Dangerous cut and faulty repair on Potomac Ave., near EPA and Renaissance hotel

[PotomacCyclist]

On Potomac Ave. (Arlington), in the westbound lane, just before the intersection with Crystal Drive. Near the rear EPA entrance. Some sort of repair was done on the road, cutting across nearly the entire curbside car lane as well as the entire bike lane. The cut is nearly a foot in width, with a drop-off of at least a few inches. Even though it was dark, I could see the black repair line, but I thought it would be smooth pavement. Instead, I landed with a thud into the bottom of the mini-ditch. I was riding a mountain bike with cyclocross tires. (The front suspension was locked since I rarely ride off-road.)

I can imagine that if I had been riding a road bike, I might have done some damage to the wheel, or fallen off the bike and done some damage to me.

I’ll send a report to Arlington road services through the online form. Until this is fixed, cyclists need to take care at that point. The mini-ditch shouldn’t affect car drivers that much. They might notice a slight bump. But a cyclist on a road bike will experience much more than a slight bump.

https://goo.gl/maps/WqqJm

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[cyclingfool]

Thanks for the heads up and for reporting it. Between the employee shuttle that’s always parked in the bike lane when I ride past at rush hour and now a hole in the road, that intersection’s gonna be real fun.

[PotomacCyclist]

At least they seem to have taken care of the spilled/dried concrete on Potomac Ave., at the intersection with S. Glebe Rd. The patch of concrete was a couple feet long. It probably spilled off a cement truck at least 3 years ago, when Potomac Ave. was under construction. I reported it a few times over the years, to Arlington and to VDOT. (VDOT manages S. Glebe Rd.) I clarified that Arlington manages Potomac Ave. on the east side of the intersection, where the spilled concrete patch was located. It seems that Arlington finally scraped off the concrete. No more concrete mound on the car lane/bike lane border.

[cyclingfool]

@PotomacCyclist 74675 wrote:

It seems that Arlington finally scraped off the concrete. No more concrete mound on the car lane/bike lane border.

You mean the five foot long Copenhagen style physically separated bike lane? :p

[PotomacCyclist]

Yes. Except that the Arlington version of the separation is about two inches wide. And the physical separation consists of a raised surface of paint, about 1/4″ in height.

Actually, I’m not complaining too much about the bike lane. A separated track would be better, but the lane isn’t too bad. However, I wish they would have added a separate sidewalk or pedestrian trail next to the road. A lot of pedestrians walk or run in the bike lane, even on the northbound lane. (The southbound bike lane is almost always occupied by pedestrians. Unfortunately, there is no sidewalk there and no good way for people to walk back to the hotel after parking their cars on the road.)

And speaking of Potomac Ave., the bike/pedestrian trail at the south end of the road is mostly complete. The trail continues at the south end of the new Potomac Yard Park. Instead of turning toward the Monroe Ave. bridge, the trail stays on level ground and leads toward the Braddock Rd. Metro. There was a fence partly blocking the path, but not completely. Someone was running on the trail and the nearby workers didn’t seem to mind. So I rode on. The trail continues until the GW school grounds, where it ends suddenly. I believe it will eventually be extended to Braddock Rd., on the other side of the railroad tracks from the Metro station.

[cyclingfool]

I know the spot well. It’s on my normal commute route. I’m glad they scraped away the concrete.

You’re right that they need some sort of sidewalks there, too. Fewer manholes in or straddling the bike lane would have been nice, too, especially on the east side, northbound lane, but that’s a lesser concern.

It’ll be nice when they finish and open the trail all the way down to Braddock Road. I take Monroe over a few blocks to get home, but for other riding, it’ll be nice to have the added connectivity, especially for getting to the western part of Old Town from, say Crystal City, without having to hop over to the MVT and then back over.

[PotomacCyclist]

Temporary repair of the mini-ditch is scheduled for tomorrow.

[PotomacCyclist]

The Potomac Yard development would have included new buildings (office/residential) where the overgrown fields are. That would have included wide sidewalks and ground-floor retail. But with the failure to get any tenants whatsoever at the National Gateway building (other than LA Fitness), the entire project seems to be on hold. It might be a while before the office market picks up, and the Potomac Yard Metro won’t be available for several years, assuming Alexandria goes through with that plan.

[Kolohe]

@cyclingfool 74753 wrote:

It’ll be nice when they finish and open the trail all the way down to Braddock Road. I take Monroe over a few blocks to get home, but for other riding, it’ll be nice to have the added connectivity, especially for getting to the western part of Old Town from, say Crystal City, without having to hop over to the MVT and then back over.

It’s kinda open, if one is willing to cyclecross/portage from the cul-de-sac at the end of the paved trail to the GW jr high parking lot.

[PotomacCyclist]

I spoke too soon, about Potomac Ave. and about the concrete patch. They put a temporary fix on the mini-trench on Potomac Ave. It’s now flat and fairly smooth. But there’s a wide patch in the U-turn lane nearby, maybe 2 ft x 1 ft, where the entire section has a drop-off of a couple inches or so. No traffic cones or signs anywhere. I saw a car drive over that new section. The driver would have felt that bump. A cyclist certainly will.

As for the concrete patch at Glebe Rd., I thought it was removed when I passed by on the southbound lane the other day. But today, I rode up the northbound lane and saw that the spilled concrete mound remains there, just as it has for a few years now. I’m not sure what the problem is. I first reported it two or three years ago. I reported it again a year later. Then I reported it again a month or two ago. Plus I contacted VDOT in case they had jurisdiction over that stretch of road. (Turns out, they don’t. They are responsible for Glebe Rd. but not for Potomac Ave. or that part of the intersection.)

I’ve reported other road problems through the online form. Those issues have been fixed relatively quickly, including a massive pothole on 27th St., near Potomac Ave. a couple years ago. That was fixed within a couple weeks after I reported it.

Maybe the problem is that this isn’t a pothole. But I don’t know why that should matter. I brought this issue up on the forum a few months ago as well. One of these days, the concrete patch will catch a newbie cyclist (or even an experienced cyclist) off-guard. That concrete mound should not be there in the road/bike lane.

[cyclingfool]

Yeah, I realized a day or two after your post, when I returned to my regular commute route along Potomac Ave that the concrete was still there. Hope it gets scraped off soon, but from the sounds of it, I shouldn’t hold my breath. I’ll file a fix request, too, on the online site. Squeaky wheel and all that…

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