Splash of Green Coming to Commonwealth Avenue

Commonwealth Avenue is going green.

As part of a plan to improve bicycle lanes, the bicycle box in the southbound lane of Commonwealth Avenue at its intersection with Mount Vernon Avenue will be enhanced with a green-colored coating and the installation of a new detection system this summer.

According to the city’s Local Motion website, “a bike box is a designated, marked area at a signalized intersection that places bicycles in front of the queue.”

The bike box, which has existed at the intersection since 2010, increases the visibility of bicyclists and allows them to enter and clear intersections before motor vehicles.

According to the 2012 Alexandria Bicycle and Pedestrian Count Report for the National Pedestrian and Bicycle Documentation Project, the intersection of Commonwealth Avenue and Mount Vernon Avenue is estimated to accommodate more than 200,000 cyclists per year.

Alexandria’s Traffic and Parking Board approved a proposal last month to remove three parking spaces on the east side of Commonwealth Avenue between Mount Vernon and E. Clifford avenues to connect bicycle lanes. Currently, the lanes end and are shared through the intersection and for a few blocks north of Mount Vernon Avenue.