GBT Closure for Purple Line is coming SOON

This topic has 15 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 6 years, 10 months ago by Crickey7.

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August 30, 2017 at 2:06 pm #919680

Crickey7
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The Georgetown Branch Trail will close Tuesday, September 5th, for an estimated 4 to 5 year period. This is welcome news for commuters, as the new trail will be far better and longer. But the interim detour route has been criticized for utilizing poor routing, compounded by the refusal of the Town of Chevy Chase to erect signage on other, better routes.

http://files.constantcontact.com/e5e5d8cc301/09eacc28-747c-45c7-90c7-645857826bef.pdf
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August 30, 2017 at 2:07 pm #1075059

Crickey7
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For the love of all that is good and holy, do not attempt to use East-West Highway as a detour route.

August 30, 2017 at 2:22 pm #1075063

LhasaCM
Participant

@Crickey7 164682 wrote:

For the love of all that is good and holy, do not attempt to use East-West Highway as a detour route.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1HEsTsEkInF9kzZhVE69rlqurdo8&ll=38.99008221948121%2C-77.07066889999998&z=15 has the “unofficial” detour shared by Wash Cycle this morning.

August 30, 2017 at 2:46 pm #1075066

creadinger
Participant

Holy moly. I can’t believe it’s finally happening!!! Sadly, it’s about 10 years too late for me…..

In the late 2000s I used to commute from Silver Spring to Bethesda everyday. Partly because I was tired of all the grit and grime from the GBT and because I knew sometime in the future the trail would be closed for Purple Line construction I optimistically developed my own road route commute (below).
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/24756861

It’s a tad longer and hillier, but it’s not too trafficky. A lot of times I even rode the 1/4 mile on E-W HWY to Beach Dr instead of just crossing it. Once I developed this route I rarely ever took the trail again.

August 30, 2017 at 3:10 pm #1075068

lordofthemark
Participant

Depending on my schedule, I would really like to make this ride

http://www.thewashcycle.com/2017/08/georgetown-branch-trail-to-close-forever-on-95-final-ride-94.html

August 30, 2017 at 4:45 pm #1075087

LhasaCM
Participant

@creadinger 164689 wrote:

Holy moly. I can’t believe it’s finally happening!!! Sadly, it’s about 10 years too late for me…..

In the late 2000s I used to commute from Silver Spring to Bethesda everyday. Partly because I was tired of all the grit and grime from the GBT and because I knew sometime in the future the trail would be closed for Purple Line construction I optimistically developed my own road route commute (below).
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/24756861

It’s a tad longer and hillier, but it’s not too trafficky. A lot of times I even rode the 1/4 mile on E-W HWY to Beach Dr instead of just crossing it. Once I developed this route I rarely ever took the trail again.

That’s not too different from the unofficial detour route; looks to be just a bit more scenic and more in the neighborhood between Connecticut and the park.

August 30, 2017 at 5:07 pm #1075089

ursus
Participant

I often ride on the GBT from the CCT to the point where it intersects Jones Mill Road and then follow Jones Mill northward to Beach Drive going west and eventually north again on Beach Drive. This is usually on weekends. What detour would anyone recommend. Conceivably it could be shorter. I don’t want to ride Connecticut or Rockville Pike.

August 30, 2017 at 6:46 pm #1075097

Steve O
Participant

Calling Bobco…Calling Bobco…

Seems a good video of the detour(s) would be a wildly useful thing.

August 30, 2017 at 8:37 pm #1075113

Starduster
Participant

@Steve O 164720 wrote:

Calling Bobco…Calling Bobco…

Seems a good video of the detour(s) would be a wildly useful thing.

Quickly! While he’s still around…

August 31, 2017 at 12:17 am #1075128

bobco85
Participant

Sorry, guys, I can’t make a video because my laptop is down! I was <2 hours away from finishing my Alexandria History Ride guidebook and in the middle of multiple video projects when the motherboard failed. I'm either getting a costly fix or a new laptop in the coming week.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

August 31, 2017 at 1:36 am #1075132

Judd
Participant

Might be a good opportunity for a repost of the Purple Line Ride.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

September 6, 2017 at 4:13 pm #1075312

Crickey7
Participant

As it so happens, I went by the Georgetown Branch just this morning. There is the world’s most ineffective barrier up at Jones Bridge. So, the trail is closed, wink-wink.

More pertinent was the closure of Beach Drive at the Maryland-DC line, which forced me to take at least part of one of the unofficial detours, up Woodbine. It wasn’t too bad, though climbing out of the Rock Creek valley twice a day will take a lot out of commuters.

September 7, 2017 at 2:48 pm #1075376

creadinger
Participant

@Crickey7 164949 wrote:

As it so happens, I went by the Georgetown Branch just this morning. There is the world’s most ineffective barrier up at Jones Bridge. So, the trail is closed, wink-wink.

More pertinent was the closure of Beach Drive at the Maryland-DC line, which forced me to take at least part of one of the unofficial detours, up Woodbine. It wasn’t too bad, though climbing out of the Rock Creek valley twice a day will take a lot out of commuters.

I definitely got a lot of bang out of my 12 mile round trip commute. Some afternoons when I was feeling frisky I would go all the way up to Forsythe.

September 7, 2017 at 3:49 pm #1075380

Crickey7
Participant

@creadinger 165018 wrote:

I definitely got a lot of bang out of my 12 mile round trip commute. Some afternoons when I was feeling frisky I would go all the way up to Forsythe.

Not Newcastle?

October 5, 2018 at 5:10 pm #1090354

huskerdont
Participant

About a year late, went and checked this out. No detour signage so ended up riding around the neighborhoods and busy roads of Bethesda and Chevy Chase, annoying the neighbors and drivers alike. I was going west and never did find Woodbine, but looking again, now I think I could. Ended up riding a bit on the East-West Highway about as fast as my little legs would take me; that was fun. Saw the equipment briefly when going over the trail on E-W. Chevy Chase and Bethesda can just suck it.

October 5, 2018 at 6:08 pm #1090356

Crickey7
Participant

Oh, my God.
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