new Anacostia Trail closure on Northeast Branch

[Bicyclebug]

Thanks, let us know if you here anything. I’ve been trying to figure out an alternative too but like you said without knowing the exact spots it’s tough.

[Rod Smith]

From Northwest Branch trail, connector trail to Magruder Park > 40th Ave > Queen’s Chapel Rd > Amherst Rd > Rhode Island Ave > Paint Branch Trail might work, depending on where you want to go…

[Greenbelt]

The detour on Decatur street and Alt Route 1 isn’t too bad. There’s a steep ramp up to the train tracks on Decatur, but there’s a bike lane. Alt Route 1 has wide lanes, so should be OK. Pain in the neck, but manageable for most I think.

Here’s a map of the detour route I’m planning to take: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1056087

[SusaninTPK]

Thanks, I’ll give that a try, probably Tuesday.

[Greenbelt]

Trail was open this morning when I came in.

[SusaninTPK]

It was closed by 8:00.

I talked with the workmen, who helped lift my bike over the orange plastic stuff so I could get to the side street. For whatever good it might do, I told them it was no use posting the trail closed sign right near the work as people would have approached from miles away, and indeed, there were no warning signs between Charles Armentrout and the work- I don’t know about further south. I asked about a detour. They said they had asked that too, but were told no detour was needed. I should have asked how long the trail would be closed for, and how far south they planned to work, but I didn’t have the presence of mind to do that. I may try to call the project manager again today. Of course there is still no information on the website.

[Greenbelt]

It’s pretty typical — these guys only view cars as the only legitimate transportation. Anybody who doesn’t use a car is just playing around and can be inconvenienced without mind. I’ve had the same problem with the construction crews and planners at the Greenbelt Metro road site. The planners make lip service to pedestrian and bike safety, but the actual designs are all about the cars. The construction crews are clueless and unsupervised, and just pile crap in the bike lanes and block sidewalks whenever they want, regardless.

[Greenbelt]

Actually, it’s pretty easy to ride around the trail closed sign and then just walk your bike around the construction to the little neighborhood street called 49th ave that’s just a few feet from Decatur street. This link (hopefully) shows the view for using 49th to get around the closure.

[SusaninTPK]

That probably works best when there are no workers there…
So, I had another chat with the Department of Public Works today and, though I was not able to persuade them to help me (not our department), I did learn some very interesting things about the levee work. 1) All the levee work is supposed to be done by Christmas; 2) Most of the work is on the east side of the river; 3) The work on the trail segment we have been discussing will only extend south from Decatur St as far as the railroad bridge– it should be done in a month to a month and a half; 4) the reason for the levee work is that the experiences of Hurricane Katrina led the Army Corps of Engineers to have to revamp their standards for levees. Under the new standards, the Anacostia levees are lacking, and much of PG county around the Anacostia would fall into the flood plain and wreak havoc with homeowners’ insurance. In order to bring the levees up to code they need to be raised from 6 inches to 2 feet in places. This requires major earthworks. 5) Less than half of the work is complete 6) The DPW is just in charge of doing the work; pgparks is supposed to do the interface with the public.

Tomorrow I will report on my discussions with pgparks people.

[Greenbelt]

Appears some naughty folk threw the trail closed sign in the river…

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1683[/ATTACH]

[Certifried]

Not so easy to walk around the construction anymore. It’s “barricaded” off, but that probably won’t last long. Still, it’s going to be more precarious to transition from the pavement to the construction.

003 by certifried, on Flickr

[Greenbelt]

Repaving is almost done on the stretch between Decatur and Riverdale Road. Only a couple small sections up close to Riverdale road are still dirt.

[Greenbelt]

The short section between south of Decatur down toward the railroad bridge is still closed, but they were working on it this morning — hopeful we’ll be back to normal soon!

http://app.strava.com/rides/21143845

[Rod Smith]

We can take to the river tomorrow on the group ride. It’s shallow and an easy portage.

[Author]

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