Mount Vernon Trail – Lame Closure

[Rootchopper]

This morning the National Park Service closed the river route of the Mount Vernon Trail between the power plant and the Slater’s Lane turn off. A worker at the barrier said they were doing maintenance work.

[paulg]

That same closure was on again today at around 8am. Both ends either side of the power plant. I came from the south. They had signs up with the detour route and a person at each end to help people. I wondered allowed if they could have put the signs further up the trail but in the end it was only 20 feet to back track and cross the rail road tracks and take the alternate route.

On the plus side there is a usable detour and they had gone to the expense of putting up a person at each end, probably for enforcement but probably also to help.

They seem to be putting in a sandbag dam under the power plant walkway in the river. Must be to drain the area so they can maintain something below the water line. Judging by the mud on the trail they must have been transporting the sandbags by truck which drove on the trail .

[Dirt]

From Washcycle’s feed on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mvjantzen/6914515049/in/pool-24669282@N00/

[Rootchopper]

I noticed that there are tire tracks from a truck accessing the trail from the river side of the power plant. That must explain how they are getting the sandbags down there.

Late last year the plant put up signs warning that there had been a spill of some kind into the river. Of course, they claimed it was harmless. I wonder if this sandbag operation is related.

BTW, the coal pile of the plant is quite a bit smaller than normal. Could this be the beginning of the end?

[PotomacCyclist]

Here’s the update from The WashCycle:

A portion of the Mount Vernon Trail near the power plant is closed “GenOn’s Potomac River Generating Station is doing maintenance to its underground pipe system and discharge points along the Potomac River. To do the work safely, we must close the portion of the Mount Vernon Trail that runs along the river adjacent to the station. The trail is being used to transport equipment and materials as we build a temporary dam to allow access to the pipes. The work will continue through the remainder of this week, but will conclude no later than March 1. All users of the trail are directed to use the alternative path that runs on the western side of the path along the George Washington Parkway.” The alternative path, Ed K. tells me, is an inadequate sidewalk or a one way street.

As for the coal plant, it’s supposed to be closed permanently by October 1 this year, “or, if the plant is needed beyond that date for reliability purposes, as soon as it is no longer needed.”

http://alexandriava.gov/news_display.aspx?id=51390

[Author]

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