Chain-link fence around part of desire trail north of Memorial Bridge

[dasgeh]

@DrP 123144 wrote:

Most desire trails in the area are a savings of a few to 10s of feet. The one from the north side of Memorial Bridge on the VA side (but not yet in VA) to the MVT saves about 0.4miles and 3 or more road crossings than the two options that NPS provides. Yesterday was the first I tried using it for a while. There was a chain link fence on the Memorial Circle edge of this trail that runs from where the desire path starts (by the flower beds) to nearly the road crossing. However, it is possible to go around it at that point and I guess start a new desire path. None of the rest of the path, including the crossings, has a fence. So what exactly is this for? And can they ever make this a real trail and crossings – there is no reason they cannot make the speed limit around the bridge 35mph and have more blinkies there.

The sightlines for drivers on the GWMP are very, very bad for this crossing. They could certainly create a crossing there, but (1) it would need to be further from the curves under the bridge (so further west), (2) they would need to reduce and ENFORCE the speed limit, probably to 30 mph, and (3) they have to install at least blinkies, preferably a HAWK signal. 2 and 3 are no-gos, from what I understand.

Having driven this stretch, I would NEVER use this desire trail. I drive the speed limit on the GWMP, even though it means being passed by a steady stream of cars going much, much faster. I’ve driven this stretch and encountered people trying to cross the parkway using the desire trail. I had to slam on my brakes. I was going 40mph, meaning that I had more time to see them, and needed less force to stop my car, and still, it was a close call. All those cars going 50mph+ have very little time in which they can see people crossing and react, and given the speed, if (when?) they do hit someone, it is very likely to be deadly. There are not many places around here that I will actively discourage people to bike, but this is one of them.

[DrP]

I usually cross early Sunday mornings when the traffic is light. I am also good at waiting – I do not want to be killed nor do I want to make people stop for me. I know this is not normal behavior in people crossing any roadway (as I see people saunter across roads assuming all will stop for them.).

The chain-link fence clearly isn’t stopping the crossing, so what is it for?

Moving the crossing a little further west/north might make sense too. The options NPS put in do not make sense for people on foot or bike (great for the cars who are enjoying the park, however). It is much to far to go around nor is it obvious that you need to do so the first few times you cross (I had no idea the other ways around when I first crossed the bridge years ago. I come off the Rock Creek trail and see the bridge. I go towards it. I get to the other side and see the trail below me. I see no way to cross the road, nor that there is a way to get to the trail from that side either). That whole area is a mess.

[consularrider]

Three or four years ago the NPS had fenced off that stretch, doing all three crossings, and graded, filled and seeded the the desire path to grow grass. The fences stayed up about three months and the grass grew in, but as soon as the fences were removed runners started re-creating the desire path and it is now back to what it was.

[dbb]

I would think a big planting of barberry might prove effective.

Give the bushes a year or so to fill in and the stickers would be on duty 24 hours a day.

[scoot]

@DrP 123173 wrote:

The options NPS put in do not make sense for people on foot or bike (great for the cars who are enjoying the park, however). It is much to far to go around nor is it obvious that you need to do so the first few times you cross (I had no idea the other ways around when I first crossed the bridge years ago. I come off the Rock Creek trail and see the bridge. I go towards it. I get to the other side and see the trail below me. I see no way to cross the road, nor that there is a way to get to the trail from that side either). That whole area is a mess.

This is an excellent point.

The first time I ever rode across that bridge (long before I ever discovered this forum) I too was confused. I was also coming from the trail along Rock Creek Parkway, took the upstream side of the bridge heading westbound, and wanted to get down to MVT. I did not notice the desire path (perhaps for the best!), but I remembered that there were crossings on the south side of the bridge and so I tried to figure out how to get over there. It was early on a Saturday, and traffic was very light, so I decided to jump off the curb and take the lane going around the circle. I figured I could transition over to the trail before the first crosswalk, but I was wrong: I didn’t realize until I got to the southern part of the circle that there was temporary orange plastic fencing between the roadway and trail. Plus the same fencing was right along both sides of Washington Blvd at the time. So when I got to the pink circle on the image below, I ended up half-walking, half-riding my bike as a salmon in the roadway, southbound until reaching that first crosswalk (where gaps in the fencing allowed me to get out of the road and join the trail)! Thankfully there was so little traffic and the few drivers I did encounter during this episode were very courteous and accommodating.

People driving cars in this area always get signs telling them exactly how to get where they need to go. People riding bikes often get nothing, and that sometimes leads to undesirable adventures.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]9481[/ATTACH]

[bentbike33]

Too bad all the money to fix Memorial Bridge is just for repairing the drawbridge when the real need is bike/ped ramps from each side down to the MVT.

[dasgeh]

@scoot 123202 wrote:

People driving cars in this area always get signs telling them exactly how to get where they need to go. People riding bikes often get nothing, and that sometimes leads to undesirable adventures.

THIS! Please, tell your congress-people (or -woman, if you live in the District). They seem to be our only hop of getting NPS to listen. A little money for signs would go a long way here.

@bentbike33 123206 wrote:

Too bad all the money to fix Memorial Bridge is just for repairing the drawbridge when the real need is bike/ped ramps from each side down to the MVT.

I believe bike improvements on the bridge are going to be part of the project to fix the bridge. Improvements at the end of the bridge are part of the “Memorial Circle” Project.

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