Landbay K at Potomac Yards trail (Potomac Avenue and Main Line Boulevard)

[jonathankrall]

I asked recently and was told by Alexandria TE&S folk that the trail dragging because Dominion has to move some underground utility lines. It should be connected down to Braddock by the end of 2014.

As for the luxury condos, the sad fact is that housing in a walkable neighborhood near Metro is so desirable and in limited enough supply that developers can build such housing for rich people only and sell it all. I read somewhere that about half of US citizens would like to live where they can walk to shops and restaurants, but only about 20 percent actually do. As a result, walkable=luxury=can afford to keep a car around even if it isn’t used much.

Of course it remains to be seen how walkable Potomac Yard will be. It may turn out to be so mono-culturally boring that the residents would rather scratch their eyes out (or have their servants do it for them) than walk around and look at the neighborhood. OTOH, the new trail and “linear park” does have some nice playground equipment and families have been coming out to use it.

[lordofthemark]

@jonathankrall 95569 wrote:

I asked recently and was told by Alexandria TE&S folk that the trail dragging because Dominion has to move some underground utility lines. It should be connected down to Braddock by the end of 2014.

As for the luxury condos, the sad fact is that housing in a walkable neighborhood near Metro is so desirable and in limited enough supply that developers can build such housing for rich people only and sell it all. I read somewhere that about half of US citizens would like to live where they can walk to shops and restaurants, but only about 20 percent actually do. As a result, walkable=luxury=can afford to keep a car around even if it isn’t used much.

Of course it remains to be seen how walkable Potomac Yard will be. It may turn out to be so mono-culturally boring that the residents would rather scratch their eyes out (or have their servants do it for them) than walk around and look at the neighborhood. OTOH, the new trail and “linear park” does have some nice playground equipment and families have been coming out to use it.

We walked around the area, and found the townhouse blocks kind of cute. The ALRIC architecture did not wow us (nor did the name.) We walked past 650Station and discussed bikes. Between the location (you can walk to Del Ray, and hardy walkers like us can walk to Crystal City or to Old Town – plus of course its easily bikeable to all those places) and the park/trail, we could definitely see the appeal – though if we had the money for a TH there we would probably pick Del Ray instead.

[PotomacCyclist]

The park and trails at Potomac Yard are open to the general public, so they benefit more than just the nearby residents. I ride or run through that area frequently. (Well, at least I did, until I injured my quads this summer, but not at Potomac Yard.) And I don’t even live in Alexandria, let alone Potomac Yard. I’m not sure what the affordable housing policy is in Alexandria, but I do know that many (most?) of the new Arlington developments have a set number of “affordable” units. (What is considered “affordable housing” is a matter of debate, and one that changes from project to project, I think.)

Even for those who don’t bike, the new transit improvements should help make the area more accessible. The Metroway bus rapid transit line opens up the park and trails to many more people, for residents from Braddock Rd. to Crystal City and eventually Pentagon City.

With Potomac Yard in particular, the new development isn’t crowding anyone out, so “gentrification” is not really an issue here. Potomac Yard started out as an industrial site, and then an abandoned wasteland until the redevelopment started. I’m not sure why the new projects are seen as a bad thing. The developments I’ve seen so far don’t appear to be cookie-cutter in design. There seems to be an effort to have a diverse set of building facades in the townhouse sections. The larger buildings might be more drab and blocky in design, but they aren’t the worst things I’ve ever seen. (Better than the awful Eisenhower Memorial designs from Frank Gehry, at least in my opinion.) I do wonder about the wood construction though. The apartments and condos won’t be cheap. Is there going to be a problem with sound from residents above and below in those buildings?

I’m not sure why some think that all of the new residents are going to be billionaires there. You can see the rent amounts on some of the websites. At the Bell Del Ray building, there are 1-bedroom apartments available for $1669 a month plus $100 deposit. While not cheap, it’s not outrageous, especially for the DC/NoVa area. These people certainly aren’t going to have live-in servants.

[PotomacCyclist]

As for the utility work, I hope it proceeds more quickly than it did at Long Bridge Drive (Old Jefferson Davis Highway). That road was supposed to open at the same time as the park. But utility work (from Verizon and the power company) delayed the road work for a long time. I think it was two years, wasn’t it?

[dbb]

@PotomacCyclist 95578 wrote:

I’m not sure what the affordable housing policy is in Alexandria, but I do know that many (most?) of the new Arlington developments have a set number of “affordable” units. (What is considered “affordable housing” is a matter of debate, and one that changes from project to project, I think.)

