Abingdon Slaters improvements.

[Dalton, George W.]

Dear BSCer's; 
After thinking more about the 10ft wide path on the west side of Abingdon it
doesn't seem like such a good idea.  The problem with a west side path is
that it exposes users to two extra hazards during their Abingdon crossings.
As long as we are considering laying 10ft more asphalt over there why don't
we just
let the cars use that ten feet on the west side and give the non-motorized
users a two way path on the east side?  That way the non-motorized users
don't have to make two crossings in front of the motorized users.  The extra
crossings seem more
hazardous to me than counter flow bike traffic.  Maybe someone has some hard
statistical data on whether two crossings would be safer than a quarter mile
of
counter flow?  

I ride into Old Town from the north every morning.  When I don't take the
river route, I cross the G.W. Parkway at Slaters lane and use the west side
access road until it merges with Washington Street.  After the Slater's lane
crossing is made safe, some of the south bound bike traffic could be
diverted over to a bike
lane on that west side access road. 

George Dalton