Missed connection

[notinthe18]

@Judd 148587 wrote:

The sidewalk, I mean “trail” will get a bit of improvement with the bridge work that is currently in process. At least the bridge portion is going to be widened to 10 feet if I recall correctly. It’s unclear if the sidewalk all the way to paved asphalt at the Pentagon will be widened as well.

All of the guards at the little booth on the 9/11 Memorial side have always been friendly in the morning, although I now go all the way around the Pentagon to the River Entrance to get LBJ Memorial Grove now, partly because it adds another half mile to my trip, but also partly because that narrow sidewalk is no fun when there’s anyone oncoming or a group of tourists unaccustomed to trail traffic.

You’re a font of helpful knowledge, sir.

[EasyRider]

I regularly take the right lane of Wash Blvd., the part that goes over the Boundary channel, between the on ramp from the Pentagon parking lot and the exit ramp to the southbound GW parkway. The reason I do it is because if I don’t feel safe crossing that second exit ramp when going northbound

It’s at a weird angle and you have to look almost behind you and uphill to see if a car is coming. 99 cars out of 100 headed toward Memorial Bridge don’t use the off ramp to the GW, but the ones that do are usually moving fast. Many seem to be tourists who don’t realize they’re in an exit lane until the last minute. The confusion uses up all their RAM and they can no longer see bicyclists and pedestrians as they shift into “fuggit I gotta take this exit now” mode. So I just hop into that merge lane on Wash Blvd for 200 yards to avoid this situation. Traffic is mostly at a crawl else I wouldn’t do it. Here’s a shot of the exit ramp crossing from a reverse angle.[ATTACH=CONFIG]12703[/ATTACH]

[VA2DC]

@EasyRider 148617 wrote:

I regularly take the right lane of Wash Blvd., the part that goes over the Boundary channel, between the on ramp from the Pentagon parking lot and the exit ramp to the southbound GW parkway. The reason I do it is because if I don’t feel safe crossing that second exit ramp when going northbound

Now I finally have an answer to the “how did that bike get there?” question that I have whenever I see the occasional cyclist in the traffic on Washington Blvd. northbound toward Memorial Bridge, while I’m slowing to cross Washington Blvd. just south of Memorial circle. Also, I didn’t know that road was Washington Blvd. I had always thought of it as part of 110 and/or the GW Parkway, and thus thought bikes weren’t permitted.

[ShawnoftheDread]

@EasyRider 148617 wrote:

I regularly take the right lane of Wash Blvd., the part that goes over the Boundary channel, between the on ramp from the Pentagon parking lot and the exit ramp to the southbound GW parkway. The reason I do it is because if I don’t feel safe crossing that second exit ramp when going northbound

It’s at a weird angle and you have to look almost behind you and uphill to see if a car is coming. 99 cars out of 100 headed toward Memorial Bridge don’t use the off ramp to the GW, but the ones that do are usually moving fast. Many seem to be tourists who don’t realize they’re in an exit lane until the last minute. The confusion uses up all their RAM and they can no longer see bicyclists and pedestrians as they shift into “fuggit I gotta take this exit now” mode. So I just hop into that merge lane on Wash Blvd for 200 yards to avoid this situation. Traffic is mostly at a crawl else I wouldn’t do it. Here’s a shot of the exit ramp crossing from a reverse angle.[ATTACH=CONFIG]12703[/ATTACH]

I do the same, and for the same reason.

[dasgeh]

@Judd 148587 wrote:

The sidewalk, I mean “trail” will get a bit of improvement with the bridge work that is currently in process.

I really wish the work would fix this annoying spot where the trail inexplicably dog legs to cross a parking space (?) instead of going through the grass at a cyclist-friendly angle. I took this trail for a week this summer, and this spot really annoyed me every time.

