Custis Trail Work – July 30 – August 24 – portions of trail closed

[Erin Potter]

Beginning on July 30, Arlington Parks and Recreation will work with a contractor to repair the Custis Trail substructure between North Adams Street and McCoy Park, that cause the undulations near the pedestrian flyover bridge (colloquially known as the bridge to nowhere). This portion of the trail will be CLOSED during this time. Arlington Parks and Recreation will be posting signed detours for people walking and people biking.

More details on the project page.

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Topic

[streetsmarts]

@dasgeh 180213 wrote:

My map will give you a lower stress route. If you don’t mind it, just take the lane then bike lane westbound on Lee Hwy westbound (that’s what I do).

Got it. Thanks!

[Steve O]

Curiosity was just too much, so I checked it out.

Here’s the east end of the excavation. You can just see the Bridge to Nowhere towards the top right of the photo.
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Bridge to nowhere. Gives you a sense of how deep they are taking the foundation
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I was not the only one! Tire tracks. There is no way to get out at the west end, so these tracks were from a single bike rider who had to double back, like I did.
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[KWL]

@Steve O 180275 wrote:

…I was not the only one! Tire tracks…

So there is at least one other person out there as crazy as Steve O.

[huskerdont]

You don’t *have* to double back. The bridge to nowhere kind of goes somewhere* if you’re willing to treat your bike like a mountain bike.

*Not really. I wouldn’t recommend it in general, but this is SteveO here. I haven’t ridden back there in years, pre my Strava days. But if I was crazy enough to do it….

[dbb]

@huskerdont 180284 wrote:

The bridge to nowhere kind of goes somewhere

This is sounding a lot like a question on the SAT.

[Steve O]

@huskerdont 180284 wrote:

You don’t *have* to double back. The bridge to nowhere kind of goes somewhere* if you’re willing to treat your bike like a mountain bike.

Well, yes, but the somewhere it goes is back the way you came anyway.

Because this:

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Otherwise, that would have been an interesting option.

[huskerdont]

@Steve O 180295 wrote:

Well, yes, but the somewhere it goes is back the way you came anyway.

Because this:

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Otherwise, that would have been an interesting option.

I saw they had put that stupid fence up in one of our downpours when I went down to check out Spout Run flooding. That wasn’t there the last time I went, which was back in the 90s. Annoying that they closed this access to the trail/woods, but I suppose they did it to keep people from 1) drowning, partying under the bridge, III) having any damn fun at all.

Anyway, being a good rebel, I climbed over, tearing some shorts but not any skin.

I have also gone down and over Spout Run and Spout Run Parkway and over to Lorcom. I think there’s a trail that goes east with some limited, unofficial access to the neighborhoods over by the Palisades, but it was a long time ago, my memory is fuzzy, and they may have shut down whatever access there was.

[Steve O]

@huskerdont 180303 wrote:

I saw they had put that stupid fence up in one of our downpours when I went down to check out Spout Run flooding. That wasn’t there the last time I went, which was back in the 90s. Annoying that they closed this access to the trail/woods, but I suppose they did it to keep people from 1) drowning, partying under the bridge, III) having any damn fun at all.

Anyway, being a good rebel, I climbed over, tearing some shorts but not any skin.

I have also gone down and over Spout Run and Spout Run Parkway and over to Lorcom. I think there’s a trail that goes east with some limited, unofficial access to the neighborhoods over by the Palisades, but it was a long time ago, my memory is fuzzy, and they may have shut down whatever access there was.

And once upon a time there was actually a bridge over Spout Run Parkway that connected Woodmont with what we might call North Courthouse now. About 15 years ago the county proposed putting a pretty cool ped/bike bridge in the same place (a fantastic idea, IMO, giving the Woodmont neighborhood walking access Courthouse), but the neighborhood civic association did not want the riff-raff cyclists the bridge would attract and the proposal was killed.
Yes, you can still take the B. to NW walking paths over to 21st Ct. N.

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[huskerdont]

I did not know that. That would have been awesome, but they’re right about the riff-raff cyclists; I would have used that as a route home fairly often for variety.

[dasgeh]

If only someone were drafting a plan of what bike facilities should be built in Arlington…

[mstone]

@dasgeh 180343 wrote:

If only someone were drafting a plan of what bike facilities should be built in Arlington…

…they could fill it out entirely from what made neighborhood associations lose their shit and defeat because politics?

[ursus]

Does anyone know if the work is on schedule to finish by the end of the week?

[huskerdont]

@ursus 180440 wrote:

Does anyone know if the work is on schedule to finish by the end of the week?

Perhaps someone with inside knowledge might still reply, but until then, I saw this morning that they had paved the west side of the project, and on the east side, crews were getting paving equipment together when I went through about 6:30.

[Erin Potter]

@huskerdont 180455 wrote:

Perhaps someone with inside knowledge might still reply, but until then, I saw this morning that they had paved the west side of the project, and on the east side, crews were getting paving equipment together when I went through about 6:30.

I have received no update, but emailed this AM. This is solid intel from the field though that gives me hope!

[Erin Potter]

@Erin Potter 180457 wrote:

I have received no update, but emailed this AM. This is solid intel from the field though that gives me hope!

Update: Construction manager is confident this work will be wrapped up on time, despite rains. A mogul-free Custis is in our collective futures!

[Author]

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