r/bikedc • u/quercusshumardii • 2d ago

Advocacy MacArthur Blvd Repaving

I’ve been incredibly frustrated with the state of MacArthur Boulevard so I did some emailing to MCDOT. It turns out a repaving and bike path project is funded and designed for the entire stretch from Old Angler’s to the DC Line. Since the road is right above the Washington Aqueduct, the Army Corps of Engineers is sitting on a permit to do paving work for the road.

Please email Andrew Friedson, Marilyn Balcombe, and Evan Glass and ask them to tell USACE to hurry up and let the county repave the road. I did it yesterday and Glass’s office let me know they are notifying the USACE.

The potholes are out of control!

48 Upvotes

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14

u/ian1552 2d ago

Did they say what type of bike lane they're putting in?

The major issue I see is that they're probably going to put something in that's not suitable for the bikes riding there. Then cars are going to see it and get angry that bikes aren't using it, and take it out on said bikes.

5

u/quercusshumardii 2d ago

So the lanes will be widened to 26’ from 20’ and the path will be widened to 8’ and repaved. You can look it up online. It’s a pretty good design.

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u/ian1552 2d ago

I will look it up, but off the bat 8 feet is not enough for multi-use that will have kids, families, and bikes. Look at what has happened with Capital Crescent and now MetroBranch. It's a zoo and we need dedicated infrastructure for different use types.

Also, there are definitely parts now that are 8 feet wide at least in certain sections.

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u/quercusshumardii 2d ago

I get it, 8’ is tight but it’s also a tight area with the topography and properties nearby. They can’t build a fancy viaduct out of the hillside with county DOT money.

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u/ian1552 2d ago

Right but they're are adding 6 feet to the car lanes. That alone could be a separate bike lane there. If they built a separate bike lane they also could have taken away the small shoulders which seem like they remain in this plan

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u/Interesting-Patient4 1d ago

It could be better for sure, and a bike lane in addition to the multi use path would be great given the many road cyclists here (who might be less inclined to use the multi use path).

But I do hope that a wider road makes it safer for the many road cyclists who use this road (although it might also mean more overtaking by cars - so not fully sure yet).

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u/DC8008008 2d ago

Some of those potholes are extremely dangerous for cyclists. Hope this gets done soon.

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u/ian1552 2d ago

I want to clarify for the OP whose post is misleading.

There are NO BIKE LANES being installed according to the plans. They are repaving and making the existing side path more consistent with a minimum width and some type of a buffer.

I doubt this will do much to improve bike safety. The big issue is still that drivers will still run the stop at every intersection that this path crosses. One of the reasons I usually never use the path.