Fixes on the trails in Arlington (NOT FIXIES)

[dasgeh]

I’ll start (I love this game).

The Custis trail from the bridge over I66 at the top of the Rosslyn hill as far West as you can, but at least until the top of the next hill, but the bridge to nowhere/wouldn’t-it-be-nice-to-have-a-trail-there-from-Rosslyn-to-Spout-Run.

I think some others agree with me:
@rcannon100 73873 wrote:

On the Custis east of Cherrydale, just after the pedestrian bridge to nowhere, is a pretty bad dip in the pavement of the custis. This needs to be repaired.

@Subby 73994 wrote:

Seconded. This has turned in to a bizarro roller coaster of bumps and dips for about 100 feet. Some of the depressions fill with leaves and water and freeze over. That whole stretch from the bottom of the corkscrew of fun (Lyon Village) east to RosslynLee Hwy could use some TLC in spots.

And while you’re there:
@oldbikechick 73993 wrote:

Put some sort of gutter near the wall of the portion of the Custis trail along 66 between Lee Hwy (Bergmann’s) and Spout run so that when water comes out of the several downspouts onto the trail when it’s cold, it doesn’t freeze into a sheet of ice on the trail.

[chris_s]

@dasgeh 74014 wrote:

.

Reminder: Bluemont Junction Trail. 😎

[Subby]

1. Custis trail roots of death west of glebe are still roots of death despite a number of smoothing attempts.

2. 4MR along the water pollution control plant to the power station needs to have some seams smoothed out.

[vvill]

I’ll second the Custis roots, and bizarro roller coaster – the whole section from the Lee overpass down to Rosslyn has bits n’ pieces that aren’t so nice.

[Arlingtonrider]

I’d like to see the reflective striping on the FMR and MVT trails re-painted. In many parts the lines have faded to the extent that they are barely visible in the dark, making it more difficult to see turns and follow the trail at night, esp. where there are oncoming headlights.

[shannon]

On the 110 trail along Arlington Cemetary, some reflective striping (or just the yellow line down the middle of the trail would be nice. It is hard to see where the path ends and the grass starts.

[Fast Friendly Guy]

@shannon 74138 wrote:

On the 110 trail along Arlington Cemetary, some reflective striping (or just the yellow line down the middle of the trail would be nice. It is hard to see where the path ends and the grass starts.

Hey, Shannon,
I second your nomination for this improvement! Say, are you the guy I chatted with around 7:45 AM on FMR and MVT, Mon or Tues morning from Shirlington to the airport? You had yellow a jacket and foggy goggles, and we talked about Gary the homeless guy?
Dave

[Fast Friendly Guy]

@Arlingtonrider 74079 wrote:

I’d like to see the reflective striping on the FMR and MVT trails re-painted. In many parts the lines have faded to the extent that they are barely visible in the dark, making it more difficult to see turns and follow the trail at night, esp. where there are oncoming headlights.

I agree with you, Arlingtonrider, with one proviso: No striping on all hilly turns (eg corkscrew of death on Custis near Spout Run) use reflective signs or side reflectors rather than stripping because reflective stripes are as slippery as ice when they’re wet (and can cause some nasty spills–believe me I know) Dave

[Fast Friendly Guy]

@vvill 74069 wrote:

I’ll second the Custis roots, and bizarro roller coaster – the whole section from the Lee overpass down to Rosslyn has bits n’ pieces that aren’t so nice.

The roots are especially bad heading into town, just beyond the exit for Ballston (Fairfax Dr.)–they redid so much in that area–why not this, the worst? (they did grind down, somewhat, a few, but it wasn’t enough)

Also in desperate need of repair is that totally rough 10 ‘ section on Custis going down to Rosslyn on the left of the yellow bollard, just before crossing N Scott St. It took me down hard about a month ago!

[jnva]

Repave and widen the entire Custis. If it’s a transportation corridor, it needs to be done. I hate patching, it just creates bumps later.

[dasgeh]

@jnva 74178 wrote:

Repave and widen the entire Custis. If it’s a transportation corridor, it needs to be done. I hate patching, it just creates bumps later.

I completely agree with you, but if there’s money to do something RIGHT now, I’ll take it. Thinking about it more, and recognizing the bad patching jobs on the trail, I’m more in favor of just doing one or two big sections, and doing them right. The section they redid in Cherrydale is still pretty good. I think we should use this pot to get another section up to that level.

[NickBull]

@Fast Friendly Guy 74171 wrote:

The roots are especially bad heading into town, just beyond the exit for Ballston (Fairfax Dr.)–they redid so much in that area–why not this, the worst? (they did grind down, somewhat, a few, but it wasn’t enough)

Also in desperate need of repair is that totally rough 10 ‘ section on Custis going down to Rosslyn on the left of the yellow bollard, just before crossing N Scott St. It took me down hard about a month ago!

I was also going to post about the problem near N Scott St. Just to clarify what the problem is: Heading east-bound toward Rosslyn, just about where the sound barrier next to Lee Hwy ends, the bike path merges onto sidewalk before eventually crossing Scott St., which is the first road crossing on the downhill run to Rosslyn. The merge from the east-bound lane of the bike path to the sidewalk is fine. The problem occurs when an east-bound cyclist has to go in the west-bound lane to pass pedestrians. The merge from the bike path to the sidewalk creates a diagonal edge that can easily catch a tire and cause a cyclist to go down (as it sounds like happened with Fast Friendly Guy). This hazard has been repaired before, but as I went through that section this morning I noticed that the blacktop has worn down / disintegrated in that spot so that the hazard has returned.

Nick

[consularrider]

Another one of our favorites is the asphalt to concrete transition on the 4MRT between the I-395 and W Glebe Rd underpasses. The eastern one has been “fixed” twice since this trail extension was completed four years (?) ago, but has again cracked and is in the process of slumping and creating a serious bump. It is smoothest in the center of the trail, so we risk head on collisions as cyclists move center to avoid the jarring bump.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

Second.

@shannon 74138 wrote:

On the 110 trail along Arlington Cemetary, some reflective striping (or just the yellow line down the middle of the trail would be nice. It is hard to see where the path ends and the grass starts.

heading west/north at night is impossible to see trail edge with on coming headlights from cars. An edge stripe would help tremendously.

[PotomacCyclist]

Is the Rte 110 trail paved? I rarely ride over to Memorial Bridge these days, mostly because of all the dangerous road crossings, and take the 14th St. Bridge (George Mason) instead.

http://www.thewashcycle.com/2011/02/route-110-trail-gets-funding-work-could-begin-next-year.html

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