February 2019 – Road and Trail Conditions

[Steve O]

Perfect day for a danger panda!
[ATTACH=CONFIG]19522[/ATTACH]

[ginacico]

C’mon, you miss the sewer pipe along Four Mile Run, right? Here’s how the project got done with minimal digging and expense.

[DrP]

Likely that things are beginning to melt enough that this is of less concern, but W&OD from Custis to Shirlington was passable on 38s, but more slippery than I was expecting. The county drove their plow over the trail between Custis and Bluemont (both of which were plowed nicely) and the tire tracks were generally clear and easy to ride. After the Bluemont junction it looked like the trail was partially cleared (brushes? Is that wat gives it the striping – clear, mostly clear, clear, mostly clear, etc.) towards the end of the snow but before the sleet. The people walked on it and two other bikes. End result was that it was slick underneath, crunchy on top and I did a lot of fish-tailing (bridges were very bad in this respect, except for the one near Glen Carlin where someone shoveled a trail). It took much longer than I expected to go over it (if it were just snow, no problem, this was not that).
4MRT from Shirlington was plowed and beautiful (I got off at Mead).

I am assuming the warmth today will make this more slushy and I can take the new Washington Blvd trail (west?) home.

[tejdev]

Anyone ride Mt. Vernon, 4 Mi Run, or W&OD this afternoon? Conditions?

Many thanks!!

[tejdev]

Thanks!!

[dasgeh]

This morning everything — even the nooks and crannies — on the eastern Custis – MVT – TR Bridge was completely clear.

[Hancockbs]

Very odd sighting this morning on the ART. Sorry, I don;t carry my cell phone, so no picture from me. A car t-boned a utility pole, which might not be all that odd, except it occurred in a segregated bike lane here:

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.9054535,-76.9488311,214m/data=!3m1!1e3

The car was traveling south east when it hit the pole pretty hard. Somehow it got into the bike lane, either a 1/2 mile or so up the street where there is a crossing, or it jumped the 7″ curb. I saw no indication of the latter, so I assume it traveled a ways in the dedicated lane. Even more odd, just beyond the left turn, in the park, there was a large box, approximately 2’x2’x2′ that had been dropped in the middle of the train and broke open. It appeared to have old shoes, books, and VHS tapes as I rode by.

[dbehrend]

A construction crew closed the cycle track on First St NE between K & L. They put up signs directing people on bikes onto the sidewalk. They were ripping up pavement on the opposite side of the street. So, it was unclear why the cycle track was closed. I wanted to warn folks in case the cycle track is still blocked during the evening commute.

[dbehrend]

@dbehrend 187944 wrote:

A construction crew closed the cycle track on First St NE between K & L. They put up signs directing people on bikes onto the sidewalk. They were ripping up pavement on the opposite side of the street. So, it was unclear why the cycle track was closed. I wanted to warn folks in case the cycle track is still blocked during the evening commute.

It looks like they repaved that entire section of street. They removed a portion of the protected bike lane.[ATTACH=CONFIG]19624[/ATTACH]

[bentbike33]

Tonight approaching the Citizens’ Bridge in Falls Church from the east there was a big electronic sign next to the trail that said “WOD TRAIL CLOSED”. Any idea what’s going on?

[LhasaCM]

@dbehrend 187975 wrote:

It looks like they repaved that entire section of street. They removed a portion of the protected bike lane.

Yep – they removed (but set aside in the planters) the protection this morning, and repaved. (That section of street sorely needed it after the 100K construction.) It would’ve been nice if they did something even temporary today to separate things, but hopefully they’ll reinstall the protection and restripe tomorrow AM.

[dbehrend]

@LhasaCM 187980 wrote:

Yep – they removed (but set aside in the planters) the protection this morning, and repaved. (That section of street sorely needed it after the 100K construction.) It would’ve been nice if they did something even temporary today to separate things, but hopefully they’ll reinstall the protection and restripe tomorrow AM.

Agreed – it was in need of repair. Hopefully they’ll do something early tomorrow, especially for the folks that will be heading contraflow when the protected lane and green paint ends.

[Author]

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