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

[gibby]

@Judd 133476 wrote:

Sad story… the tire tracks on the left in the first picture are mine from the time I over optimistically dragged my bike through LBJ both before and after I over optimistically dragged my bike over a portion of the Mt. Vernon trail.

The one benefit of an frosty morning is that the snowpack up to Humpback Bridge is solid enough to walk on without sinking in. HB seems to be a major snow dumping ground and a slow slog over.
14th St Bridge is totally snow free–they clearly didn’t go one inch further than they needed to so as not to touch any portion of the ramp on the VA side.

[wheelswings]

@Kitty 133485 wrote:

I try to avoid any commute through Georgetown via M street on a good day, but right now it seems to be the only connection into the city (from Key). Under best conditions I would only recommend this to a confident (if not foolhardy) cyclist at M street quickly devolves into “Thunderdome.” Based off of yesterday you’d better have a steel spine and think like a Jeep because there is no “shoulder” or room for error.

Kitty – if you’ve not set out yet, I suggest you consider cutting over two blocks north once you’ve crossed Key. N Street NW is a relatively low-volume (but plowed) alternative to M. To me it feels much safer. Like you, I’m not a big fan of M in any conditions.
Be safe. w&w

[notlost]

@KayakCyndi 133480 wrote:

Why hasn’t anyone put up a morning report?? I need to know exactly how bad and where the ice is. People, you are falling down (I hope not literally) on the job here!

Jeez…so demanding!

Custis is mainly fine west of Scott street with a bit of ice here and there other than the bridges. The bridges you could ice skate on. Below Scott the snow clearing from last night has resulted in a more spirited ride that one might find more like mountain biking. M street and L street (traveling in the direction of the convention center) are both decent. The bus traffic brings things down to 1 lane for the most part and people were taking it easy.

[LeprosyStudyGroup]

For people heading between DC and Alexandria:

Getting from the pentagon area to memorial bridge is all portage. I don’t understand why it’s nobody’s responsibility to clear the sidewalks on the bridges and overpasses in that area. Memorial has a bit of a sketchily rideable path through the snow from foot traffic but obviously nobody went over it with a snowblower. For those of you who were around DC for 9/11, can you imagine what it would be like if an emergency required a lot of foot traffic out of DC and these few connections are all practically untraversable?

The connection between the end of commonwealth avenue and 4 mile run/mvt can’t really be ridden yet.

The newer trail along mainline blvd / potomac yard was plowed but is an ice rink, it seemed safer to stay on the street even with people driving dangerously around you as seems to be everybody’s habit on this particular road.

[huskerdont]

Rosslyn was actually worse today than yesterday. They finished clearing the roads and pushed stuff across the trail, leaving big snow boulders that you really couldn’t bike through. All the pedestrians and cyclists I saw went out into Lee Highway (against traffic) at the corner of Ft. Meyer to avoid it. I know there’s a lot of snow and things are difficult, and doubtless they’ll fix this today, but this was really a boneheaded move.

The bridge over Spout Run was about as expected. Pure glaze ice and difficult to even walk on, at least with my mountain boots.

Other than that, it was pretty good, considering the hard freeze after all the melting.

[ShawnoftheDread]

In addition to the bridge over spout Run — sheet ice the entire width and length — the bridge over Lee at the top of the s turn is iced over. Also, the turn from the WOD to the Custis is very icy. Sidewalk from Doom to Key is a mess, but Key Bridge s fine. Takes some effort to get off the sidewalk in Georgetown and on to the road on M because of snow piles.

On Spout Run bridge I was rolling east, on the downgrade, trying to maintain my speed as low as possible when a cyclist at the other end wiped out. Luckily he was able to get up before I got to him.

[dasgeh]

Don’t forget you can report areas that are supposed to be cleared but aren’t. For example, in Arlington, you can report problems with snow clearing here.

I’ve emailed NPS asking what’s going on with Memorial Bridge. It was cleared last year, and not clearing it is VERY dangerous. Of course, it can only help to have other (polite) public requests, especially if you have pictures!

