Long Bridge Project – Meeting *tonight in DC* 11/29/18 4:30 and 6:00 pm

[streetsmarts]

Also here’s a link to the project website; you can also email them or post comments through the website:

http://longbridgeproject.com/#

[Judd]

Sharing some notes from the Long Bridge meeting from Rails to Trails. I sadly was not able to attend because I was traveling for work. The Friends of the Mt. Vernon Trail (which I’m an organizing member of) and Alexandria BPAC (which I’m a member of) signed on to a letter of support along with multiple other organizations signed on to a letter of support for a ped/bike bridge ahead of the meeting.

Information from the meeting is located here: http://longbridgeproject.com/past-meetings/

From Rails to Trails:
– We had a very good showing of advocates. The 4:30 presentation was packed full with many advocates/members of the public standing in the back, holding newly made Long Bridge support signs. Everybody seemed to love them (some people wanted extras to take selfies with them, and even some of the agency officials wanted signs.) More advocates trickled in at the 6:00 presentation and all in all, a good showing of support.
– DDOT and FRA announced that their plans are to keep the existing Long Bridge (which is apparently in good condition despite the rust—it just doesn’t have enough track capacity), build a second rail bridge, and also build a separate trail bridge. From North to South, the order will be: WMATA bridge, bike/ped bridge, new rail bridge, existing Long Bridge.
– To build the rail bridge, they have to disturb NPS land. An old law (older than NEPA) says they have to mitigate that disturbance. DDOT, FRA, and NPS have all agreed that building a bike/ped bridge is an appropriate mitigation. No other alternative mitigation actions have been discussed. (So more-or-less the rail bridge can’t happen without the trail bridge)
– The preferred trail bridge option is to have it be separate from the rail bridge.

– So what’s left? Personally, I still have concerns about funding and phasing, and full connectivity.
Funding – Funding hasn’t been committed and no agreements have been reached about who will pay for what or who will maintain what long term. This relates to…
Phasing – I worry that, in a worst case scenario, they build the rail bridge first and then take another 5-10 years to build the trail bridge. As I see it, efforts would be needed to advocate for officials to find funding for the rail bridge and the trail bridge, and generally keep up some support to ensure that they are built concurrently.
Connectivity – On the Arlington side, the trail bridge will connect to the esplanade at Long Bridge Park, but it won’t connect all the way to the SW waterfront. DDOT and FRA have said that the space is too narrow on the DC side to accommodate the new rail tracks and the bike/ped bridge. The bridge will therefore end at Ohio Drive SW (see slide 27). Personally, in my mind, whether it’s a bridge connection to DC or an appropriate protected facility on the road, etc., something needs to be done to complete the connectivity.

The slides from the meeting can be found at http://longbridgeproject.com/past-meetings/ —you’ll see next steps and timeline at the end. All in all, it was good news from DDOT last night but as advocates, still more to be done to follow this through.

[chris_s]

@Judd 183259 wrote:

Connectivity – On the Arlington side, the trail bridge will connect to the esplanade at Long Bridge Park, but it won’t connect all the way to the SW waterfront. DDOT and FRA have said that the space is too narrow on the DC side to accommodate the new rail tracks and the bike/ped bridge. The bridge will therefore end at Ohio Drive SW (see slide 27). Personally, in my mind, whether it’s a bridge connection to DC or an appropriate protected facility on the road, etc., something needs to be done to complete the connectivity.

Seems like a Case Bridge connection could be relatively straightforward. Things don’t get too squeezy until NPS HQ. Yellow would be new bridge/trail, green is existing Case Bridge sidepath to Banneker Circle.
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[LhasaCM]

@chris_s 183260 wrote:

Seems like a Case Bridge connection could be relatively straightforward. Things don’t get too squeezy until NPS HQ. Yellow would be new bridge/trail, green is existing Case Bridge sidepath to Banneker Circle.
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Unfortunately, by having the bike/ped bridge upstream (so between the rail bridge and Metro bridge), doesn’t it complicate that connection a bit since you have to somehow cross the train tracks?

In any event, I’m hoping that a certain big company moving to VA will help convince the state to spur this along the right way (especially since CSX seems to imply in the presentation that they’re fine with it how it is for their needs…it’s VRE/Amtrak that need the capacity…)

[chris_s]

@LhasaCM 183261 wrote:

Unfortunately, by having the bike/ped bridge upstream (so between the rail bridge and Metro bridge), doesn’t it complicate that connection a bit since you have to somehow cross the train tracks?

Indeed. Simplifies the connection to Long Bridge Park, but complicates any potential connection to Case Bridge.

[zsionakides]

@LhasaCM 183261 wrote:

Unfortunately, by having the bike/ped bridge upstream (so between the rail bridge and Metro bridge), doesn’t it complicate that connection a bit since you have to somehow cross the train tracks?

It seems like you could run the bike bridge under the train tracks to cross to the other side. That wouldn’t be that complex.

[LhasaCM]

@zsionakides 183265 wrote:

It seems like you could run the bike bridge under the train tracks to cross to the other side. That wouldn’t be that complex.

Since the preferred alternative maintains the current Long Bridge, I’m guessing they’re not intending on rebuilding the bridge segment over Ohio Drive either. With only 12.5 feet of clearance there, I think more likely would be a “grade level” path to connect to the Case Bridge that is better than cutting through the parking lot (e.g., something that follows more closely the track chris_s drew, though there are the off-ramp/on-ramp crossings to deal with as well).

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