Trail signs should work like street signs

Bicycling

Trail signs should work like street signs

by Steve Offutt • June 18, 2009 10:32 am

Not long ago, my sister from Los Angeles was visiting me in Arlington, and wanted walking directions to a coffee shop. She didn't mind taking a longer walk, so I recommended one about 2.5 miles away that she would enjoy. The shortest and most pleasant way to walk there included sections of bike trails. I found that giving her directions to be really difficult. Everything had to be described in great detail. "After about 600 yards you'll pass under a street overpass. Then I think the next trail off to your right is the one you want. I'm not sure there's a sign, but look to your left and you'll see a marshy area." Eventually I printed out an Internet map for her to take with her.

Anytime I have tried to give people directions to my house via the trail (which is the easiest way to get to my house from the Metro), I find it challenging to describe where they exit the trail to get to my street. Once on the streets, though, it's easy, because there are street signs at every corner. Once, in fact, I gave my wife directions to a friend's house. One of my descriptions was not quite accurate and she got nervous she was going the wrong way. So she bailed out and walked on the streets, which added about a 1/2 mile to her walk but gave her confidence she knew she was in the right place.

Another example: several months ago I wanted to identify a way to get to my daughter's dance studio by using the trails. There are numerous connectors in South Arlington off the 4-Mile Run and W&OD trails—all unmarked. The only way to navigate was by trial and error, trying each one to see if it went where I needed to go. I had to spend more than 20 minutes of time just figuring out which trail was which and mapping out my route. If each of those connectors had a sign identifying the street it connected to, it would have been much easier. Even now that I know it, I would still have an enormously difficult, if not impossible, time trying to describe to someone how to take my route.

It's great that we have many trails for cyclists and pedestrians to use, and continually add and improve them. More and more these amenities are used for transportation as well as recreation. However, if they are truly going to serve us as transportation facilities, they need more effective signage. Signs on trails now generally direct us to another place without identifying where we are, like "--> to Custis Trail" or "<-- to Shirlington." Often it's difficult to identify the name of the trail you are on. This makes it hard to give people directions. I can't tell someone, "Go down to the end of the street and turn left on the W&OD trail," because there is no sign identifying it as the W&OD at that intersection. So I'm reduced to trying to describe it instead.

The other day I rode my bike down to Alexandria and took the new bike path across the Wilson Bridge. It was tricky to find, because there are no directional signs to get you there. Why is it that bike and pedestrian facilities are built without signage being included in the budget? Are signs expected to be some sort of special additional feature? Can you imagine if that were the case for the Wilson Bridge project itself? They built the bridge but did not budget anything for signage? Absurd. Yet that seems to be the M.O. for trails. Evidently trail users are just supposed to "know" where the trail goes and how to get on and off it at the right places without help.

In urban areas, and where trails are useful transportation links, signage should mirror signs for streets. Each trail should have an identifiable name and every intersection should have a sign with the names in both directions, just like street signs. Discontinuous trails, like the extraordinarily confusing "Four Mile Run Trail," should be broken into parts with each part given a distinct name to avoid confusion. Trails should also only have one name. For example, there are parts of the W&OD that are also the Four Mile Run Trail and parts that are also the Custis Trail, a part of 4-Mile Run is also called Barcroft Trail, and I even saw a sign the other day that said "Anderson Bikeway" along 4-Mile Run, whatever that is.

Signage needs to be maintained and updated as changes and improvements are made. The final section of the W&OD in Bluemont Park was completed in 2002, yet the sign at the intersection of the Bluemont Junction trail does not even identify the trail—seven years later.

Good signage cannot be considered a special, additional benefit of bike/pedestrian infrastructure, but needs to be integrated into the system, just like it is for streets: included in budgets, replaced and repaired when necessary, and updated when changes are made. Not only is this an issue of equity with users of other transportation modes, but it will also serve to increase the likelihood that people will use trails for transportation.

22 comments

Tags: Arlington, bicycling, bike trails, signs, walkability

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Steve Offutt has been working at the confluence of business and environment for almost 20 years, with experience in climate change solutions, green building, business-government partnerships, transportation demand management, and more. He lives in Arlington with his wife and two children and is a cyclist, pedestrian, transit rider and driver.

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hear hear! I've gotten repeatedly lost trying to puzzle out the signs to get from 4 mile run to the W&OD. Of course, this is not just a problem of neglecting the bike infrastructure -- NoVA is famous for poor street signage for all road users.

by Lost in VA on Jun 18, 2009 11:34 am • link • report

There are some car signs that are about as bad as these: the signs on NPS parkways like the GW Parkway and the National Mall. Those signs, too, are small and poorly placed, and generally point toward destinations without telling you what road you are on.

by David Alpert on Jun 18, 2009 11:39 am • link • report

true, i've gotten lost on trails before too. once the trail just got really narrow and then eventually disappeared, and i was just in the middle of the woods in rockcreek park (i think?) and once it led me to a bizarre locked rotating door in the middle of a big fence running along the edge of the woods.

by jared on Jun 18, 2009 11:41 am • link • report

This is a great freakin' post. Having equal signage is even more important for on-street bike routes. Having a lot more visibility and even some certainty might actually affect use (ridership?). Regardless of the effect, it's a pretty cheap change to make.

by цarьchitect on Jun 18, 2009 11:46 am • link • report

Completely agree here. With the Four Mile Run trail connector near Shirlington finished up, my wife and I have been biking that way fairly often. I always get confused about which way I'm supposed to go at certain underpasses and where the trails meet. I resorted to asking people on the trail the first time and everyone said "oh, the W&OD starts up there, I think". I turns out I was already on it, but no sign told me so.

