March 2017 Road & Trail Conditions

[DrP]

@dasgeh 157175 wrote:

Folks who biked on those cleared trails in Arlington, I have some bad news. The County Manager has proposed cutting the trail snow clearing program ENTIRELY in his proposed 1 cent cut. You can see the full list here – trail snow clearing is #21 on page [!@&*$ why can’t they number pages!?!?!]. This would save a whopping $50k/year.

Also of interest is #5, which would eliminate the expansion of the street light program. DES says that it will take responsibility for trail lighting in the street light program if and only if it gets the funds for the expanded program. The Manager says DES is taking responsibility for trail lighting regardless, though I’ve never seen that on paper.

You may want to take a minute to remind the countyboard@arlingtonva.us (cc’ing the countymanager@arlingtonva.us) how important the trail snow clearing program is.

Oh, and if you have some time to bike over some counters on cleared trails today, that may be a good idea too

I had already sent a note to trails@arlingtonva.us this morning to thank them for clearing the snow (and to find out who controls that one bridge on S. Washington Blvd that wasn’t cleared). So, I just sent a note to the county board and manager to thank them for clearing the trails and how I think it is a great use of taxpayer funds and how I purchased my house in the county partially due to the wonderful trails and I work in the county so I use them all the time (and I see many people out, even this morning at 25deg). Hopefully that will help.

[DrP]

This morning I rode Custis to Ft Meyer Drive to N. Marshall to 110 trail to S. Washington Blvd. to Pentagon to Pentagon City. Other than a few curb cuts that were messy, only the S. Washington Blvd. bridge over Boundary Channel Dr was a hard mess of bumpy slush (as was pictured Tuesday). I have asked the county who controls that bridge.

I may try the route through LBJ and up the MVT crossing the GWP to get to the 110 trail this evening. This morning I just couldn’t tell from the intersection with the S. Washington Blvd trail if the MVT was clear, so I went with what I heard was a mostly clear trail. (I know the LBJ grove bit has a clear route, just not sure heading north – other photos looked iffy). Unless I decide to go W&OD. I’ll report back what I find, unless someone beats me to it.

[Greenbelt]

Trails in northern Prince George’s are clear. I rode quite a few this morning and no problems. NE Branch is clear from Lake Artemesia to Armentrout Road, with only a few brief ice patches, but easy to navigate. The wood bridge by the College Park airport is the only place I had to walk. A few icy patches where melt runoff refreezes by the railroad bridge and under Alt Route 1. College Park and Hyattsville trolley trails are clear, a few spots where snow is plowed up over the curb ramps. Even the Paint Branch trail is nearly clear between Lake Artemesia and College Park — asphalt showing through and easy to dodge remaining ice blobs.
[IMG]https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/17349701_1297932246940156_132646791924972342_o.jpg?oh=cbdbc74cab366ebbb584ca6c1d630768&oe=5973276A[/IMG]

[huskerdont]

@dasgeh 157175 wrote:

Folks who biked on those cleared trails in Arlington, I have some bad news. The County Manager has proposed cutting the trail snow clearing program ENTIRELY in his proposed 1 cent cut. You can see the full list here – trail snow clearing is #21 on page [!@&*$ why can’t they number pages!?!?!]. This would save a whopping $50k/year.

Also of interest is #5, which would eliminate the expansion of the street light program. DES says that it will take responsibility for trail lighting in the street light program if and only if it gets the funds for the expanded program. The Manager says DES is taking responsibility for trail lighting regardless, though I’ve never seen that on paper.

You may want to take a minute to remind the countyboard@arlingtonva.us (cc’ing the countymanager@arlingtonva.us) how important the trail snow clearing program is.

Oh, and if you have some time to bike over some counters on cleared trails today, that may be a good idea too

I sent an email. (And don’t tell anyone, but in the winter, I routinely hit the Rossyln Bikeometer twice each direction.)

[DismalScientist]

@wheels&wings 157186 wrote:

Bobco’s note above suggests the Bluemont Junction Trail is a priority for trail-clearing.

Is that the case? Has anyone ridden on Bluemont recently? Thanks!! w&w

I hiked it Tuesday evening from Ballston to Wilson. It was clear. It probably clear to the WOD, but there’s no place to go from there.

Going down Kensington will put you at Carlin Springs and the WOD if that is the direction you are going.