GWMP is responsible for Memorial Bridge, LBJ Grove, and everything along the Parkway (or so we’ve been told) is reachable on Facebook and is NPSGWMP on Twitter

The NPS Park “National Mall” is responsible for all those sidewalks/paths/trails on the DC side. They seem to be reachable on Facebook and @TheNationalMall on Twitter.

DOD/Pentagon is responsible for Boundary Channel Drive and the 27 Trail as it runs along the Pentagon. DoD has a Facebook page and is @DeptofDefense on Twitter.. The Pentagon press secretary is @pentagonpressec on Twitter.

And thanks LeprosyStudyGroup for pointing out the emergency evacuation angle.

[S. Arlington Observer]

I had a few hours to do a reconnaissance ride yesterday to check out the Four Mile Run (Arlington) Trail between Shirlington and S. Eads Street and Eads Street itself.

The good news is that the 4MR Trail was great the entire way. (I can’t vouch for the portion beyond Eads Street towards the MVT). It was, however, very wet and I will avoid it in the mornings so long as overnight temperatures are to drop below freezing. It is an easy ride, however, in the day and early evening.

Eads Street itself is a different matter. The northbound unprotected bike lane would be usable except that Metro workers have chosen to use it for parking since their usual parking shoulder is full of snow. The lower unprotected southbound lane is simply buried and did not not look usable at all. Further up toward the Metro the protected bike lanes are essentially unusable. This reflect’s the County’s hierarchy of values since both the road and the sidewalks are clear, except where roads intersect and mounds obscure the sidewalk. Basically its roads first, then pedestrians (except when the needs of cars intervene) and no concern at all for the bike infrastructure. I really don’t understand why both sides (the sidewalk and the road) of the protected bike lane can be cleared but the bike lane not be touched.

Anyway, I realized that there is a sidewalk all the way along Eads. I had actually never noticed that there was one on lower Eads as I am usually in the bike lanes. The sidewalk is mostly clear but interrupted in places with snow mounds (especially at intersections). And, of course, there are the pedestrians. One could possibly make one’s way up or down most of the street via sidewalk but I suspect there would be a lot of stopping and perhaps some portage along the way. In portions of Eads there is enough room to feel comfortable in the road itself. But in much of it that is not the case. Since the road is heavily used by garbage trucks, tour buses and large delivery vehicles I won’t be riding in the road.

[Alcova cyclist]

Not a terrible commute.

Central Arlington residential streets have icy patches but are ok.
Fort Myer is clear, but the approach to 2nd street gate is a little dicey due to both ice and abnormal traffic patterns from lane closures
Did not cut through Arlington Cemetery due to a funeral in progress, so no report
Marshall Dr past Iwo Jima was fine
They’ve plowed the path along 110 and up onto Memorial, but it is VERY icy in places where runoff re-froze
Memorial itself is fine; sidewalks are clear to about the metro station, then rutted and icy… I stayed in the road
Memorial bridge has 2.5 lanes clear which is great because it’s like having a nice-sized bike lane
Memorial bridge sidewalk had about a 3′ path clear from the VA side to about the middle of the bridge, when it appeared to degenerate into icy rutted mess. not sure what happened there
National mall past Lincoln, reflecting pool, Washington Monument to 15th had been cleared and is good except for the odd ice patch. Crews were out spreading salt and clearing more snow

[S. Arlington Observer]

On a more satisfying note, cyclists had made good progress in wearing a path (via tire tracks) through the gap between Four Mile Run Trail and the Eads Street cul de sac. But it was not complete and would clearly be subject to refreezing in a very rutted condition. So, after riding home, I returned in my car with a shovel and finished clearing the path. With today’s warmth it should be quite clear by afternoon.

There was NO excuse for the County to leave this gap. County equipment cleared both the main trail and the road. The spur is a crucial connector between the two. It is on County land and, I assume, maintained by the County. It is marked as a prime route on County cycling maps. It is less than 100 yards between the trail and the cul de sac. It would have taken the trail clearing equipment almost no time to take the slight detour to make the connection complete. Epic fail.[ATTACH=CONFIG]10699[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]10700[/ATTACH]

[brownnugen]

Left this morning around 0600. I am on a CX bike with studded tires and about 40 lbs of panniers on my rear rack.

