Desire path between Humpback bridge and Mason bridge

It isn’t an NPS issue, the hold up is the Pentagon stopping it for “security reasons” since it is their property. I see quite a few cyclists heading that way in the morning. What kind of condition is the path in? I always take the Columbia Island route but a shorter route may come in handy during bad weather.

Oh duh. Didn’t read your original post closely enough. dbb, I believe, mentioned some time ago that it used to be paved but NPS “unpaved” it in hopes grass would grow there. I think there is a general reluctance to pave any more along the Potomac due to environmental reasons which I can understand. I do not expect to see that shortcut paved any time soon.

I happened to have been right there, talking to dbb just last week, as we finished a conversation before riding off in different directions.

Honestly, it don’t think it’s a safe option for people coming downhill off the bridge. While we were there (~5 min), we saw people do all sorts of dumb stuff at the intersection, but the dumbest were the people bombing down the hill from the bridge, taking the desire line full speed, and continuing on to the main MVT with no regard for who is already on it.

Of course, I’ve also seen people do similar, staying on the asphalt and turning right SUPER wide. In fact, I had one almost ride into me one lovely day last year when I was biking that way with the kids. So it’s not a perfect solution. Maybe they could put up a sign telling people it’s a crowded area and they need to STFD!

@dasgeh 85006 wrote:

Honestly, it don’t think it’s a safe option for people coming downhill off the bridge. While we were there (~5 min), we saw people do all sorts of dumb stuff at the intersection, but the dumbest were the people bombing down the hill from the bridge, taking the desire line full speed, and continuing on to the main MVT with no regard for who is already on it.

I think the solution would be to mark it as one-way only (in the direction toward the 14th st bridge).

@dbb 85009 wrote:

Were I king, I would plant sticker bushes or install stones.

How about planting berries, so we can enjoy a trail side snack every now and then?

Pave it. Or expand the current intersection to make it easier to turn in all directions.

The argument that the current intersection is somehow safer does not hold water IMO. There are already people bombing down, so whether it is paved or not makes no dif. Blocking it with something–unless it’s a stone wall–will likely get defeated, and then there will be some sort of pathway through the bushes. Instead of trying to force people (peds, too) to follow the pathway that has been arbitrarily placed in the first place, give them the pathway they have clearly indicated they want. With good sightlines (which we have), I don’t anticipate it being a problem.

@jhr 85007 wrote:

I think the solution would be to mark it as one-way only (in the direction toward the 14th st bridge).

That’ll work.

(hahahahahahaha)

I suppose my fingerprints are sort of on the existing ramp down from the 14th Street Bridge. As the Federal Highway Administration was doing the work in conjunction with the Humpback Bridge construction, I offered a running critique of the trail modifications. I think I helped to get the tight corner at the stop sign softened a bit. Unfortunately it was after the fact and they eased the corners well after they paved the trail. It would have been better if they had paved it all at once.

I don’t think there was any formal coordination between the NPS and the BAC and that is something I’m trying to work on. I think we can provide input to the NPS in a manner that works and doesn’t get the NPS into trouble with the Federal Advisory Committee Act. Cyclist engagement during the construction would have reduced the number of fixes that would have been needed.

I doubt that it was designed any more than any other part of the cycling infrastructure we use every day – I’m thinking of the blind turn on the Custis under I66, the s turn of doom, and myriad others. These are trails that I ride frequently and I’ve learned where to slow down. I doubt a formal design of the stretch of trail between the Humpback and the 14th Street Bridge would have resulted in anything significantly different. What would we have done, move the intersection 30 feet upstream or down? A couple of years ago, I worked wtih the NPS on the redesign of the trail between Memorial Circle and the GWMP crosswalk and we walked it and discussed the alignment. At some level, it was four or five folks and a can of spray paint.

I think trail intersections are almost always a challenge because we disrupt the half of the riders going your direction and half the riders going the opposite direction. This begs caution and it seems to me that riders freeforming the route increases the risk of collision. Probably more of an irritant than full fledged safety issue but it still bothers me.

Here is what the trail looked like in 2007

and this is what it looks like now

I was a facilities engineer in the Army and tried to keep people from creating desire lines on the base with posts and chains (too much painting) and sticker bushes (which took no painting). It just kind of annoys me that we complain the NPS isn’t spending enough to maintain the trails (which I consider to be a real treasure) and then we take actions (through the use of desire lines) that tend to increase the trail maintenance cost (or decrease the beauty of the trails).