Fence on GW north of Memorial bridge

[baiskeli]

It looks like they (NPS, I presume) is trying to permanently stop people from crossing the GW Parkway north of the Memorial Bridge, where joggers and cyclists have made their own trail. There’s a hefty steel fence and mulch over the dirt trail. I think that makes sense, but it really should come with better signs to inform people of the official crossing on the south side.

Anybody know if this is permanent?

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[dasgeh]

No idea, but I’d like to +1 the idea of both wayfinding and instructional (rules of the trail) signs around there, on both sides of the river. I feel for the runners who don’t know that you have to cross on the South side of the bridge to get to the MVT — it’s a long detour.

[Tim Kelley]

Anyone got a picture of the blockade?

[PotomacCyclist]

This is a picture of the (old?) fence from Google Maps: http://g.co/maps/kwqu3

You can see where runners or cyclists tore down a section of the fence to maintain that unofficial crossing. I haven’t been on that section of the trail recently so I don’t know what it looks like now.

[consularrider]

@PotomacCyclist 18434 wrote:

This is a picture of the (old?) fence from Google Maps: http://g.co/maps/kwqu3

You can see where runners or cyclists tore down a section of the fence to maintain that unofficial crossing. I haven’t been on that section of the trail recently so I don’t know what it looks like now.

That photo looks like the temporary fencing put in around the 4th of July each year. The current fencing is metal barricades with plastic fencing similar to what is in place on the connector to the 14th St Bridge. It runs from the Memorial Bridge underpass to just past where the informal eroded trail descende from along the parkway to the trail. Temporary wooden fencing is also now in place on the next lane up, for a greater distance, although one section has already begun to droop, can’t tell if it was from someone try to cross over it or not. This morning there was one runner going around the whole mess. As I mentioned in another thread, last week the NPS added soil to the eroded areas that were the informal trails. It looks like they have also seeded them, so I’m sure the fencing is to allow the grass to at least take.

[Author]

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