Custis Trail Needs Work?

[rcannon100]

I dont ride the section enough to be specific, but past Ballston near the Beaver pond to Bluemont there are a lot of ruts.

OH! Hey, Custis Trail crossing 66 with Lee Hwy near Bergmans. The trail on the bridge is cement. The trail on either side is asphalt. At the ends of the bridge, the asphalt no longer meets the cement trail – there is maybe an inch or two difference between heights. Even just a patch of asphalt, ramping up to the cement, would be much appreciated.

Near that same bridge, between Lee Hw and 21st N, on the Custis Trail, is a very good mogul, particularly bad in the west bound direction.

And then there that intersection at Lynn St :p

[americancyclo]

I’ll try to snap some geo-tagged pics on the way home, but for starters, here’s a collaborative google map!:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=201756796589186196371.0004bde394e2c5c2766d3

[americancyclo]

Last edited by Tim Kelley; Today at 01:59 PM. Reason: Fixed broken link.

Thanks!

[JeffC]

I may chime in again in a few days after I focus in on bad spots but here is what comes to mind immediately:

1) West of Glebe Road geographically, as one is headed eastbound there is a slight downhill slope and then a mostly flat yet curved area until one reaches a short climb over the I66 offramp to Glebe Road. On the downhill stretch I describe, the trail is badly rutted in both directions, each direction I find myself lifting my bum out of the saddle. It is a little worse on the eastbound side as most east bound riders will try to ride on the westbound lane. One really gets slowed down on the westbound side.

2) East bound after pond/mystery chimney to S Curve of Death, there is a small rest area with a covered bench and drinking fountain, as you continue to head east, there is a blind curve. It would be nice to have a mirror there on both sides and a sign reminding peds to stay right because bikers pass even when they cannot always see.

3) As one continues east from this spot there is a small hill, then a rapid descent. At the flat crest of the hill where speed is not an issue, there are some bad ruts that force most east bound people to the other lane. Then there is a descent and a long mostly flat straight away.

4) The descent flattens out and is then next to I66 for awhile. This stretch is in poor condition until the overpass at Lee Hwy. There is a patch of black asphalt meant to correct something that actually makes it worse. Then a bit farther east some very bad ruts that nearly every east bound rider scoots over to the other lane for.

5) I expect congestion on the part of the Custis in Rosslyn but it could be eased by some wider pavement cutouts as the sidewalk merges into the street. These cutouts from the pavement into the street are barealy wide enough for two bikes to pass abreast or for a biker to pass a ped.

[vvill]

Going west:
Lynn St:
Between N Oak St and N Quinn St: A few small but deepish potholes. All on the northern side of the trail just over the centerline (so on the right going westward).
Just after N Scott St: The gap between the concrete blocks is not evenly filled. The painted parts are particulary slippery in the wet.
After N Scott St, by the park: roots making trail bumpy. More of an issue going east when you’re going downhill.
Bridge adjacent to Lee Hwy, crossing I-66 : uneven transitions
Shortly after turning right to go under 21st St N: bad mogul from tree roots, particularly on the right side going westbound.
near Lyon Village before the S-curve: There is a slight channel in the asphalt near the convex mirror that often accumulates dirt/gravel – a bit hazardous going eastbound since you are going downhill and want to stay as right as possible since the line of sight isn’t great and there is that big concrete retainer on the left forcing westbound cyclists to move more towards the centerline.
Southwest side of bridge passing over the I-66 exit to 120/N Glebe: could use a convex mirror with the handrail and narrow trail/poor visibility.
Somewhere between N Abingdon and before the downhill going under the bridge to join the W&OD: Serious moguls due to tree roots. Tough on the knees, especially if you are climbing out of the saddle clipped in going west. This is probably my least favourite part of the Custis.
near N Jefferson St – a couple of “pothole”s due to a low seated drainage covers, near lightposts, going downhill westbound. Would never want to hit one of those.

[pfunkallstar]

The downhill sections with ruts sucks REAL bad.

[baiskeli]

The gaps between the concrete and asphalt on the bridge over I-66 between Veitch and Scott!

[Dirt]

I like it just the way it is. I kind of like the root-induced bumps. They wake me up in the morning and give texture to my hill sprints on the way home.

[Mikey]

Worst section (heading East Bound) is just after the Fork at Ballston (where the nice new pavement ends) to Glebe Road. The first downhill section here is really rutted.

Second worst section, the 1/10 mile before (heading East bound again) the Lee highway overpass and S-curves.

Third section, last turn of the s-curves leading down to the shopping center.

[Tim Kelley]

This thread is really coming along! Has everyone been adding their remarks to the Google Map too?

[CCrew]

I’d just be happy if they removed a couple of hills

:p

[consularrider]

@CCrew 18427 wrote:

I’d just be happy if they removed a couple of hills

:p

Just repeat after Ann, “what would Dirt do?”

[dasgeh]

I just added this to the googlemap, but it seemed pretty dangerous to me as I headed through here today:

Headed Eastbound along the trail, there is a tree blocking the view of the stoplight at Scott St. until you’re very close to it. Given that this is the first grade crossing on the trail (if you’re headed Eastbound – and there are no other warning signs that there will be a grade crossing), and that cyclists are headed downhill here and likely going pretty fast, this could be particularly dangerous.

[KLizotte]

The center strip running down the middle of the trail just before you hit N Scott Street heading east needs to be filled in. It’s perfectly sized to catch a 23 mm tire as I discovered the hard way yesterday (fortunately I did not go down). There were a lot of peds standing at the intersection and a few on-coming cyclists so I forgot to make sure I didn’t ride down this trench.

I added a “pin” to the Google map.

[americancyclo]

I was out of town for a while, so this was the first day I rode the Custis eastbound over 66, and I noticed that the hard lip of the bridge (at the top of the hill in rosslyn) has been filled in with asphalt. So smooth now!

Nice work Tim!

[Author]

Posts