway are being rebuilt as part of the HOT lanes project and many will have bicycle facilities, the roads leading to those bridges have few if any bike accommodations.

There was discussion of the lack of trail maintenance and the problem of identifying which agency or group is responsible for local trails. VDOT does maintain some paved trails in their right of way but the County is responsible for most, and there is almost no money available for repaving or repair. One way to find out who should maintain a specific trail you can contact the bike program office.

VDOT Snow Map

During the discussion, the VDOT NoVa district Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator Cindy Engelhart noted that the new VDOT snow map shows the location of all VDOT maintained roads. This is an interesting interactive mapping tool used to show the plowing status of all roads in Fairfax County that are maintained by VDOT. By hovering over the neighborhood icon all streets maintained by VDOT are highlighted according to their plowing status: Plowed, In Progress, Not Started (or No Event in black). Those streets not highlighted are maintained by others, either the county or homeowner associations.

An interesting statistic mentioned during the briefing is that most commuting trips (92,000) are greater than 3 miles in length (87%) but 34% of all other trips (272,000) are less than 3 miles, trips that with good bike facilities can easily be made by bike.

Marking up bike plan map

The Annandale area is not flat and one cyclist suggested showing elevation on bike route maps which can be valuable information for cyclists planning a trip. Currently Google Map bike directions does factor in elevation when calculating routes.

To see notes and information from the other bike plan meetings visit the bike plan Materials & Resources page.

After the bike plan meeting we held the monthly FABB meeting. One of our goals this year is to move the meeting location to different parts of the county. This was a good opportunity to do that, participate in the bike plan meeting, and meet some new cyclists.

FABB meeting

County bike coordinator Charlie Strunk reported that the contract for building bike lanes on Gallows Road from the W&OD trail north into Tysons to Old Courthouse Road was awarded. The project will be completed this year. The county bike route map is being updated and a draft of the map is currently being reviewed. Printed copies should be available by Bike to Work Day on May 18.

FABB member Douglas Stewart passed around a report assessing various bike routes between GMU and the Vienna Metro station. The next step is to work with the City of Fairfax to sign the route and make any needed improvements.

FABB is now a RoadID affiliate. If you visit the FABB homepage and click on the RoadID icon (or click on the icon on the left), 10% of any RoadID products you purchase within 60 days will be donated to FABB. We also have a new rack card. Thanks to TYTRAN, the Tysons transportation group with whom we're coordinating the Tysons Bike Group meetings, for helping us with the printing costs of the card.

Winter?

Whatever happened to winter? It was like a mild spring day on the W&OD trail today. It was great to see so many people out on their bikes. It wasn't so great seeing the same bad behavior on the trail; joggers and walkers making u-turns without looking, which is the best reason there is to warn pedestrians when you're passing; dogs (and children) on long leads; people stopped on the trail; fast cyclists, some in pacelines, passing dangerously; etc. It's rare to have so much traffic on the trail this time of year.

We were on our way to the Falls Church Farmer's Market. It's one of the only nearby markets that is open year round. I attached a milk crate to my rear rack. It's a great way to carry lots of groceries. The jury is still out on whether it will stay.

We admired the two bikes you see in the photo on the right. One is an old Nishiki mite frame in great condition with nice leather grips, Brooks saddle, fenders, and a folding grocery-getter pannier. The other bike had an old lugged steel frame with equally impressive accessories, including a very nice, large leather bag on the front rack.

It's relatively easy to run errands on bikes on the weekends. It's also a great way to get some fresh air and exercise in the process.

Bikenetic Grand Opening today

We were able to stop by Bikenetic, the new Falls Church bike shop, for their Grand Opening today. The shop is located at 922 West Broad Street (Route 7) just east of West St, not far from where the W&OD Trail crosses Route 7. While close to the trail, it's a little tricky getting to the shop by bike. Check the map before heading out. It's adjacent to a very nice restaurant, Panjshir, which formerly had a sister restaurant in Vienna, Panjshir II.

The shop has lots of floor space, with a long, narrow showroom, a seating area with a wide screen TV, and some comfortable chairs to use while you wait for your bike.

There is a large full-service area adjacent to a side entrance, with a dedicated service check-in counter. They sell new and used bikes from Kona, Bianchi and Jamis.

The owner, Jan Feuchtner, was formerly co-owner of Oasis Bike Works. We wish Jan well in this new endeavor. It's always good for the bike community to have another locally-owned bike shop in the area.

New bike shop in Falls Church

Bikenetic, a new bike shop in Falls Church, will hold their grand opening this Saturday, Dec. 3. The shop is located at 922 West Broad Street, Falls Church, about 500 feet from the W&OD trail. According to the article Virginia Shop Bikenetic Opens Doors:

The Falls Church, Virginia, retailer had a soft opening Nov. 18 and carries Kona, Bianchi and Jamis. Though Bikenetic offers a full range of bikes—mountain, road, hybrid/fitness, commuter and children’s—owner Jan Feuchtner said he plans to focus more on commuting in the future. This may owe to the shop’s proximity to the Washington and Old Dominion Trail, the area’s busiest commuter route, a mere 500 feet from Bikenetic’s front door.

Feuchtner was co-owner of a bicycle shop in nearby Fairfax for five years and has 13 years’ experience in the business, having managed shops including a Performance location and outdoor retailer Hudson Trail Outfitters.

One-third of Bikenetic’s 2,500 square feet is dedicated to service. The main service area is in open view to customers, and an additional satellite service station in the middle of the shop is for fixing flats and other minor repairs as well as readying bikes for test rides. Feuchtner said his goal is to provide as much “while you wait” service as possible. A lounge area with HDTV helps customers pass the time, and Feuchtner plans to get a single-serving cappuccino maker soon.

A Tuesday-night mountain bike ride Feuchtner has been leading for two years will continue from the new shop—“I’m gonna have to close up early for that,” he said—and he’s also considering adding a Sunday road ride.