How are the trails?

[americancyclo]

There was less traffic, but I can’t say this route was ‘better’ for me. I already ride down Independence, so I had to wait for a light to turn left on 10th St. SW. The cobbles weren’t that enjoyable (does that ramp near the end connect with the frontage road?) and there is the aforementioned lack of curb cut to bunny hop. At the moment there is construction along the sidewalk between the bridge and Buckeye. lots of mud chunks to mess with your tires. Riding on Ohio was nice, but once you get to the George Mason memorial, there are too many tourists on the sidewalk to make that practical, and I wasn’t crazy about salmoning against tour buses to get to the curb cut for the path to the bridge. It might be easier to dismount and run up the steps from Ohio to the bridge. This way was a few minutes longer than taking independence all the way down to 15th, and I’d rather have a tour bus on my wheel than heading straight for me, so I probably won’t incorporate it into the regular rotation.

[dbb]

@5555624 16437 wrote:

If you do, post the info and I’ll make a request, too.

I couldn’t find my copy of the original request but I am sure the DC DOT still has it (who would have thought that the DC government would get so responsive that we would say that?) so I logged another today. I must have logged it a couple of computers ago in 2009 or early 2010.

You can let them know as well well.

http://app.311.dc.gov/CWI/ServiceRequest.mvc/SRIntake

I used my office address on the assumption they would like me more if I had a phone with a 202 area code!

Here is the text of my request “Need curb cut to allow cycling access from LEnfant Promenade at Banneker Plaza to the sidewalk/ramp on the Case Bridge. Currently there is no ramp a cyclist can use to get on to the roadway of the promenade and road to the waterfront. A curb ramp would allow that.”

The curb at this point is concrete, not granite, which would make installing the ramp easier (concrete being readily available in an pre-solid form).

Based on the stuff in the sidewalk, it isn’t clear that the designers didn’t end up forcing everybody into the street. Cars, peds, bikes all find the street more accommodating. This is the stretch of the promenade that spans the SW freeway. The red bus is about where the curb cut is needed.

[eminva]

This doesn’t look ADA compliant. You might add that point for emphasis.

Liz

[dbb]

@eminva 16636 wrote:

This doesn’t look ADA compliant. You might add that point for emphasis.

Liz

That much is certain. A curb cut might still be a bit dicey on ADA/ABA/UFAS compliance.

[KLizotte]

Your pics of the Banneker plaza area just screams “shovel ready project.” What a planning and construction disaster; let’s bulldoze and start over please. I guess we should thank our lucky stars we even got the Case bridge.

Haven’t tried out this route yet since I didn’t head home till 8:00 last night and today was a recovery day (gotta save the legs for the weekend!) so I had to suffer through the indignities of riding metro which included a longer than normal journey due to a train malfunction.

Thanks dbb so much for the pics/directions of your route.

[StopMeansStop]

I made it out today. The knee held up, no swelling either!

[KLizotte]

I put in a curb cut request via this link: http://app.311.dc.gov/CWI/ServiceRequest.mvc/SRIntake

If you wish to do the same, go under “Curb Repair” in the drop down menu, for the address write “Banneker Circle”, then in the last step of the request procedure you will have a chance to write some comments. In this section I wrote “Please install a curb cut to Case Bridge at Banneker Circle so cyclists, strollers and wheel chair users can access the bridge from L’Enfant Plaza.”

I’m not holding my breath but I am keeping my fingers crossed.

[Author]

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