This really needs to be brought to the attention of bike and ped planners in the area. Someone needs to develop a set of standards and require it. Markings for trails, exits to streets, trail intersections, and upcoming destinations (with mileage) to each should all be required. Not to mention there should be maps of the area at major trail intersections like there are outside of Metro stations, just in case the markings weren't enough for some people.

by Nick on Jun 18, 2009 11:53 am • link • report

Wayfinding signage is at the top of my own "DC bicycle wish list". My rationale: if we can have decent guide signage for highways (NPS signs notwithstanding, like David mentioned), then why can't we have the same for bicycle routes/trails/paths?

by Froggie on Jun 18, 2009 12:19 pm • link • report

I recently rode from arlington out to poolesville, md, taking the key bridge to the cct and getting off on macarthur. i had a great internet map of how to get onto the cct, and yet i still didn't quite do it right. managed to find the cct anyway, and had to ask directions while on the trail to figure out how to get off at the right place. good thing the street-side intersection was distinctive, so I was able to find my way home.

Pretty silly.

If the gov't isn't going to do it, what would it take for us to do it? I know that we need to change the mindset of the people who decide that signage isn't necessary, but until that happens, it would make the trail system much more usable and user-friendly if we had signs...even if we have to do it ourselves, seems like a good deal to me.

by Deb on Jun 18, 2009 12:41 pm • link • report

Agreed, this is a great post. It seems some jurisdictions do a better job at this than others- in the City of Falls Church, there are signs at every street crossing of the W&OD saying what street it is (although I'm not sure there are signs on the street with the trail name). But on the Capital Crescent trail, I have no idea what streets I'm crossing, and the Four Mile Run trail in Arlington is really confusing.

I do disagree with one minor point- as long as it is clearly signed, I don't think it's a problem if a section of trail has multiple designations, like where the Four Mile Run and W&OD trails merge together. Roads do this too- part of the beltway is both I-495 and I-95, but the signs along it tell you so.

by RichardatCourthouse on Jun 18, 2009 12:52 pm • link • report

amen. I was driving over by Four Mile Run the other day and saw a bike route sign to Alexandria/Mount Vernon. I'd never been able to figure out how to cross I-395 on bicycle, so I tried to see where the route went by car. I was directed to turn left onto an overpass, and then there were no more signs. I have no idea where the route is supposed to go -- frustrating, not to mention potentially dangerous for lost bikers.

by ann in va on Jun 18, 2009 1:23 pm • link • report

This article could benefit from a couple links:

http://bikearlington.com/bikemaps.cfm

http://www.ddot.dc.gov/ddot/cwp/view,a,1245,q,629849,ddotNav,%7C32399%7C.asp

by tom veil on Jun 18, 2009 1:25 pm • link • report

Tell me about it. Hope this isn't off topic, but can someone tell me how to access the Arlington Memorial Bridge from the southbound Rock Creek Park Trail? I invariably wind up on the north side of the bridge, bike down the dirt path and pray that my timing isn't off as I play frogger with two lanes of GW Parkway traffic.

There is a proper entrance to the Mount Vernon trail from the south side of the bridge, but I can't get on the south side of the bridge without nearly getting killed trying to cross near the Lincoln Memorial on the DC side. Riding beneath and around the south side of the memorial is difficult, too, as the sidewalk is paved with loose bricks.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

by Tsar Bomba on Jun 18, 2009 1:42 pm • link • report

Great post, and yes better signage is crucial to usability. Here are some shots I've taken of existing signs on local trails:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mvjantzen/539924043/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mvjantzen/257010557/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mvjantzen/268996269/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mvjantzen/512957846/

by michael on Jun 18, 2009 1:55 pm • link • report

It can be a safety issue, too. I recently witnessed a rather bad bike accident on the Capital Crescent trail. The victim fell right next to an exit onto a residential street, but bystanders helping out had to jog a full block to figure out the street name to give to the 911 operator. Considering she was unconscious and bleeding from her head in several places, she probably could have used the 3-4 minutes that were lost. (Fortunately the Volunteer Fire Department showed up quickly once they had the location.)

by LibrariNerd on Jun 18, 2009 2:04 pm • link • report

I agree! In addition to signs that point towards destinations, it would be nice to have more distance markers--a sign could have the name of the trail and what mile/fraction of a mile you're at (I'd love quarter-mile markers!), with a little sign underneath it explaining what the next intersection will bring you to. The distance markers would be really helpful in emergencies, too.

by Stacy on Jun 18, 2009 3:15 pm • link • report

Agreed all around. This is important both for wayfinding and for safety. Besides directional/crossing signs, if highways have milemarkers (and don't some even mark every 1/10th of a mile?), so should trails. I like the idea of posting neighborhood maps in some areas, too. (You might make a case for emergency call-boxes, too, especially on more isolated stretches of trail.)

