anyone tracking the changes to getting from Alexandria to MD? (MGM casino)

[paulg]

I commute regularly through there and am interested in helping out.

I’ll send you a private message through the forum.

Paul G

[Anonymous]

I occasionally bike commute, and when I do I ride through that area. Any info in particular you are looking for? You can pm me, too if you prefer.

[Terpfan]

I live across the river and ride through there occasionally, but I’m not sure I quite understand where the casino will be situated and the roads relative to it. I guess I naively presume that the only impact would be at a curb cut into a presumed parking garage, I have no idea though. I would suspect MGM would want to encourage bicycle riding given the ease of riding over from Alexandria.

[Edgar P.]

@Terpfan 89843 wrote:

I would suspect MGM would want to encourage bicycle riding given the ease of riding over from Alexandria.

I was thinking the same thing. MGM knows business and they will try to accommodate as many potential travel methods as possible toward their new casino.

[jonathankrall]

@Edgar P. 89855 wrote:

I was thinking the same thing. MGM knows business and they will try to accommodate as many potential travel methods as possible toward their new casino.

If they have the same mentality as the folk who run National Harbor, they will instead regard anyone who does not arrive in a car as a problem to be managed rather than as a customer to be welcomed. For example, NH has closed and reinforced gaps in the fence between NH and the nearby neighborhood created by people wanting to walk to NH, has designed all roads to resemble freeways right up until they reach the NH shops, has added bike parking that is difficult to use (a snake rack installed on a jumble of loose rocks), and has paved the walking/biking path between NH and the Wilson Bridge Trail with seashells that have a reputation for cutting up bike tires.

I ride from Alexandria to DC via the Wilson Bridge 2-5 times per week and the best thing I can think to say is this: at least they didn’t hire snipers!

[jonathankrall]

Addressing the original question, the route between VA and DC via the Wilson Bridge continues to be degraded in that area as a result of the efforts of the the MD state highway administration and the MGM construction. My main beef is that, a while back, MD SHA redesigned the intersection of Oxon Hill Rd and Bald Eagle Rd to forbid left hand turns onto Bald Eagle. Thus, if I want to ride in the road, which I regard as safer even there, I have no legal, bike-friendly options. I do an illegal left-hand turn. As part of the redesign, Bald Eagle RD/Oxon Hill Farm Rd was opened to through traffic from Indian Head Highway, adding automobile traffic to the route.

The most recent change is that the small, unnamed road connecting Harborview Ave to National Ave has been closed by MGM construction. Previously, it was possible to ride from the trail -> that connecting road -> National Ave -> Oxon Hill Rd. This route had the advantage of avoiding the traffic light at Harborview and Oxon Hill, a light that seems not to detect bicycles. For people who ride on the west-side sidewalk instead of on Oxon Hill Rd, the National Ave route has the advantage of a rideable sidewalk. Sidewalk riders who proceed north from Harborview encounter a gap in the sidewalk. Some avoid the gap by salmoning in the bike lane.

I’d like to think that someone at MD SHA is at least laughing his or her ass off as they throw up all these barriers to cycling (then someone would be getting something out of it), but I sincerely think that they have no idea that they are doing so. I did write to MD parks and planning about some of the issues (mainly the expansion joints on the Wilson Bridge), but was told to write to MD SHA. I haven’t gotten around to it yet.

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