Pedestrian Paths and Bike Stairchannel Complete at Glenmont
As we continue to improve pedestrian and bicycle access to Metrorail, Metro has recently completed several improvements on the east side of Glenmont station.
Walking and bicycling are key access strategies for Metrorail, as Metro seeks to grow ridership in sustainable and cost-effective ways. As our studies have shown, accommodating new riders at our current access modal shares would be quite costly to the region. At Glenmont station, around 12% of riders in the morning arrive on foot or by bike, but there may be growth potential. Nearly 80 customers per day live within 1 mile of the station but currently park. Over 550 customers, or a third of all parking customers, live within 3 miles of the station but currently park.
To make Glenmont station more attractive and safe for pedestrians and bicycles, Metro’s Parking Office has constructed new paved pathways connecting the station to the intersection of Layhill Road and Glenallan Avenue, replacing a dirt path. Metro has completed this work as part of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Capital Improvement Program.
Also on the east side of the station, a new set of stairs and an accessible ramp replace a steep dirt path.
The new stairs include a “stairchannel” for bicycles on both sides, similar to the stairchannel at Rhode Island Avenue station. The video and image below shows how it is designed to work, and the purpose is to make it easier and safer to for bicycles to maneuver within the station. We are still exploring different designs for these stairchannels, so we’d love to hear what you think. Have you tried the stairs? What do you think of the design?
New stairchannel designed to help bicyclists bring their bike up and down stairs at Glenmont station. Metro is exploring designs for this kind of facility. What do you think?
Great change that, while minimal and not costly, really makes for a better station for those not using cars. Never seen a bike channel before, but now that I know they exist I’ll have to think of other places where they would be useful.
Awesome!
What’s the status of the bike corrals?
That looks great! Wonderful job.
Having tried many stair channels, the most common problem that I see is that they’re too narrow. These look to be the right width, although I haven’t had a chance to try them out yet.
We are starting the design of four more Bike & Rides this month. They will be: East Falls Church, Franconia-Springfield, West Hyattsville and Vienna. @jnb
Fantastic!
Prioritizing biking and walking to stations is a no brainer. However, it seems that many bikeshare stations are located outside of WMATA property, where there are harder to see and take longer to get to. Why doesn’t WMATA work with Capital Bikeshare to place bike share stations immediately outside of Metrorail station entrances? Quicker transfers between modes -> more people riding bikes -> fewer parking spaces needed + higher ridership. Win win win!
PERVIOUS PAVERS IN THE FUTURE PLEASE.
@Jacob
We are working with Capital Bikeshare and you will be seeing them pop up at our Metro Stations soon!
Fantastic! I’m really glad this is progressing. That said, CaBi has been around since 2010 and it’s nearly 2014. Why did these discussions take so long and how can the process be improved in the future? @Gail Tait-Nouri