Wasn't there a post a while back about a survey on standardizing trail signage? Maybe it was a different blog.

Projects like the East Coast Greenway make this increasingly important, too.

I wonder if someone could organize a joint statement by the various trail-user and bike/ped groups in the region, supporting increased focus (and regional coordination) in this area...

by Gavin Baker on Jun 18, 2009 4:37 pm • link • report

As a newcomer to Arlington five years ago I was struck by how difficult it was to find my way around the trail system without a map on hand. I thought, "Somebody should do something to fix this". As part of the team to develop a countywide wayfinding system, I can say that somebody is. In fact, people have been trying to address this issue for many years. But, within the past two years the County has probably come as close as it has ever been to coming up with a system that makes sense at all the scales it needs to work on. What it needs now is funding to fully implement and hopefully even expand it. The project as it's currently scoped is primarily oriented towards helping people find their way to Arlington's "urban villages", find their destinations once they arrive and find their way home again. A comprehensive trail wayfinding system, (ie: one that is specifically designed to aid trail users find their way around the trail and on-street bicycle networks) is for now, still out of reach. But not - as some comments have implied - because somehow Arlington's bicycle and pedestrian planners don't "get it" or that we don't believe wayfinding is actually important. Quite to the contrary, Arlington's bike/ped staff is acutely aware of the shortcomings of the system that we administer. But with the support of our citizen advisers we have put together what the League of American Cyclists considers to be a Silver level bicycle friendly community. (One of only a handful of Bicycle Friendly Communities in the entire country.) Developing a world class comprehensive bike/ped wayfinding system is one of the goals we have set for ourselves to help us achieve gold status. Many people are not aware of just how much has been accomplished over the years with such limited resources. Arlington staff is working on making sure that the next federal transportation bill will prioritize the funding for non-motorized transportation that is needed to help Arlington achieve its goal.

by David Goodman on Jun 18, 2009 11:47 pm • link • report

In reply to David Goodman's comment, trail wayfinding should be a simple and inexpensive application of common sense and does not require some elaborate or expensive "urban village wayfinding system" or an infusion of special federal bike program funds. It primarily requires a site visit (by staff or citizen volunteers) to determine all the locations where the trail connects to either streets or other trails and fabricating and installing the necessary signs. Start now with a key trail segment and build on that experience.

by Allen Muchnick on Jun 19, 2009 8:37 pm • link • report

Agreed and I mentioned this to Swart at BAC almost a year ago. Poor signage will deter not encourage use of trails. My wife would like to get out and ride more on her own with our daughter but isn't confident she'll know how to get to a point and back. We should seriously consider improvement of trail signage as a strategy to encourage, increase and improve trail use.

by adam x on Jun 20, 2009 5:47 am • link • report

Fantastic post. Having just returned from Germany, pedestrian and bike routes have the exact same signage and I had been wondering the same thing my entire time over there.

I think it would be wise to mark of pedestrian- and bike-only routes with brown street signs like the ones used in Rock Creek Park. That way, they could be placed at intersections with vehicle roads (which would still be in green).

I also think it is ironic to this point that as you dive down River Road there is a sign where you go under the Capital Crescent Trail, but few clear markings for pedestrians to access the trail. I don't know why the cars need to know what they are driving underneath but the people pedestrians do not need to know what road they are walking over.

by Dave Murphy on Jun 20, 2009 8:49 am • link • report

As one of those advisors that Dave Goodman mentions, I second his point that Arlington has and continues to do great work for us cyclists. Thanks. (For clarity, the reason Arlington is so prominent in this post is because that is where I live and am familiar; this problem exists virtually everwhere).
Two points, though:
- Why is it called "wayfinding?" That's not what we call signs on streets, is it? I don't know why that term bugs me, but it does.
- What does the national transportation bill have to do with putting signs on transportation facilities? Street signs are paid for through local government--not federal revenues. Adding a few dozen sign locations to the thousands that are on every street corner already and that are already funded, maintained and updated by the local government should not require an act of Congress.

by Steve O on Jun 20, 2009 11:51 am • link • report

great, great post. This has tripped me up a number of times. The way trails are used here--often as commuter routes and transit--they absolutely should be signed like roads. I've been running on the Custis Trail regularly for 5 years and just a few months ago figured out where I was on the map around the Washington Blvd underpass.

@Tsar Bomba-- You can run down the steps in front of Lincoln and pick up the trail to the south side along the parkway. Or, as you're on a bike and steps are annoying!, you can turn before the ramp up to the north side of the bridge, pass through the volleyball courts, along the river, around the statue, then cross Ohio Dr and Independence and ride back up the hill toward Lincoln to connect to the bridge. Hope that helps.

by rallycap on Jun 21, 2009 7:50 pm • link • report

Steve: street blade signs are locally funded, but route signage commonly has some mix of local, state, and/or federal funding.

by Froggie on Jun 21, 2009 9:12 pm • link • report