Custis Trail Tree Work

[Tim Kelley]

@sjclaeys 12899 wrote:

It seems that we’ve established that there is a problem here, or at least a significant lack of communication from Arlington County about what is going on regarding the tree work. I thought that raising this issue on this forum would generate a response, but so far I guess not.

I passed along your concerns on Monday to the Trails Manager in who usually communicates these things to us. I have not heard back. Have you continued to experience similar issues? If so, could you please share those as well?

[eminva]

@Tim Kelley 12903 wrote:

Have you continued to experience similar issues? If so, could you please share those as well?

Yes. I went through between 8:30 and 8:45 this morning. The detour began at the Lyon Village Shopping Center (Giant, Italian Store). The detour sign seemed to point to the sidewalk along Lee Highway. I wasn’t sure how far the detour went so I turned onto the sidewalk, rather than crossing Lee Highway to ride with traffic (I thought I might miss the detour back to the trail if I did that). However, I did not see another detour sign for the rest of my journey and I ended up taking a combination of the Lee Highway sidewalk and salmoning down the bike lane (which lasts two whole blocks) until I rejoined the Custis where Lee Highway crosses I-66 again just before Roslyn.

There were many other befuddled cyclists wandering through the corridor in both directions.

Many of us who travel through this area are not familiar with North Arlington and can’t make up detours in our heads, so some signage would be great.

Thanks.

Liz

[Subby]

Commuting from McLean for just the second time ever and ran across this predicament this morning around 730am. I biked to other side of the Lyon Village shopping center and not seeing any signs, picked up the trail there. Rode down a ways to come across a truck and a roadblock. Picked up my bike and carried it around. They definitely need better signage – especially for a newbie, staring up the hill of Lee Highway and not really knowing what was up was confusing and intimidating.

[Tim Kelley]

Thanks for the heads up–I’ll give them another poke.

[rcannon100]

MASSIVE problem this morning. I biked through at probably 8:15 am. Okay, its rush hour. There is absolutely no reason this work should start before 9:00 am. We dont allow this type of work on a highway during rush hour – but somehow we allow it on a bike artery.

I bike down Lee Hwy, Swing in to Lyon Village, and then join up on the Custis Trail from the parking lot. From that angel, NO SIGNS. There were signs on the Custis Trail coming in, but I wasnt on the custis trail yet. When I completed the detour, where the Custis rejoins Lee Hwy over 66 – no signs.

So the detour put us on the north side of Lee Hwy on the side walk. That’s where the signs pointed to. There were 15 of us probably. With pedestrians. And a dangerous sidewalk, we were spilling out all over the place. WAY DANGEROUS.

There is no reason for this work to start before 9:00 am during the rush hour. None. It creates a dangerous situation. The detour cannot handle rush hour levels of cycle traffic.

While I appreciate the work of Bike Arlington, I encourage people to contact Arlington about this directly. trails@arlingtonva.us And while you are at it copy countyboard@arlingtonva.us

If Arlington cant sort this out, perhaps we should let the League of American Bicyclists know about this in the context of reviewing Arlington’s Bike Friendly Community certification

[americancyclo]

+1, I kept looking for detour signs that would take me back to the trail, but there was no indication of when the trail work was complete, so I rode a combination of Lee and sidewalks til I arrived at the Custis. Even more dangerous than normal in these wet road conditions.

[vvill]

I went through my usual route and had no issues but this was at around 6:50am I guess.

The only “block” was a vehicle on the Custis, but there was enough space to go around. Helmet cam:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]570[/ATTACH]

The part of my commute that uses Custis: http://g.co/maps/v8fbj

@Subby 12916 wrote:

Commuting from McLean for just the second time ever

Nice. I commute from McLean too (although only 1ce a week right now).

[txgoonie]

Going westbound, the detour shoots you onto N. Calvert St., adding a nice little climb to your ride, and then there is a sign to T/R onto Lee Hwy, fyi. Follow that little surprise with the 3 work vehicles that couldn’t manage to pull over another 6 inches to allow traffic to pass without going into the mud, and you have the makings for a mood-killing ride in this morning.:mad:

[Subby]

@vvill 12945 wrote:

I went through my usual route and had no issues but this was at around 6:50am I guess. The only “block” was a vehicle on the Custis, but there was enough space to go around. The part of my commute that uses Custis: http://g.co/maps/v8fbj

Nice – I am trying to do a combination of running and biking (that’s the plan anyway).

