Route Recommendation Virginia Square to Pentagon City

Youll find that north/south routes aren’t too good in Arlington. The easiest may be the Custis trail down to the Mount Vernon to the Crystal City shortcut by the airport. There are more direct routes by the streets, but that depends on your comfort level in the streets. The Arlington Bike map and bicycle directions using Google are excellent resources.

Until 2 weeks ago, I lived at about the mid-point of the route, so I know this question pretty well (for us it was “how can we get from home to the central library” and “how can we get from home to Pentagon City”, but the total route is the same). To give you an idea of our riding comfort: I’m a daily commuter who is pretty comfortable on road, but doesn’t ride fast. My husband is a racer who can ride very fast. BUT we were often riding these routes with our toddler (in a bike seat), so safety was a top priority. This route mainly takes you on residential streets, then a little trail, then through the military base, then I’m able to help you much less.

North Monroe Street is awesome for getting across Wilson and Fairfax (lights at both). I would take that South to N 5th Street, and take N Jackson St, which has a light at Pershing. From there, follow the curve around and end up on N 4th St, which will take you by Lyon Park.

*the east side of the Park, turn right, but stay to the left at the fork — so you DON’T go up the hill onto Fillmore. That stub of a street ends into a trail (that I personally find gorgeous, and would be a little narrow, but there are rarely people on it). That trail crosses two residential streets (don’t take the fork in the trail that leads up to the elementary school), then ends at “Arlington Blvd”, which is really a glorified exit/on ramp for 50W (though traffic isn’t too bad there).

Cross that street onto another “trail” that’s really a sidewalk, which turns right along Washington Blvd and goes under 50. After that it really becomes a trail. It does cross the on ramp to 50E then the off ramp from 50E, but those really aren’t bad, even at rush hour. [They are poorly lit at night, so you’ll want to invest in good lights if that’s relevant]. That trail ends at Courthouse Road, which is fine to bike on (though starts with a short hill — not as bad as it looks).

Here’s where people will have different opinions, but I think the best call is to go through the military base, Fort Myer/Henderson Hall. Turn left at the light onto S 2nd St, which will take you onto the base. Stay to the right of the cars, and a guard will come meet you. If you’re a federal employee, show your badge and they waive you through. If you’re not, show your license and they write down some stuff, then waive you through. Yes, the writing down takes a little bit of time, but not much, and IMHO, it’s SO MUCH BETTER than biking on Columbia Pike. Once you’re on the base, go straight through the stop sign (you may see lots of people turning left — that’s how you get to the cemetery and down to DC — not what you want). Follow that road, which bends right and runs along the wall to the cemetery. When that ends, turn left, then right, and you’ll end up at the Gate 3 at Southgate road.

Southgate Road sweeps down a hill, and after a stoplight becomes S Joyce St. As a family, we bike on the sidewalk there (and apparently there’s construction there now, and they’re building a bigger better sidewalk), but when I’m alone, I bike directly on the Street.

Here’s the map version: http://goo.gl/maps/JHLc

That’s the limit of the part I know well. Please let me know if you have any questions.

* You could stay on the neighborhood streets and avoid the little trail — e.g. go up Fillmore and use the light there to cross 50, then turn left on S 2nd St from there. You may prefer that, but there’s a REALLY BIG HILL if you go that way.

Note that much of Southgate Rd. is scheduled to be removed in the very near future, as part of the demolition of the Navy Annex and expansion of Arlington Cemetery.

http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=64907

Demolition of the Navy Annex was supposed to begin last month and wrap up this summer, but I don’t know if it has started yet.

“The Navy Annex/FOB2, the Navy Exchange Service Station, and associated parking lots are to be demolished and all improvements removed from the property. The land will then be restored to open green space for cemetery use.

Arlington County and the Department of Defense may exchange equivalent acreage within the land transfer area, which will allow for the removal of Southgate Road from Columbia Pike to Gate 3 of Joint Base Myers-Henderson Hall, provide a site for a museum that honors the history of the freedmen’s village and county heritage, and also provide for the building of a new access road from Gate 3 to Columbia Pike, along the western edge of the Navy Annex/FOB2 complex.”

If you don’t have a residence yet, why not move to the Pentagon City/Crystal City area instead? Then your commute would only be a few blocks. There are many apartment buildings in the area along with some low-rise complexes.

D.C. is a short ride away, either via the Mt. Vernon Trail (the connector is in Crystal Water Park) or the Washington Blvd. Trail to the west of the Pentagon. (The WBT isn’t that great though. Much of it consists of a narrow sidewalk and there are a couple tricky road crossings. One of those will be rerouted this summer or fall, near Arlington Memorial Bridge.)