• Taking the route 1 bridge (in front of the Hampton Inn) was covered with at least a foot of snow up until you actually get past the Hampton Inn. I walked for about 3 minutes. Once past the Hampton Inn, it is smooth sailing through Old Town (staying on Washington Street).
• Once through Old Town, I took the feeder road and made a left on Slater’s Lane and then heading northbound on Route 1, crossed over the bridge and turned right on Potomac Avenue. Potomac Ave is pretty good until you get to the Shopper’s Food Warehouse area and then, there is some packed snow on the right hand lane. It is pretty manageable.
• Going through Crystal City was a breeze until you turn right on 18th Street to go towards the MVT.
• Once you get through the tunnel, it just plain stinks.
• I pretty much had to walk my bike from there until Gravelly Point, at which I was able to ride across the ice rink parking lot (thanks to studded tires).
• Once you clear the parking lot (by the porta potties), be prepared to walk from there until you are on the 14th St Bridge.
• 14th Street Bridge was clear but once you get on the DC side, the sidewalk (that goes towards the Mall) is full of snow. I don’t even think people have been walking on it. You have to ride against traffic.
• Going towards the Fish Market and Fort McNair, is pretty clear, but there is still a lot of construction going on which restricts all traffic.
• Going over the South Capitol Bridge is pretty clear until you get to the base of it (on the JBAB side)
• Once on the base, it is full of ruts and snow. The sidewalk along the JBAB fence has not been touched. I ended up riding on the street with traffic.

What is normally an hour ride took me 2 hours thanks to all the walking. That is all for now.

[bobco85]

I saw the Twitter update yesterday saying that the W&OD trail was cleared:

@NOVA_Parks
#WODTrail has been cleared Broad Street bridge in Falls Church (MM 7) to the trail head in Shirlington (MM 0).

Then, I rode the W&OD Trail this morning. I argue that “cleared” is not the right word here (I replied to the tweet, BTW). It was mostly icy and rutted with many parts requiring one to dismount. Here is my evidence:

West side of W&OD/Walter Reed Dr crossing is completely blocked
[ATTACH=CONFIG]10703[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]10704[/ATTACH]

W&OD/George Mason Dr crossing full of debris
[ATTACH=CONFIG]10705[/ATTACH]

W&OD between George Mason Dr and Columbia Pike
[ATTACH=CONFIG]10706[/ATTACH]

W&OD in Glen Carlyn Park approaching the duck pond
[ATTACH=CONFIG]10707[/ATTACH]

I think it is a great improvement, but it is not in a rideable state just yet.

[bobco85]

W&OD trail access from Park Dr in Arlington is not recommended unless you have a sled. End of Park Dr street is covered in sheets of ice, then the trail access looks like this:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]10708[/ATTACH]
(note: the dark spot in the lower left corner is a thick sheet of ice)

[S. Arlington Observer]

Does anyone have a report on the Bluemont Junction trail between Ballston and the W&OD?

It is disheartening to hear that the W&OD is still rather difficult, but hoping that the sun today helps that along. But first one has to get TO the W&OD. Any news on Bluemontt would be most appreciated.

[S. Arlington Observer]

@bobco85 133505 wrote:

I saw the Twitter update yesterday saying that the W&OD trail was cleared:

Then, I rode the W&OD Trail this morning. I argue that “cleared” is not the right word here (I replied to the tweet, BTW). It was mostly icy and rutted with many parts requiring one to dismount. Here is my evidence:

I think it is a great improvement, but it is not in a rideable state just yet.

Thank you for the report. That is very helpful. Not sure if I will chance it this evening or not, though I hope the temps and sun do some work to finish the job today. Were it not for your report I would have assumed it was “cleared” more than it obviously is. Again, thanks for the report. It really helps a lot.

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