Dear Arlington County Board Candidates: Do You Support Arlington Cyclists?

Photo by Arlington County (CC)

Last time there was a competitive election for the party nomination for the County
Board Election - I asked the candidates about their positions regarding Arlington County and cycling.  You can see the response of Libby Garvey, Kim Klinger, Terron Sims, Melissa Bondi and Peter Fallon here.  These responses were also posted on the Bike Arlington Forum.

The Arlington cycling community would once again be interested in your views on cycling in Arlington.  Feel free to use the questions below as a starting point to discuss your views of cycling and Arlington.  Please send your responses to my email (I have sent messages to all of the candidates for county board) or you could post them below in the comment section, and I will repost them as posts.

Do you bike to work?  If so, how often?  Do you cycle otherwise?

Arlington County is going for a Gold Certification as a Bike Friendly Community.  Do you support this effort?  What do you feel Arlington could do in order to obtain that Gold certification? How should cycling fit within Arlington's transportation plan?  How does Capital Bikeshare fit within that plan?

Arlington County supports bike commuters as part of its transportation plan.  And yet the bike paths - the arteries of bike commuters - are under Parks and Recreation jurisdiction.  Parks and Recreation regularly closes the trails down during rush hour, fails to clear the trails of snow after storms, and drives its vehicles down the trails.  Should the bike trails be considered vital transportation arteries?  Should they be placed under the jurisdiction of the Department of Environment Services?  Should the trails be clear of snow after storms?  Should Parks and Recreation be able to close down the trails during rush hour in order to prune trees?

A notorious problem in Arlington is known as the Intersection of Doom.  This is the intersection of N Lynn Street and the Custis Trail (Lee Hwy) near I-66 and Key Bridge.  It is a dangerous intersection where cars regularly run red lights, and there is rarely police enforcement.  What can be done to make the Intersection of Doom safer?

Phoenix Bikes is proposing moving its youth program to a new location along Four Mile Run and Walter Reed Drive.  This will give Phoenix bikes more room to expand its programs and greater access to potential cycling customers.  Do you support the new location for Phoenix Bikes?  

Additional Question: "I would ask the candidates to explain their position on the proposed Columbia Pike Streetcar and whether they support including the construction of a CONTINUOUS cross-county parallel bikeway as an INTEGRAL part of the Pike Streetcar project."

Is there anything else you would like to share with the Arlington cyclist community? 

UPDATE:  Two candidates has confirmed they will be providing responses soon.