(Updated at 3:35 p.m.) North Quincy Street was shut down this afternoon between Washington Boulevard and 11th Street — a block from Arlington Central Library and Washington-Lee High School — after a bicyclist was struck by a car.
Initial reports suggest the cyclist was alert and conscious, but suffered a head injury. She was transported to a local hospital.
Elliot Hosts Halloween Event in Clarendon — DC101’s Elliot in the Morning is hosting a Halloween Bash at Clarendon Ballroom on Friday night. [Clarendon Nights]
Arlington Seeks More Notable Trees — Arlington County is asking residents to help it identify more unusual, historic or special trees for its Notable Tree registry. [Sun Gazette]
The family-friendly event, which will take place from 8:00 a.m. to noon on Saturday, is a fundraiser for the non-profit, Barcroft Park-based Phoenix Bikes shop. Registration is $5 for individuals and $10 for families. The first 280 registrants will receive a t-shirt, free food from Chick-Fil-A and refreshments.
The ride begins at 8:00 a.m. at Barcroft Park (4200 S. Four Mile Run Drive), and takes riders on a 17-mile loop around Arlington via the W&OD, Custis, Mt. Vernon and Four Mile Run Trails. Children’s activities, including a bike rodeo, kids dance fitness class, cycling safety instructions and a health fair, begin at 10:00 a.m.
The signs will be placed “along bicycle and pedestrian routes throughout the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor.” The first phase of the multi-phase project will include the installation of about 50 signs.
“These wayfinding, or directional, signs will help cyclists and pedestrians more easily navigate Arlington’s 100 miles of multi-use trails, on-street bike lines and designated bike routes, and its commercial districts,” the county said on the project’s web page.
The meeting is being held following a number of recent bicycle/vehicle collisions at the intersection, which serves vehicles exiting I-66 and approaching Key Bridge, as well as cyclists and pedestrians on the Custis Trail.
“Arlington County staff will be on hand to explain and discuss future plans to improve the intersection,” according to organizers.
The markings were removed from the Custis Trail by Arlington’s Transportation Engineering and Operations Administration last week, according to spokeswoman Shannon Whalen McDaniel. On Friday, ARLnow.com reported that a cyclist struck and injured at the intersection last month said he was issued a warning for failing to stop at the marker.
“The markings were removed because they provided a restriction to bicyclists that conflicted with the traffic signal at this intersection,” Whalen McDaniel said today. “This was recommended as part of a comprehensive trail traffic control study over a year ago. All users of the streets and sidewalks should exercise care at intersections and obey all regulations, signals, and signage.”
The accident happened on the afternoon of Wednesday, Aug. 10. The cyclist said he was heading eastbound on the Custis Trail, crossing Lynn Street in Rosslyn with the green light, when a car quickly turned in front of him as he was traveling across the intersection. He slammed on the brakes but still hit the vehicle’s rear driver’s side quarter panel.
The cyclist, who did not want to be named, said that police followed his ambulance to the hospital, asked him to write a written statement, and then handed him a warning as soon as he had finished the statement. The warning was for failing to “obey a highway sign.”
A bicyclist struck an Arlington County police cruiser on Lee Highway this afternoon as the cruiser was responding to a bicyclist struck by a car a couple of blocks away.
The cyclist was heading downhill on the Custis Trail, toward Rosslyn, at the time of the accident. He struck the front bumper of the police cruiser as it was entering westbound Lee Highway from N. Oak Street, tumbled to the ground and suffered a bloody head wound. The wound was said to be superficial and the cyclist was conscious when medics arrived to treat him.
(Updated at 3:15 p.m.) A cyclist who was struck at the dangerous intersection of Lynn Street and Lee Highway in Rosslyn is recounting her accident with the hopes that it will convince transportation authorities to speed up safety improvements planned for 2013/2014.
Erika, a 24-year-old Rosslyn resident, injured her foot after being struck by a vehicle in the intersection. The accident occurred around 1:20 p.m. on Saturday, making it the first of three instances of bicyclists being struck in the intersection this week.
The cyclist was struck by a vehicle on Lynn Street, just past Lee Highway approaching the Key Bridge, around 3:30 p.m. Only minor injuries were reported, but initial reports suggest the cyclist is going to be brought to a hospital.
This is the second reported bicyclist accident at the intersection in three days. Arlington County is the early stages of designing and implementing safety improvements at the intersection. The project is not expected to be complete until 2014.
You just wouldn’t know it if you saw him riding down the street on his 1891 Columbia Light Roadster “penny-farthing” bicycle, a bike so old that the only replacement tires you can find for it are sold by the Amish.
Matthews, an employee in the Arlington County communications department and self-professed lover of “old stuff,” has been riding a bike to work every day for 10 years now. For a couple of days last week, Matthews caused a bit of a stir when he started commuting from his home in Falls Church to the county government building in Courthouse on the penny-farthing, instead of on his usual, low-key 1972 Peugeot three-speed. Tweets and emails started coming in to ARLnow.com, asking what was up with the guy pedaling through Ballston on the old-school, high-wheel bike.
The accident happened on Lynn Street, near the intersection with Lee Highway. Two lanes of Lynn Street were blocked as medics treated the bicyclist and as police took photos of the accident scene.
The bicyclist was taken to George Washington University Hospital with unspecified injuries. So far there’s no indication that those injuries are life-threatening.
