Custis Trail Work – July 30 – August 24 – portions of trail closed

This topic has 74 replies, 21 voices, and was last updated 6 years, 8 months ago by consularrider.

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July 25, 2018 at 7:47 pm #1088588

consularrider
Participant

Will miss the winter ice moguls if this work actually fixes the problem. :p

July 25, 2018 at 8:21 pm #1088590

bentbike33
Participant

Aww… No more “saggy-pants asphalt hammocks” as some other forumite once hilariously christened the Custis Moguls.

July 25, 2018 at 8:54 pm #1088591

accordioneur
Participant

Yuck. The detour is going to dump the entire Custis traffic onto my favorite street route home. The whole reason I take Key Blvd is to avoid the Lycranauts, Cat 6 racers, eBikers, and other common Custis pests.

July 26, 2018 at 1:27 pm #1088614

dasgeh
Participant

Yeah, the suggested detour is … not great. This is what I would suggest (and what was discussed at the June BAC meeting):
[ATTACH=CONFIG]18165[/ATTACH]

Note this has westbound folk using 18th, leaving Key for accordioneur in the evenings.

I can’t believe they’re insisting on routing folks on the Lee sidewalk. FWIW, Arlington asked VDOT for permission to take the lane on Lee, like they’re doing down the hill (a mere 1/3 mile away), but VDOT said no, without articulating a reason that made sense. I’ve been in discussions about this detour for a while, and this is the first I’ve seen of that bump to 20th using Adams and Vance for westbound people. No idea why that’s there, or why, if you’re going to do that, you don’t continue on 20th St to Veitch (it’s a cute street – tiny for cars, but perfect for bikes. You should check it out). I also don’t understand why they’ve marked 2 bike routes, but no “pedestrian route” that’s ADA accessible (that dotted blue line involves a bunch of stairs).

July 26, 2018 at 1:40 pm #1088615

mstone
Participant

@dasgeh 179784 wrote:

FWIW, Arlington asked VDOT for permission to take the lane on Lee, like they’re doing down the hill (a mere 1/3 mile away), but VDOT said no, without articulating a reason that made sense.

VDOT could not care less about anything other than LOS

July 26, 2018 at 1:44 pm #1088616

dasgeh
Participant

@mstone 179785 wrote:

VDOT could not care less about anything other than LOS

True, but on this stretch, there are 3 lanes for <6k trips/day. Crazy. Plus, the road is currently two lanes all the way from Lynn to Scott, and there are no traffic issues. Veitch doesn't dump more traffic onto Lee than I66 siphons off. And Lee goes down to 2 lanes again at Kenmore. It really shouldn't not have been a big ask.

July 26, 2018 at 2:15 pm #1088622

Tania
Participant

This is my favorite part of the trail.

July 26, 2018 at 2:20 pm #1088623

Tania
Participant

@accordioneur 179771 wrote:

Yuck. The detour is going to dump the entire Custis traffic onto my favorite street route home. The whole reason I take Key Blvd is to avoid the Lycranauts, Cat 6 racers, eBikers, and other common Custis pests.

I would love to see your street route home. Some nights I just can’t take the Pathletes.

July 26, 2018 at 3:37 pm #1088601

huskerdont
Participant

So, yeah, part of that detour route is the way I used to go when the trail was icy before Arlington started plowing if I didn’t feel up to taking Lee the whole way. It’s hilly in places (mostly just up from Kirkwood) and longer, obvs. I’ll either take the lane the whole length of Lee (terrifying at times), or go Chain Bridge. Probably do the neighborhoods at times, especially if errandeuring.

July 26, 2018 at 4:40 pm #1088602

Erin Potter
Participant

@Tania 179793 wrote:

I would love to see your street route home. Some nights I just can’t take the Pathletes.

Yes, accordioneur, please share your route home. Then I can add it to the official BA blog about how to get around the trail closure!

That blog, if folks need it/want to share it is here: http://www.bikearlington.com/get-around-the-custis-trail-during-closures/

Also, one google map, if folks prefer that: http://bit.ly/onemaptorulethemall

July 26, 2018 at 7:00 pm #1088603

sjclaeys
Participant

Can’t speak for Accordioneur, but the route I take to avoid or minimize the Custis is basically the route shown taking Key Blvd, though I take 13th all of the way to Quincy with its bike lanes.

July 26, 2018 at 7:03 pm #1088604

huskerdont
Participant

Key is good, but to those who haven’t ridden it, beware the traffic-calming circles. They seem to make drivers crazy. I’ve had a few close calls here—or rather, they would have been close but defensive cycling made them just annoying.

July 26, 2018 at 7:03 pm #1088605

sjclaeys
Participant

@dasgeh 179786 wrote:

True, but on this stretch, there are 3 lanes for <6k trips/day. Crazy. Plus, the road is currently two lanes all the way from Lynn to Scott, and there are no traffic issues. Veitch doesn't dump more traffic onto Lee than I66 siphons off. And Lee goes down to 2 lanes again at Kenmore. It really shouldn't not have been a big ask.

Why not just take Scott St to 21st, which then crosses Lee Hwy to become Veitch? I’ve often gone that way with no problem.

July 26, 2018 at 7:05 pm #1088606

sjclaeys
Participant

@huskerdont 179802 wrote:

Key is good, but to those who haven’t ridden it, beware the traffic-calming circles. They seem to make drivers crazy. I’ve had a few close calls here—or rather, they would have been close but defensive cycling made them just annoying.

True, they are signed to be stops for cross traffic but sometimes drivers treat them like traffic circles/roundabouts.

July 26, 2018 at 8:52 pm #1088607

bentbike33
Participant

@huskerdont 179802 wrote:

Key is good, but to those who haven’t ridden it, beware the traffic-calming circles. They seem to make drivers crazy. I’ve had a few close calls here—or rather, they would have been close but defensive cycling made them just annoying.

“Traffic calming” and “driver annoying” are synonymous by design, aren’t they?
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