Biking route looks like this: http://runkeeper.com/user/ChrisShue/activity/65929841

So some days I will bike in, then run home via the canal and Chain Bridge (about 10 miles).

[vvill]

@Subby 12956 wrote:

Nice – I am trying to do a combination of running and biking (that’s the plan anyway).

Biking route looks like this: http://runkeeper.com/user/ChrisShue/activity/65929841

So some days I will bike in, then run home via the canal and Chain Bridge (about 10 miles).

That’s quite a distance to run! I used to run but my knees are shot so I only bike now.
Looks like you live pretty close to me actually and we have quite similar commutes: This morning’s commute ~6:30am (as recorded by a car GPS, hence the “200mph max speed”)

Some days I return home via Chain Bridge but I prefer not to ride on the C&O on the road bike.

[slowtriguy]

I ran into a different problem about 7:20 this morning on the Custis just west of MM0.5. I had just come up the hill from the I-66 underpass and caught up with a large pickup trailing a tree-trimming truck, both rolling slowly down the trail toward the east. After a minute or so, we caught up to a third truck — second large tree-trimming truck — that apparently had slid off the trail into the mud just off the westbound side of the trail. I was able to squeeze by safely, but I did wonder why the tree trimmers were out on the trail that early.

[Tim Kelley]

From an email I just received from the Trails Department,

“We are working to resolve issues surrounding the maintenance work occurring on the Custis Trail. There are always challenges when large scale projects need to be completed. We regret any inconvenience caused by the contracted work. They have been working diligently for several weeks on tree maintenance along the trail. The maintenance includes hazardous tree removal, clearance of light fixtures, removal of dead or fallen limbs, and tree pruning. Their work will continue for another few weeks.

It is imperative that we complete the required maintenance for the long term safety of trail users and sustainability of the trail. The contractor has been authorized to close sections of the trail because they are using large equipment and performing maintenance that creates hazardous conditions. The delivery and set up of equipment creates the need for an early start.

Detours will change daily. Below is an estimation of sections that will be detoured. These sections of the trail are a starting point for completing the work. There may need to be further adjustments these areas. Contractors have finished their work from Rosslyn to Spout Run. The detours will affect how we traverse through the various areas. It is always important to travel at a safe speed for the conditions and give pedestrians the right-of–way.

TRAIL SECTIONS:
Uhle st and lee hwy to Veitch S
Veitch St To N Calvert St
N Calvert St To Lee Hwy
Lee Hwy To Maywood Area/Old Dominion
Maywood Area To Lincoln
Lincoln To Quincy
Quincy To Stafford Rd
Stafford Rd To N Glebe Rd
N Glebe Rd To N Abingdon St
N Abingdon St To George Mason
George Mason To N Harrison
N Harrison To Fairfax Dr and Kensington

We look forward to the completion of this work, and the improvements to trail conditions that they create. Thank you for your patience and understanding as the tree maintenance continues.”

[sjclaeys]

This response from the county is inadequate. First, the country completely failed to communicate with the Custis Trail-using community about the tree work and the detours. Second, the county said in December that the work would not be done during rush hour and the response gives no reason for the change in this policy. Third, the response completely ignores the county’s failure to establish safe, well-marked detours and gives no indication that they will remedy this. The fact that the county adds at the end the admonition to travel at safe speeds and give pedestrians the right of way is a slap in the face to cyclists given the county’s failure to provide us a safe means to travel.

[americancyclo]

Tree work hadn’t started yet when I rolled through this morning, but I did notice a detour sign at the ramp that leads down to Lee highway. What was really a surprise was the two cones and pile of wood chips that were at the bottom of the S curve of death. made for an exciting morning!

[eminva]

I appreciate that they are pruning the trees to improve the safety of the trail, and, if done properly, will be beneficial for the trees, too. My chief complaint was the poorly conceived and largely unmarked detour.

Today the detour was well marked and very clear, so thank you.

Liz

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