January 2019 – Road and Trail Conditions

[DrP]

Status of Custis and some access points.
At about 6:30 this evening I walked the Custis between the Ballston connector and the 11th Street Park (i.e., where it goes under I-66). Here is a bit of a report:

Snow clearance and quality:
Custis is clear of snow, but many icy patches, especially along the St Ann parking lot and underpasses (where water drains to). Mostly passable, but be careful of the ice (on foot it was easy to slip in many places, especially on the hills).
Ballston connector is essentially clear of snow, but patches of compressed snow and ice. Likely passable.
Neither George Mason Blvd. access points were cleared.
Frederick Street access point is nearly clear of snow. Some compressed snow, no big snow boulders and a short entrance anyway.
Neither Harrison Street access point is cleared.
Jefferson Street access point is clear, but there is a large smooth ice block forming where the access point meets the street. That will be nasty in the morning.
Kensington Street access point is not cleared.
11th Street park access point looks like something drove over it as well as lots of foot and bike traffic. Bit of a mess, really.

[DrP]

I am looking at my options for my morning commute (usually at about 7am).
From what I can tell of the messages here, this is what I think might be the status. Anyone know different?

Custis is clear of snow. Frozen slush and re-frozen melted bits likely common (I am fearing the Rosslyn hill since that is so shady it is unlikely to have dried).

MVT is not clear except between the Johnson Grove and 14th Street bridge.

4MRT is clear from Meade/Glebe to MVT. Sounds like it is not clear from Meade/Glebe to just before Glebe/Glebe underpass. Clear from there to Shirlington?

W&OD is clear from Shirlington to Purceville.

110 Trail is likely clear from Iwo Jima to the Cemetery since the County does that. (Anyone know for sure?)

Anyone know if the Washington Blvd trail from about the Cemetery to Pentagon was cleared? Some years the county does it and some they do not.

I am guessing that the new Washington Blvd trail from near Columbia Pike to Rt 50 was not done. Nor the trail from there to Lyon Park.

[Steve O]

@DrP 185803 wrote:

110 Trail is likely clear from Iwo Jima to the Cemetery since the County does that. (Anyone know for sure?)

Anyone know if the Washington Blvd trail from about the Cemetery to Pentagon was cleared? Some years the county does it and some they do not.

Yes to both of these. As with the Custis, there may be some slippery spots from overnight freezing.

[Judd]

@KWL 185781 wrote:

While Alexandria cleared the sidewalk on the Rt. 1 bridge, the ramp down from RT1 was not cleared. The zig-zag trail was not cleared.

Is the ramp and zig zag maintained by Arlington? I seem to recall that the official county line in this area is funky and Alexandria crosses the river slightly here.

[Judd]

The Friends of the Mount Vernon Trail cleared the MVT from the 14th St. Bridge through LBJ Memorial Grove. The MVT south of 14th street doesn’t look very rideable unless you’re riding a Pugsley like Ken. It didn’t look much better headed north. You should be able to access the bridge by going through LBJ > Pentagon > Long Bridge route. The Long Bridge bike lanes are mostly clear but have a few spots with snow.

[huskerdont]

Lots of black ice refreeze on the Custis this morning. I diverted to the roads for some of it. I saw one pedestrian fall and ended up walking the last downhill into Rosslyn on the snowy edge. Might have been able to manage it, but my rear brake had frozen up and once I freed it I only wanted to use my front brake.

[secstate]

14th St southbound bike lane was snowed/iced over from at (at least) Columbia Heights to Rhode Island Ave.

15th St cycle track was mostly clear but rather icy, and impassable for the block in front of Veterans Affairs (just before reaching WH). I followed the lead of another cyclist and just took the travel lane throughout.

In better news, the PA Ave cycle track was almost completely clear yesterday evening.

[DrP]

I took Custis to W&OD to 4MRT to Eads to 18th this morning. All were passable, although some areas were just passable or not depending on the bike. Lots of areas will likely be slush and re-freeze again tonight, unless they get more sun. W&OD from Columbia Pike to the start was almost completely clear with only a few re-frozen snow melt areas.
Lots of areas of re-frozen melted snow elsewhere (although the usual spots). Several not well plowed areas, especially on 4MRT where the sewer construction folks are (and that puddle under Glebe shown by Emm was still liquid this morning! I fear what other than water is in that puddle given that it is by the construction folks). The overpass/bridge on Glebe near Meade and where the trail turns to go behind what was apartments is horrible. Lots of Flintstoning there.
The Eades protected lane heading inbound (i.e., from 4MRT towards Pentagon) was okay, although the other direction looked blocked in many places. Also from Eades and 18th I now see a major drawback to these PBLs – since they are on the edge of the road, they are sloped towards the curb and all the snow in the unplowed buffer melts across the lane and re-freezes. Not a fast ride this morning, but not too much slower than usual given that this is much longer than my other routes.