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.8739092,-77.0580088,3a,75y,165.65h,88.38t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1siCbiiQZPv6l1uJP2z9T_AA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DiCbiiQZPv6l1uJP2z9T_AA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D340.3473%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

[Steve O]

@EasyRider 148617 wrote:

I regularly take the right lane of Wash Blvd., the part that goes over the Boundary channel, between the on ramp from the Pentagon parking lot and the exit ramp to the southbound GW parkway. The reason I do it is because if I don’t feel safe crossing that second exit ramp when going northbound

I will have to try that sometime. I also find that particular crossing to be uncomfortable, and I literally come to a complete stop before proceeding.

[wheelswings]

If the Whitehurst-Freeway commuting ice-ophile Steve O finds conditions “uncomfortable,” I suggest the rest of us should proceed with extreme caution.

[ginacico]

I’m sure Steve O loves this right-angle-turns-between-narrow-bollards even more.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]12706[/ATTACH]

[KLizotte]

It’s better to just avoid that whole section and cut through the Pentagon Reservation to Boundary Channel Drive to Columbia Island. Yeah, it adds 1/2 mile to your travels but is far safer and more pleasant.

[notinthe18]

@ShawnoftheDread 148629 wrote:

I do the same, and for the same reason.

This has been a tremendously educational discussion. Now which one of you did I see doing this last week that inspired me to make the post in the first place…

[Judd]

@notinthe18 148615 wrote:

You’re a font of helpful knowledge, sir.

Here’s VDOT’s site for the project: http://www.vdot.virginia.gov/projects/northernvirginia/route_27_over_route_110.asp

East side is supposed to have a 14 foot wide path. Anticipated completion in Spring of 2018.

[Judd]

@KLizotte 148653 wrote:

It’s better to just avoid that whole section and cut through the Pentagon Reservation to Boundary Channel Drive to Columbia Island. Yeah, it adds 1/2 mile to your travels but is far safer and more pleasant.

Here’s my usual route through the Pentagon, avoiding the “trail” on 27. On the morning commute there’s a tolerable amount of traffic entering the Pentagon. It’s a ghost town when I go through on the way home (although this is usually 6:30 or later.)

https://www.strava.com/activities/764532934

[Judd]

Since we’re pointing out all of the things that suck about the “trail” on 27, I’ll add this part where the signed bike route (mostly a wide sidewalk) reaches a part where the sidewalk is just totally cut out. The options are to salmon in a lane with a blind curve or take a bit drop from the sidewalk into a gravel pit and hop the sidewalk on the other side to continue on to the trail.

https://goo.gl/maps/4YBtumbovAF2

[Alcova cyclist]

@Judd 148668 wrote:

Since we’re pointing out all of the things that suck about the “trail” on 27, I’ll add this part where the signed bike route (mostly a wide sidewalk) reaches a part where the sidewalk is just totally cut out. The options are to salmon in a lane with a blind curve or take a bit drop from the sidewalk into a gravel pit and hop the sidewalk on the other side to continue on to the trail.

https://goo.gl/maps/4YBtumbovAF2

I hate that spot too, so I switched so that I just take the lane coming down that last stretch of Columbia Pike (from the Pike/Joyce intersection) — actually I take the left lane, since that keeps me out of the highway on/off ramps. With the big downhill, I find I don’t slow traffic behind me much, and there are rarely any cars staying straight into the pentagon lot there anyway. On the way west, I take the lane until I am through the underpass and take one of the curb cuts onto the sidewalk near the child center.

ETA – taking the lane in both directions also gets you out of the too narrow sidewalk in the underpass where it says you’re supposed to “dismount” and walk your bike.

[Steve O]

@Judd 148666 wrote:

Here’s VDOT’s site for the project: http://www.vdot.virginia.gov/projects/northernvirginia/route_27_over_route_110.asp

East side is supposed to have a 14 foot wide path. Anticipated completion in Spring of 2018.

It also says this:

Pedestrian traffic is being shifted to a temporary bridge in late 2016.

[Author]

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