[Tania]

Just to confirm – IOD to Roosevelt Island’s Mulchy Goodness to TR Bridge is rideable, yes?

[bentbike33]

@Tania 157209 wrote:

Just to confirm – IOD to Roosevelt Island’s Mulchy Goodness to TR Bridge is rideable, yes?

This is what it looked like yesterday afternoon. Depends on what you think of as rideable.

[Tania]

@bentbike33 157213 wrote:

Depends on what you think of as rideable.

…not that. I suppose I COULD detour through Rosslyn to the path that goes around ANC up to the Memorial Bridge but that point I’m taking a gazillion detours.

[bentbike33]

@Tania 157215 wrote:

…not that. I suppose I COULD detour through Rosslyn to the path that goes around ANC up to the Memorial Bridge but that point I’m taking a gazillion detours.

I did the Road Warrior thing this morning from Rosslyn: Key Bridge -> M St. -> PA Ave. -> 17th -> paths around the Washington Monument (clear except at bollards) -> Jefferson -> Seventh St.

I guess I will reverse engineer that this afternoon.

[Rod Smith]

@bentbike33 157217 wrote:

I did the Road Warrior thing this morning from Rosslyn: Key Bridge -> M St. -> PA Ave. -> 17th -> paths around the Washington Monument (clear except at bollards) -> Jefferson -> Seventh St.

I guess I will reverse engineer that this afternoon.

Whitehurst is clear and favorable winds got me my 4th and 5th best times on the segment today.

[TwoWheelsDC]

So…with the exception of a couple spots on the RCP trail, pretty much everything I hit this morning was clear (looks like DCDPW plowed the Chain Bridge sidewalk). The C&O went from an ice rink into a mud bog in about 9 hours…totally passable with wide-ish tires and hopefully fenders.

[DrP]

So on the route home, I went from Pentagon City to the Pentagon to Boundary Channel Drive to LBJ Grove (that shoveling of the bridge was amazing – it looks like NPS then salted it (someone did, in pink salt)) to MVT. All clear. MVT was very clear (except for Geese and the “gifts” they leave on the trail) to the GWP crossing and since the MVT looked clear after that, I went for it. There were a few patches of snow with a few tire widths clear, but easily managed. Trollheim, well, a bit of a mushy mess. I was on a hybrid with 700×38 tires. I could slowly ride most of it (in a fat-bike’s tire tracks – THANK YOU) and only occasionally Flintstoned. Custis was fine.

If I lived closer to Roosevelt Island and could figure out how to ride with a snow shovel I would have gone back to Trollheim to clear a path given its mushy state and expected freezing tonight.

Warning for tomorrow:
Several moguls next to the bridge to nowhere were full of water, so those will be ice in the morning.
The Spout Run ice rink is likely to live a little closer to its name – water was in several areas and the puddle seemed larger than the ice patch yesterday. Maybe the wind was high enough to encourage sublimation, but be wary.
Trollheim is likely to be a solid mess in the morning, so I will do the Ft Meyer route, but I can cross to the MVT rather than the Wash. Blvd route and ice field.
However, I think an afternoon trip through the MVT will be fine for me.

[Greenbelt]

ART/NE Branch trail is good from Bladensburg marina to Lake Artemesia/UMD. Even the wood bridges clear enough to ride with narrow tires. However, the long boardwalk south of the marina was snow covered. You’d have to walk that bit with narrow tires. Basically if it’s asphalt or it gets some sun it’s good, but combo of wood and shade still coated with crusty stuff.

There will be lots of refreeze of puddles in the early morning, though. Should be all good by 10am as temps get above freezing.

[Steve O]

@Rod Smith 157235 wrote:

Whitehurst is clear and favorable winds got me my 4th and 5th best times on the segment today.

Yep, I set my PR on it. Thank you, tailwind.

[Birru]

I went for a run this evening and part of my route included the W&OD from about Route 7 to the Custis Trail junction. The trails looked quite good and are very runnable/ridable. Bridges are still snowy/icy. I marked a couple of possible trouble spots for tomorrow’s commute on the attached image.

1. This curve coming out of Banneker Park is one that’s fun to take at speed, but there was still some slush and a fairly large puddle as the sun was going down. It’ll be below freezing in the AM, so be cautious.

2. There are some sneaky ice patches lurking in the shade below Patrick Henry.

[Author]

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