Arlington Memorial Bridge Sidewalk Closure

[Carl]

The sidewalk on the south side of Arlington Memorial Bridge is closed for some kind of construction. During the day yesterday they closed the curb lane to traffic so one could use that lane to get by the workers, but in the morning and the evening the sidewalk is blocked by large pieces of metal framing. There are signs announcing the sidewalk closure at each end of the bridge, but these are of little use once one gets that close to the bridge. Turning around to find a reasonable place to cross the road at either end of the bridge to use the north sidewalk and then return is not at all easy.

Does anyone know what the construction involves, how long it will last, who is in charge of the work (NPS?), etc.?

[Dirt]

There were signs up at Teddy Island parking lot in early December.

That was from December 1. I don’t remember what the timeframe was for the work, but I seem to remember it being somewhat long-term.

[Blind Pilot]

Yeah, I’ve been encountering the same thing. They have posted a detour sign (as of this AM) that directs bikes/peds the long way around the circle on the VA side and up to the northern side of the bridge. That means a few more crossings of Washington Blvd on the VA side than normal, not necessarily fun with rush hour traffic moving at speed, and then a couple extra street crossings on the DC side.

Sad thing is I’m only going up to Memorial Bridge b/c my regular commute route up the MVT to 14th St Bridge has been rendered useless by all the ice, and now this has thrown an extra obstacle in my path. Oh well, like I always say – a bad day bike commuting beats a good day commuting on the metro.

[Dirt]

Roosevelt Bridge is clear, but that may not take you where you need to go. A very narrow line is clearing on the boardwalks. As of this morning it was only 3-4″ wide in some spots, but it should be better after 50 degree temps today.

[Blind Pilot]

@Dirt 2284 wrote:

Roosevelt Bridge is clear, but that may not take you where you need to go. A very narrow line is clearing on the boardwalks. As of this morning it was only 3-4″ wide in some spots, but it should be better after 50 degree temps today.

Thanks for that, Dirt. I’m coming up from Alexandria and work near the Ellipse, so I usually ride the MVT past the airport and up to the 14th Street Bridge. I have been going through Crystal City and the around the Pentagon on Old Jeff Davis Hwy and Boundary Drive to have a mostly rideable route. That’s what’s been bringing me over to the Memorial Bridge. Roosevelt is even further out of my way.

Like you said, hopefully things will be better after 50 degree temps and a little sun today. I may even give my regular route a go on the way home to see what kind of shape it’s in.

[Just161]

Indeed – construction is blocking the sidewalk on the south side of the Memorial Bridge. Here’s what it looked like tonight looking west at around the middle of the bridge:

[acorn]

This morning while I was illegally riding on that sidewalk (well, the sign wasn’t posted soon enough for me to get off!) I saw a worker removing one of the “sidewalk closed” signs- or was he just moving it somewhere else? Has anyone been there since 8 am?

[DaveK]

It was still closed when I checked it around 8:30. I’ll check on my way back across the bridge tonight.

[DaveK]

Closed. Doesn’t look like it will be open anytime soon.

[acorn]

Actually it looked to me this morning (Friday) that the work on the south sidewalk might be completed today, if they are just going to do the same work they did on the north sidewalk. I’ll have to check on my way home.

[acorn]

Sigh… still closed as of Monday morning. At least they now have a sign posted far enough away that you can move to the other side.

[Carl]

I sent a message to the National Park Service asking about the work on the bridge. As I understand it the south sidewalk is to receive some “bridges” similar to what are now installed on the north sidewalk to cover deteriorated sidewalk areas. The closure is only expected to take another week or so.

Carl

[JJ Schwartz]

About three times a week I make the commute to DC across the Memorial Bridge, snow and ice permitting. The bridge at the east end terminates in mud (unless I’ve missed something). The other problem is negotiating the traffic to cross to the Lincoln Memorial. If the roads were ‘straight’ and ‘uncomplicated’ with interchanges it would be relatively easy to cross because you could better judge and see on coming traffic. Is there an easier way?

I ask these questions for two reasons. 1) I want to get back to commuting on the bike ‘cuz METRO, well, is METRO (keeping this ‘clean’) and 2) sometimes the bike commute is the best part of the day and 3) “a week or so” will stretch into a month or so.

And how long are these “bridges” going to be in place before they close everything down again to rebuild the sidewalks? You’d swear that cars and trucks drive on the sidewalks rather than the on the roads the sidewalks are so beat up because of crummy construction. (This is at least the second time that the sidewalks across the Memorial bridge have had to be rebuilt.)

Dave

[acorn]

Are you sure you’re talking about Memorial Bridge? I ride over every day. There are sidewalks at the end of it on both sides, both ends. On the north side coming into DC you do have to make a sharp turn to remain on the sidewalk.
You do have to go around the circle because of the traffic pattern but the side of the Lincoln Memorial that faces the Mall is closed to cars.

[DaveK]

Still closed but the work looks almost finished. They’ve built two new “bridges” on the northbound (east) side. Knowing absolutely nothing about the project I hope it’ll be done this week.

[Author]

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