January ’16 – Trail Condition: That time they predicted mind-boggling amounts of snow

[PotomacCyclist]

Snowstorms are an environmental mess, no matter what. Even without the industrial snowmelter, all the salt on the roads gets washed off into streams and rivers. Oil leaks from cars gets washed into the rivers too. (Every parking lot is covered with those tiny oil spills. All those oil slicks combine into an enormous amount of pollution, region-wide.) The snowmelter just speeds up that process a bit, but all of those pollutants enter the waterways sooner or later, until we stop using so much petroleum and salt.

By “we” I mean U.S. society as a whole. Cyclists don’t burn up petroleum products, although we also use some of those products on bike chains.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@PotomacCyclist 132903 wrote:

Snowstorms are an environmental mess, no matter what. Even without the industrial snowmelter, all the salt on the roads gets washed off into streams and rivers. Oil leaks from every car gets washed into the rivers too. (Every parking lot is covered with those tiny oil spills. But all those oil slicks combine into an enormous amount of pollution, regionwide.) The snowmelter just speeds up that process a bit, but all of those pollutants enter the waterways sooner or later, until we stop using so much petroleum and salt.

By “we” I mean U.S. society as a whole. Cyclists don’t burn up petroleum products, although we use some of those products on bike chains.

Oh, you’re absolutely right…I just think it’s a high price to pay for fairly little benefit. And I doubt these things get much scrutiny from environmental departments and local stakeholders. Also, I’d wager that these may provide a more direct path for (and/or up the concentration of) salt/pollutants flowing into waterways, as normal melt-off would get some filtration from the ground and grass/vegetation.

[PotomacCyclist]

In case anyone questioned whether it would happen, MetroRail will officially be closed all day Saturday and Sunday. This includes the entire system, not just the above-ground lines.

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Metro-Close-Weather-Snow-Blizzard-Plans-Bus-Train-366104811.html

[Tim Kelley]

@PotomacCyclist 132908 wrote:

In case anyone questioned whether it would happen, MetroRail will officially be closed all day Saturday and Sunday. This includes the entire system, not just the above-ground lines.

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Metro-Close-Weather-Snow-Blizzard-Plans-Bus-Train-366104811.html

Twitter’s response: https://twitter.com/kelseylh/status/690279883998633984

[mstone]

@TwoWheelsDC 132886 wrote:

Perfect for using thousands of gallons of fuel to melt salt and pollutant-laden snow to be dumped directly into the river!

If the plan is to dump it into the river, wouldn’t it be easier to…dump it into the river? I’d guess that the snow melter output could be treated. Not saying that’s necessarily what they’re doing, but it seems like a lot of trouble to melt it and then throw it into the water if you’re on the edge of the water and could just push the snow over the edge.

[mstone]

@PotomacCyclist 132842 wrote:

I would change the thread title if I could. But I am powerless to do so…

Your shame must live on the internet forever.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@mstone 132913 wrote:

if the plan is to dump it into the river, wouldn’t it be easier to…dump it into the river?

Not if it involves running front end loaders down a steep, snow-covered embankment to the water’s edge (I also think it’s against EPA regs to dump snow directly into the river). Of course they should be pumping water into the sewer system, but I’m not super confident that’s going to be the case.

[slowtriguy]

I rode from Ballston to Falls Church City via the Custis and W&OD around 1600-1630. The trails and city roads were largely fine on standard CX bike tires — they had all been treated and/or plowed. There were scattered brief patches of crusty snow and some wet spots that may well be black ice later, but nothing longer than a few meters straight, and these were largely under overpasses in the shade.

Happy riding, everyone!

[TwoWheelsDC]

The W&OD was basically clear in the EFC area, save a few short stretches (maybe 50 ft) in Banneker park and in front of the apartments at Lee Hwy. Brandymore Hill was a hot mess, but it’s short enough to walk if you don’t have some sort of knobby tire.

[KWL]

Mother Nature’s snowplow is much more effective than that of the NPS. There were the usual short sections of crusty footprints and ridges on the MVT, but mostly clear as seen here. It should be a fine commute in to work tomorrow morning. That leaves unsaid what tomorrow evening’s commute will be like.

[DrP]

CCC-MVT-CT all in pretty good shape.
I was shocked at how good Trollheim was. A few shady areas had snow/ruts, but easy to coast over.
Big thanks to Arl Co for brushing (plowing) CT, especially since it didn’t meet the 2inch requirement. While there were spots of snow/ice/ruts, none were large. CT was snowy on edges, but a nice area in the middle was clear all over (since there aren’t as many bikes or peds out now as in, say, Sept, a narrower trail is just fine).

[Fast Friendly Guy]

@sjclaeys 132819 wrote:

By far, the best commute of the past two weeks. Took W&OD to 4MR to MVT to 14th St bridge. Perfect conditions for studded tires and I was never cold.

It was the same for me.

[PotomacCyclist]

@Tim Kelley 132909 wrote:

Twitter’s response: https://twitter.com/kelseylh/status/690279883998633984

Yeah, I know about all the complaints but I actually use Metro somewhat frequently on weekends. Sometimes there are delays, but you just plan for that. It’s far from unusable.

[PotomacCyclist]

@KWL 132933 wrote:

Mother Nature’s snowplow is much more effective than that of the NPS. There were the usual short sections of crusty footprints and ridges on the MVT, but mostly clear as seen here. It should be a fine commute in to work tomorrow morning. That leaves unsaid what tomorrow evening’s commute will be like.

It’s probably best to leave work/school/other much earlier than usual.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2016/01/21/model-live-blog-zeroing-in-as-storm-that-will-become-blizzard-develops-over-the-south/

“While snow may initially start rather friendly, it will pick up in intensity fast. About 3-4 hours after onset, the NAM already has about 3 inches of snow on the ground in D.C. That total would be by 6 p.m. Friday, with even more intense activity coming in from the south at the same time. Snow gets very heavy heading into the night.”

I wouldn’t want to be out there past early afternoon.

[vern]

I want to ride home in the snow. With the FEDS closing shop at noon, I hope it starts snowing early.

[Author]

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