[mikoglaces]

I rode the W&OD from Virginia Lane to the Custis to Key bridge on 35c studded tires.

I walked once for maybe 100 yards (where trail is along Shreve Road) and put my foot down in a couple of places (e.g., bridge over creek in FC, bridge over Spout Run), but trails are rideable with, as I said, 35c studs.

I was happy to see that key Bridge was in great shape, totally devoid of snow on the south sidewalk.

[Hancockbs]

14 St bridge across Potomac is in good shape, but the access on the DC side has some hard pack. Ridable, but take it easy.

Haines Point gates remain closed, no snow cleared, but oddly, tire tracks packing it down in places.

Ohio is in good shape, but a few ice patches near the curb.

Maine Ave path is hard pack between 14th and Fish market and clear in front of Waterfront.

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[mikoglaces]

Is the TR bridge cleared? I doubt it but thought I’d ask.

[excimer34]

MVT south of the 14th Street bridge and north of 4MR is all ice. The bridges are powdery. Let’s hope the sun does some melting today. These pics from Gravelly Point are representative of conditions this morning.

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[Sunyata]

@huskerdont 185846 wrote:

Lots of black ice refreeze on the Custis this morning. I diverted to the roads for some of it. I saw one pedestrian fall and ended up walking the last downhill into Rosslyn on the snowy edge. Might have been able to manage it, but my rear brake had frozen up and once I freed it I only wanted to use my front brake.

I also diverted to the roads in Ballston. I did not have enough time to mount the studded tires, so I risked it. Everything was mostly passable, but it would have been much more confidence inspiring (and faster) had I had studs. Trail conditions on the way home will dictate whether or not I put the studs on when I get home.

[Steve O]

Rode the Custis all the way in today on 28 Gatorskins. Pay attention and you should be fine.

Take extra caution on the switchback by Lyon Village. There’s some invisible ice there. Also, there’s a good-sized ice patch at the intersection with the W&OD, so take particular care if you are turning onto one trail from the other. Not a problem if you are going straight on the WOD.

Spout Run skating rink is not a skating rink but rather a hard packed, rutty bunny slope. Rideable if you don’t mind bouncing around. Same with most of the bridges, including the one over I-66 at the top of the Rosslyn Hill.
I sure wish that the snowplows would not leave the piles in the path at the intersections. Or they’d get cleared somehow. I stopped to try clear some away with my feet and create a wider pathway, but now it’s frozen to the surface. Aarrgh!

Opted for M street instead of the Whitehurst, assuming that the shoulder on the Whitehurst is where all the leftover snow and detritus is.

Also curious about the Roosevelt Bridge.

[Emm]

4MRT between Mt. Vernon Ave and Eads is in good shape. Some icy patches, but they’re in straight areas so as long as you hold your line you’ll be fine. I expect those patches to continue until the snow is totally melted since they appear to be drainage from the snow.

I ended up switching onto the road on Eads St and avoiding the bike lane. Where the bike lane wasn’t protected it was covered in snow from cars getting cleaned off into the bike lane, and the areas that were protected were VERY icy, as Dr. P said the snow melt refroze across the lane. I’ll likely do the same on the way home. I wasn’t going much slower than the cars so they didn’t seem to mind much.

LBJ memorial to MVT has a decent sized icy patch when you turn off LBJ and onto the MVT, and another even larger one when you turn off the trail onto 14 st bridge. Both passable, but go slow and consider walking/flint-stoning over the one by 14 st bridge since it’s big.

As HancocksB said, Maine Ave before the wharf was packed snow, and I also noticed some big patches of ice. I got into the road since it was pretty sketchy.

Many many kudos and thanks to Komorebi and KWL, who were busy clearing the DC side of the 14th st bridge when I rode by. You are amazing. And thank you to everyone else yesterday that cleared the MVT. Had it not been for your great work, I would have had to drive to work today.

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