HUD defines this as “Families who pay more than 30 percent of their income for housing are considered cost burdened and may have difficulty affording necessities such as food, clothing, transportation and medical care. ” That is then tempered with the local market and HUD publishes Fair Market Rents that provide limits for housing assistance at http://www.huduser.org/portal/datasets/fmr.html

For the DC metro area, the FY2014 Fair Market Rents are
Efficiency – $1,176
1 BR – $1,239
2 BR – $1,469
3 BR – $1,966
4 BR – $2,470

[CaseyKane50]

Progress on the last stretch of the trail.

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December 30, 2014

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January 13, 2015

[cyclingfool]

Yeah, I rode back that way on Sunday to check out what things looked like from the GWMS parking lot/end of Main Line Blvd side. Things are taking shape nicely. It’ll be nice when that’s complete. It’ll really simplify trips from Crystal City and Potomac Yard to Old Town, especially the non-Waterfront part of Old Town.

[CaseyKane50]

I have taken to riding east on Braddock, turning right on West Street and a left onto Pendleton. Once I have crossed Washington Street, it is easy to turn on Pitt or Royal and head south. It is especially nice when the MVT is snow and ice covered.

[cyclingfool]

That’s my standard route, too. I also go down West or Fayette if I’m going somewhere just west of Rte. 1. My post above was about longer distance travel from farther north, liek Crystal City or Potomac Yard which would ave one riding down Potomac Avenue and Main Line Blvd or the side path. Completion of this link will eliminate the need to divert a couple blocks over to Mt Vernon or to navigate Rte. 1 or its sidewalks over the tracks and back down to side streets in North Old Town.

[CaseyKane50]

Here is an update on the project from Alexandria’s project manager

• Form work for concrete edges is complete
• Weather permitting concrete will be poured this week
• Once edges are complete, the concrete has cured and weather permiting asphalt will be installed
• Additional work will follow the paving to include the installation of lighting, site furniture, plantings and other elements. The project manager will work with the contractor to see if the trail can be open while the additional work is on-going.

[PotomacCyclist]

This is a post on the Potomac Yard Park Facebook page today, along with photos:

“The curbs have been installed for the South trail extension! The trail will connect the end of Main Line Boulevard to Braddock Road. The asphalt will be installed next week weather permitting. Please remember that even though the trail will appear to be complete soon, it is still an active construction site. Crews will still be working to complete the plaza and install the lighting and plantings.”

https://www.facebook.com/groups/138078412960266/permalink/606205266147576/

[PotomacCyclist]

I rode by there earlier today. The outdoor fitness stations along the trail are neat, although I wish they would include some pull-up bars. I didn’t see any.

The final section is still unfinished. In their Facebook post and comments, they said temperatures have to be at least 40F with no rain, in order to pour concrete. It will be in the mid 40s on Monday, but rain all day long. Then sub-40F on Tue. Wed. will be 47F and dry, so maybe the trail can get paved then. If they don’t finish on Wed., the rest will have to wait for another week since Thur. and Fri. will also be sub-40F.

I hadn’t seen the progress on all the new residential buildings until today. It will mean more traffic (bike, car, runner, walker, dog walker) but some of the new buildings will have ground-floor retail, which means more places to get water or a snack along the route. (This might be more important for running, since it’s more cumbersome to carry water and calories on the run.)

I also stopped by a few of the newer CaBi stations in Del Ray and Slaters Lane. Nice.

[peterw_diy]

Crews were out working on this last stretch yesterday and again this morning.

[Emm]

@peterw_diy 110793 wrote:

Crews were out working on this last stretch yesterday and again this morning.

I saw that this AM. Looks like they paved the “landing” right by Braddock road and were about to finish it up.

What would improve the situation more is if someone hadn’t dumped an entire truck of rock salt on the path between Monroe Ave and the movie theater (Potomac Ave section of the path). The entire path is nothing but sharp rock salt gravel–it was solid white last night when I biked by it. I’ve never seem something so ridiculous. Even the joggers were getting off the path (I carried my bike onto the street once I realized how bad it was). Rock salt–especially that much–is terrible for bikes and shoes, and downright dangerous for dogs and the environment.

[PotomacCyclist]

Hopefully today’s rain will wash all that salt away, but the salt will be horrible for the Potomac River and eventually Chesapeake Bay.

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