Plus the homeless guy sometimes likes to sleep where the foot of those stairs will be located. Just to throw more confusion into the mix. Someone is likely to run over him or trip onto him or stumble onto him after heading down the path or stairs, especially as the sun sets earlier. That could turn out badly for everyone involved.
Actually he prefers to be out of the weather and under the bridges (in the dark to boot).
I saw him at the foot of the unfinished path on a couple evenings, when I was walking or riding along the Potomac Ave. bridge above. However, I don’t see him there all the time.
I’m a decent bike handler, but I don’t think I would try to ride around those tight turns. Is it intended that this trail is just for walking bikes up and down the embankment?
It would have been nice if there was a straight ramp on the side of the zig-zag path opposite the stairs (the zigzag would essentially be going back and forth from stairs to straight ramp path). It would be a steep little climb, but still probably better for most cyclists. I assume the zigzag is for ADA compliance, which makes sense.
My impression is that this design is not really for riding bikes, and I will continue to use either S Glebe Rd or Reed Ave to cross Route 1 over to Potomac Ave.
I’m a decent bike handler, but I don’t think I would try to ride around those tight turns. Is it intended that this trail is just for walking bikes up and down the embankment?
Probably.
But it looks like the stairs are intended for a nice downhill ride with a jump into Four Mile Run. Should be great during the winter!
As I understand it, this is a “temporary” ramp to facilitate the demolition of the bridge upstream about 50 yards. There is a plan to put in a permanent ramp. This is one of the few engineering projects where a full scale prototype (this ramp) will be built and reviewed. We should do that and collect those observations and suggestions to provide input to the permanent ramp design.
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