Intersection of Doom Underpass

[PotomacCyclist]

@pfunkallstar 117349 wrote:

Any underpass should be decorated to look like the Death Star trench run. That is all.

Instead of laser cannons shooting at you in the trench, they could have water jets that refill your bottles or cool you off on a hot day.

[Steve O]

@Terpfan 117353 wrote:

Or, what if they just ran the Custis down underneath Key Bridge for eastbound?

Way back when Charlie Denney was bike coordinator for ArlCo, some consulting firm ran some charettes or gave some presentations or created some options or something that looked at running the Custis behind the Marriott and under the bridge. Of course, it never went anywhere; I don’t know exactly what happened to that work they did. Some obvious obstacles include topography, the GWMP ramp and NPS.

If something like this were created as a “bypass,” that is, in addition to the straight-through Custis, it might be interesting to think about. Particularly if it ran all the way up to Spout Run. Hey, maybe that’s what the Bridge to Nowhere could be used for!

[chris_s]

@Steve O 117363 wrote:

Way back when Charlie Denney was bike coordinator for ArlCo, some consulting firm ran some charettes or gave some presentations or created some options or something that looked at running the Custis behind the Marriott and under the bridge. Of course, it never went anywhere; I don’t know exactly what happened to that work they did. Some obvious obstacles include topography, the GWMP ramp and NPS.

If something like this were created as a “bypass,” that is, in addition to the straight-through Custis, it might be interesting to think about. Particularly if it ran all the way up to Spout Run. Hey, maybe that’s what the Bridge to Nowhere could be used for!

You mean these?

Rosslyn Circle Study Trail Relocation Alternatives and Why They Are All Pretty Bad
Rosslyn Circle Study Recommendations

[dasgeh]

@Steve O 117363 wrote:

If something like this were created as a “bypass,” that is, in addition to the straight-through Custis, it might be interesting to think about. Particularly if it ran all the way up to Spout Run. Hey, maybe that’s what the Bridge to Nowhere could be used for!

What we need is a by-pass that stays along the river from TR Island parking lot, then comes up Spout Run.

.

[Steve O]

@chris_s 117376 wrote:

You mean these?

Rosslyn Circle Study Trail Relocation Alternatives and Why They Are All Pretty Bad
Rosslyn Circle Study Recommendations

Yep. Nice find. That was my recollection: that they were all pretty bad.
Even the tunnel proposal, which this thread is named after, identified problems. And it didn’t even start to address the additional 8 movements pointed out earlier.
Topography makes everything here challenging. Why can’t the ground be flat just like it looks on maps? It’s so much easier that way.

BTW – what’s the year on that study?

[bobco85]

Throwing my hat into the ring…

What if they could have a tunnel under both Lynn and Fort Myer? This is also assuming that utility pipes, wires, etc. do not pose a problem.

My idea: put tunnels under both Lynn and Fort Myer. Access from the west would be done using the driveway to the hotel (I assume that this driveway connection to Lee Hwy would not be allowed to be removed). The north side sidewalk along Lee Highway between Lynn and Fort Myer would be removed and replaced with a terraced garden that lowers in elevation from Lee Hwy down to the new trail (it would also look more presentable for people coming from Key Bridge). At the actual Intersection of Doom, the driveway would connect the sidewalk to the trail.

Hopefully this covers Steve O’s (top 10, Mr. Letterman?) list of movements, too.

This is what the satellite view would look like:
[IMG]http://bikearlingtonforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=8786&stc=1[/IMG]

This is with the new trail in red with tunnels shown:
[IMG]http://bikearlingtonforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=8787&stc=1[/IMG]

Close-up of the Intersection of Doom
[IMG]http://bikearlingtonforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=8788&stc=1[/IMG]

Close-up of Fort Myer/Lee
[IMG]http://bikearlingtonforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=8789&stc=1[/IMG]

[ShawnoftheDread]

@dasgeh 117382 wrote:

What we need is a by-pass that stays along the river from TR Island parking lot, then comes up Spout Run.

.

Late-night guerrilla paving of the Potomac Heritage Trail. CX to make the Spout Run connection.

[Terpfan]

@Steve O 117383 wrote:

Yep. Nice find. That was my recollection: that they were all pretty bad.
Even the tunnel proposal, which this thread is named after, identified problems. And it didn’t even start to address the additional 8 movements pointed out earlier.
Topography makes everything here challenging. Why can’t the ground be flat just like it looks on maps? It’s so much easier that way.

