A Tree Remembrance on Washington Blvd. Path

[LeprosyStudyGroup]

Trees or no trees, I’m really glad this area is getting some attention. I commuted across it for years and it was always in miserable condition. I could write a novel length post. Here’s to hoping that whole stretch gets redesigned to make it somewhere remotely near safe and accessible for e v e r y b o d y. And to some new trees!

[tnelson]

I just wish they would have warned us about the mandatory cyclocross training. Every morning for the past three days, I’ve had to ride in the shoulder of 27 because the tree removal crews were blocking the sidewalk. At least traffic kept the cars from moving too quickly.

[Judd]

@elbows 140743 wrote:

We can expect a hotter ride on the S. Washington Blvd. path by the Pentagon this summer since the nice tree refuge near the bridge over 110 has been removed. Could be for any number of reasons I’m sure, but it was a nice stand of mature trees and I for one will miss them.

They helped distract me from the coming view of the consistently least occupied parking lot I’ve ever seen near DC.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]11880[/ATTACH]

(There were many more trees than this photo suggests.)

I hear some guy named Judd Lumberjack chopped them all down to build a better bike path. This is my daily route from Columbia Pike to the LBJ Memorial Grove. It’s in terrible shape right now and the sidewalk is too narrow even two walkers to comfortably pass much less a bike.

Actually, I didn’t chop any of them down, but they were indeed chopped down to build a bigger bike path, which is going to be 14 feet wide. More information is on the link below. Unsure of how it’s going to impact my route. The site below states a temporary pedestrian bridge will be put in place. It will be interesting to see how this is accomplished or if I’ll have to cruise on down through Crystal City instead.

http://www.vdot.virginia.gov/projects/northernvirginia/route_27_over_route_110.asp

[chris_s]

@Judd 140752 wrote:

Actually, I didn’t chop any of them down, but they were indeed chopped down to build a bigger bike path, which is going to be 14 feet wide.

Sadly the widened path isn’t going to extend much, if any, beyond the bridge itself. Thankfully the bridge is being somewhat lengthened so at least we get a bit more 14′ path that way.

[KLizotte]

You can avoid that stretch by cutting through the Pentagon Reservation via Rotary Road, Connector Road to Boundary Channel Drive to Columbia Island. Basically you are just going around the Pentagon on the east side as opposed to the west. Allows you to avoid the nasty highway merge crossings.

[KWL]

@chris_s 140761 wrote:

Sadly the widened path isn’t going to extend much, if any, beyond the bridge itself. Thankfully the bridge is being somewhat lengthened so at least we get a bit more 14′ path that way.

From the artist’s rendering, it appears there will be a barrier between the sidewalk and the road. No more pushing plowed snow from Rt 27 onto the sidewalk. Another slight improvement.

[mstone]

@KWL 140840 wrote:

From the artist’s rendering, it appears there will be a barrier between the sidewalk and the road. No more pushing plowed snow from Rt 27 onto the sidewalk. Another slight improvement.

Trust me, the snow will get flung over the barrier. It will just be insulated from melting, and the gravel will have something to accumulate against. (Saw too many instances of this over the winter, thanks VDOT!)

[Author]

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