Nobody likes traffic, and here at DCist, we have long been a proponent of ditching Chevys for Schwinns to fight the beast. The fairly extensive network of biking trails that winds through the District, Northern Virginia, and Maryland offers residents plenty of options to avoid clogged highways on a weekday or take a lazy ride on a weekend. However, the Washington Post reports today that, just like our highways and subways, our bike trails are becoming significantly more crowded – and dangerous.

Traffic on most of the region’s trails has increased steadily over the past few years as more people have moved to the region and gas prices have climbed ever higher. As one trail user told the Post, “It’s like a microcosm of the Beltway out on the trail. You’ve got your road rage guys. You’ve got your speeders who all think they’re Mario Andretti. It’s a mess.” As a result, the millions of cyclists, skaters, joggers, and walkers are bumping into each other far more often, at times with tragic results. Accidents are up across the board, and three cyclists have been killed on the Washington and Old Dominion Trail in the last year – more than in the entire 31 year history of the trail.

In response, officials on many trails are considering adding traffic calming features like rumble strips and imposing stricter speed limits. Widening trails might be an option, but as some officials in the Post article point out, there is also a serious etiquette problem to be addressed. Cyclists, sometimes riding helmetless, pay little heed to the equally oblivious pedestrians they slalom around at top speed. However, visions of trail cops pulling over groups of lycra-clad cyclists doing 30 in a 15 strikes us as a little unrealistic.

Photo by Bsivad