BTW – what’s the year on that study?

Yah, the grading is the problem. And it doesn’t help that the Key Bridge is pretty old and high up thereby ruling out possibilities of suspending stuff from it like some form of elevated bikeway. That, and of course, this is all a pipe dream given we can’t even get NPS to consider plowing small segments of the trail due to funding so I can’t imagine them chipping in anything financially.

[Dewey]

@scoot 117308 wrote:

NPS is obviously not completely opposed to the idea of major infrastructure projects to improve safety.

If ongoing repairs to Memorial Bridge suck up NPS capital improvement funds for the forseeable future, I can’t see how NPS could pay for future pedestrian/bicycle safety improvements around Memorial Circle let alone contribute towards improving safety at the intersection of doom

[PotomacCyclist]

I’m concerned about the funding issue too. Even though NPS had already been planning a major overhaul of Memorial Bridge and the sudden closure simply moved up the timeline, the budget issue is a very real one. NPS is underfunded at an extreme level. Congress either has to increase their funding or off-load some of the responsibility to other agencies or to the states, or find some other solution.

[KLizotte]

Having spent quite a bit of vacation time traveling to the National Parks out west over the past few years,* I can say with some confidence that NPS is being bled dry in terms of capital funds for its properties. It’s a real shame and national embarrassment IMHO. The parks get lots and lots of visitors from around the world and they are faced with overflowing, ancient toilets, few rangers to ask questions, crumbling buildings and subpar accommodations, etc. Americans seem to have lost a sense of pride in these places. I was also speaking to a full-time volunteer who has been working for NPS for the past decade and he said their budget keeps getting smaller every year so they are relying more and more upon volunteers. That said, there seems to be more esprit de corps and pride amongst the employees outside the DC area; perhaps I’m just jaded from living here for so long but there does seem to be an attitude difference. Just my two cents.

*Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Saguaro National Park, Grand Canyon, Hawaii Volcanoes, Montezuma National Park, etc.

[Dewey]

@KLizotte 117420 wrote:

Having spent quite a bit of vacation time traveling to the National Parks out west…they are faced with overflowing, ancient toilets, few rangers to ask questions, crumbling buildings and subpar accommodations…That said, there seems to be more esprit de corps and pride amongst the employees outside the DC area

I do appreciate the time and effort NPS and state park rangers put into giving interpretive programs in some very remote locations. A couple of years ago I enjoyed the tours given by staff at Salinas Pueblo Missions, White Sands, and Oliver Lee parks, in New Mexico. I wish Congress would give the Dept of the Interior more leeway to work with state governments to keep public properties open and prevent a future repeat of the 2013 shut-outs.

Regarding Memorial Bridge beyond its role as transport over the Potomac, the Sun Gazette mentioned an upcoming talk by NPS site manager David Lassman next Thursday 6/11 at 7pm in Arlington Central Library about the ceremonial role of the bridge, circle, and memorial avenue, to be followed by a public Q&A.

[mstone]

@KLizotte 117420 wrote:

Having spent quite a bit of vacation time traveling to the National Parks out west over the past few years,* I can say with some confidence that NPS is being bled dry in terms of capital funds for its properties. It’s a real shame and national embarrassment IMHO. The parks get lots and lots of visitors from around the world and they are faced with overflowing, ancient toilets, few rangers to ask questions, crumbling buildings and subpar accommodations, etc. Americans seem to have lost a sense of pride in these places.

The country’s just gone nuts. There’s a literal multi-billion dollar shortfall and you hear people complain that since the parks charge a couple of bucks admission they shouldn’t get any tax money. People have no sense of reality about how much things cost or where their tax dollars go. You see the same from people who think that the gas tax pays for the roads, and that there’d be plenty of money to fix everything if it weren’t for wasting all that money on bike lanes.

[dasgeh]

Yes, NPS is underfunded but I’ve heard a lot of staff say that if someone else pays for the project (like, say, ArlCo), they’re happy to get it done. Just because it involves NPS land doesn’t mean NPS has to pay for the work

[chris_s]

@dasgeh 117453 wrote:

Yes, NPS is underfunded but I’ve heard a lot of staff say that if someone else pays for the project (like, say, ArlCo), they’re happy to get it done. Just because it involves NPS land doesn’t mean NPS has to pay for the work

And yet the EA for the ArlCo-funded, NPS-controlled 110 trail still hasn’t started yet.

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