How to get to Laurel?

[mello yello]

I’m thinking MARC train from Union Station?

I’ve been driving for 6 months, but the weather is getting better (in general, not this week), and I’m itching to get back on my bike before BTWD 2017.

So, is there a realistic way to get to Laurel? It’s 20 miles from my house in SE DC, each way, on the highway. I think on the bike I can take the Anacostia tributary trail systems to somewhere around Beltsville, but it sort of ends?

Another option would be to do a split commute to Union Station, lock up, and hop on the MARC train for 30 minutes. It’s 5-ish miles on the bike, and 1/4 mile walk on the other end. Last train leaves at 7:59, which would require re-doing my schedule, since I usually drop my son off at daycare around 8:15.

Thoughts?

Topic

[Judd]

Biked past Laurel two weeks ago on the way to Baltimore. Route is below and was mostly low traffic and low stress on the weekend (except the short stretch on MD-201). Not sure what traffic will be like during the weekday.

https://www.strava.com/activities/943703220

[Birru]

I mean, if you’re going to use Judd’s route for reference you might as well play hooky and go all the way to Heavy Seas.

[mello yello]

Thanks!
It’s really hard to know looking at Maps… I’ll have to throw in some Rt 197 or 198 to get over to Main Street, and I know both of those stink because I drive on them.

[Rod Smith]

Scenic Route. Caution making the left off Sandy Spring to Brooklyn Bridge Rd. https://ridewithgps.com/routes/20640543

[Judd]

@mello yello 159123 wrote:

Thanks!
It’s really hard to know looking at Maps… I’ll have to throw in some Rt 197 or 198 to get over to Main Street, and I know both of those stink because I drive on them.

I have successfully outsourced most of my route planning to Komorebi who is a meticulous route planner. She planned the route that I posted. I think she does it by magic, but she’ll probably tell you that it’s a lot of Strava heat maps combined with Google Street View.

[Brett L.]

If you can get to Beltsville, continuing onto Laurel is easy (I live in Beltsville, commute to Laurel). Which part of Laurel are you intending to go to? Couple different options presented below – destination is near the WSSC building in West Laurel.

https://www.strava.com/activities/830753010
https://www.strava.com/activities/931770229

If you’re destination is north of 198, I would maybe consider a variation of Rod’s route. Crossing north of 198 is easier west of Laurel than in it, although Van Dusen crossing isn’t too bad. If you are aiming south of there, I would get onto Konterra and enter Laurel through Van Dusen (it’s a little tight between Konterra and Contee at the moment, but that will end if there ever finish the Contee realignment).

[Brett L.]

@Brett L. 159167 wrote:

If you can get to Beltsville, continuing onto Laurel is easy (I live in Beltsville, commute to Laurel). Which part of Laurel are you intending to go to? Couple different options presented below – destination is near the WSSC building in West Laurel.

https://www.strava.com/activities/830753010
https://www.strava.com/activities/931770229

If you’re destination is north of 198, I would maybe consider a variation of Rod’s route. Crossing north of 198 is easier west of Laurel than in it, although Van Dusen crossing isn’t too bad. If you are aiming south of there, I would get onto Konterra and enter Laurel through Van Dusen (it’s a little tight between Konterra and Contee at the moment, but that will end if there ever finish the Contee realignment).

And yes, take the ART up to NE Branch Anacostia, keep heading north along College Park trolley trail, then take Rhode Island all the way north until you get to my routes

[mello yello]

Thanks for all the tips! I’ll have to bike the whole way now!

I’m going to old Main Street Laurel, C Street, it backs up to the Patuxent River / Riverside park, only a few blocks from the MARC station. Old Town Laurel is pretty cut-off by big highways, it seems. I may have to modify all of these suggestions to get to where I need to go.

I’m thinking something along the lines of this:
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/20655593

or this, without MD 197:
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/20655767

[creadinger]

I used to commute from Laurel down to Goddard. I would use Soil Conservation Road, a little bit of Powder Mill, and Springfield Rd, and Brock Bridge. It was a while ago, so I don’t remember it all. These roads are probably farther east than you need to go.

[mello yello]

@creadinger 159172 wrote:

These roads are probably farther east than you need to go.

Yeah, if I get north of the Beltway east of the B/W parkway there are limited access points to go West. I used to commute to New Carrollton by bike somewhat irregularly, and that wasn’t too bad once I figured out how to avoid 701. They’ve since re-done 701 with bike shoulders.

[Brett L.]

@mello yello 159171 wrote:

or this, without MD 197:
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/20655767

You’ll find that Segment 16 is locked off and not accessible (legally).

I would maybe recommend this particular route. I find it pretty friendly,:
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/20659658

Along Route 1, on the west side, there is a MUP that is bike friendly. The only trick is getting over Indian Creek for which you have to go against traffic for about 20 feet.

[closebr]

I commute from DC to Laurel on a daily basis. This is the route I would recommend (it is similar to what I ride every day):

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/20661801

This is similar to the Route Brett L. recommended with a few changes. You’d be on nice trail most of the way, the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail (awesome), the NE Branch, College Park Trolley Trail, then Rhode Island Ave. up through Beltsville, then a pathway along the side of Route 1 (one narrow spot), to Konterra (wide bike lanes), Van Dusen (one narrow spot), then mostly neighborhood roads through Laurel.

Let me know, I’d be happy to meet up with you and ride any day.

[Brett L.]

Well, if you’re going to go through Van Dusen, I’d recommend staying on Van Dusen all the way to Cherry Lane. I find both those roads to be relatively low stress (except for Van Dusen from Konterra to Contee), and you won’t have to worry about people exiting driveways or turning around blind corners.

[mello yello]

Both great options. Thanks Bret L and closebr. I didn’t realize my option #2 had taken me through the restricted Beltsville Ag Research center. Actually, that route added another 300ft of elevation gain all told.

I’m looking forward to this now. I’d like to do it once or twice before BTWD, and probably periodically after that. closebr, I’ll definitely take you up on that offer, I’ll probably be PM’ing you, maybe as early as next week some time, if it’s nice. I’m probably not ever going to become a regular, but doing it periodically sounds good.

[closebr]

@mello yello 159199 wrote:

Both great options. Thanks Bret L and closebr. I didn’t realize my option #2 had taken me through the restricted Beltsville Ag Research center. Actually, that route added another 300ft of elevation gain all told.

I’m looking forward to this now. I’d like to do it once or twice before BTWD, and probably periodically after that. closebr, I’ll definitely take you up on that offer, I’ll probably be PM’ing you, maybe as early as next week some time, if it’s nice. I’m probably not ever going to become a regular, but doing it periodically sounds good.

Just let me know when you want to ride, I could meet your somewhere along the ART.

As a side note, you were asking about transit options. I do keep a bike locker at Greenbelt Station and just take the metro from my house to there sometimes, it reduces the ride to 7 miles. The station is along the route we sent you. You can exit out the west side of the station and connect to Rhode Island Ave. The bike lockers cost $120 a year, and are a good option for overnight bike storage in my opinion. I can send you the bike locker info if you want.

I thought about using the MARC too, but found that the schedule was set up more for inbound riders than outbound riders, so wouldn’t work for me. Plus the MARC does not have bike lockers.

[Author]

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