New bike station at Long Bridge Park

[KLizotte]

Does this mean the road has been repaved? Great place for a station.

[cyclingfool]

@KLizotte 69254 wrote:

Does this mean the road has been repaved? Great place for a station.

Yes. I rode through here Monday. It is repaved up to around the 395 interchange. Going under the overpass is still in rough shape, but Long Bridge Dr and Boundary Channel Dr (to get around the Pentagram, er, Pentagon) themselves are both smooth roads now.

[PotomacCyclist]

@KLizotte 69254 wrote:

Does this mean the road has been repaved? Great place for a station.

Better than repaved. Bike lanes on both sides. Street lighting. Landscaping to be added soon.

The 395 interchange is a separate road project. The entire interchange will be redone but not immediately. The most recent update is that work will start in late 2014 or early 2015. That project will remove one of the ramps to 395 and shorten another one. This could leave enough space for a bike trail from Boundary Channel Drive to the Humpback Bridge, far enough from the small DOD structure on the Boundary Channel to satisfy DOD security concerns, whatever those may be. It would be a short bike ride from Long Bridge Drive to the Humpback Bridge underpass and the MVT, if everything goes as planned.

http://www.crystalcity.org/area/transformation/boundary-channel-drive-interchange

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[PotomacCyclist]

There will also be a bike station at the Boeing HQ building, to the south of the park. The concrete pad for the station has already been built. The station will be installed after the courtyard and building are finished. That is scheduled for the 2nd half of next year, maybe in the fall?

[PotomacCyclist]

I’m guessing that the Marine Corps Marathon will head up Long Bridge Drive next year. The race organizers had included that road as part of the 2012 route, because the road had been scheduled to be completed by mid 2012. They had to change the course when the road reconstruction was delayed.

Now that the road is finished, I think the MCM will include it for the 2014 race. It’s better than running through the Pentagon parking lots. The road will look nice, once the landscaping is finished.

[CaseyKane50]

Here are some additional photos of Long Branch Road.

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At the beginning of Long Branch, looking north

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In front of the new Boeing Headquarters building

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The new CABI station

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In front of the soccer complex

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Southbound bike lane begins in front of the Public Storage building

[PotomacCyclist]

Just for comparison’s sake (and for nostalgia, because we know everyone misses those old potholes so much).

This is what Long Bridge Drive used to look like just a couple years ago, when it was known as Old Jefferson Davis Highway:

(From ARLnow: http://www.arlnow.com/2011/12/20/reconstruction-of-old-jefferson-davis-hwy-set-for-2012/)

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***
This is how Yelp reviewers described the road in 2008 and 2009 (from reviews of the self storage business there: http://www.yelp.com/biz/public-storage-arlington-2):

“I can handle the fact that this place is located in [the] most industrial “place to dump the body you just murdered” area. I can handle the fact that just driving there will kick up enough dust to give you an asthma attack.”

“I was here over the weekend helping a friend move stuff to storage […] when I realized that I had been here before. The previous trip was an accident – we had taken a wrong turn off the highway (this is why I can’t drive in VA!) and it is SKETCHHHHY!!

Jefferson Davis Hwy turns to this half-dirt-stone road and you just keep going down it before you actually see anything. It’d be super creepy to drive there at night so I’m really glad we were going in daylight hours. … Decent place to store stuff in…just make sure you come during daylight hours and bring a friend.”

[consularrider]

@PotomacCyclist 69321 wrote:

Just for comparison’s sake (and for nostalgia, because we know everyone misses those old potholes so much).

This is what Long Bridge Drive used to look like just a couple years ago, when it was known as Old Jefferson Davis Highway:

(From ARLnow: http://www.arlnow.com/2011/12/20/reconstruction-of-old-jefferson-davis-hwy-set-for-2012/)

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4073[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]4074[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]4075[/ATTACH]

***
This is how Yelp reviewers described the road in 2008 and 2009 (from reviews of the self storage business there: http://www.yelp.com/biz/public-storage-arlington-2):

“I can handle the fact that this place is located in most industrial “place to dump the body you just murdered” area. I can handle the fact that just driving there will kick up enough dust to give you an asthma attack.”

“I was here over the weekend helping a friend move stuff to storage (she’s moved to Hong Kong ) when I realized that I had been here before. The previous trip was an accident – we had taken a wrong turn off the highway (this is why I can’t drive in VA!) and it is SKETCHHHHY!!

Jefferson Davis Hwy turns to this half-dirt-stone road and you just keep going down it before you actually see anything. It’d be super creepy to drive there at night so I’m really glad we were going in daylight hours. … Decent place to store stuff in…just make sure you come during daylight hours and bring a friend.”

That’s about what it was like (including the big across the road puddle) when I rode my first Air Force Cycling Classic Crystal Ride in 2009.

[cyclingfool]

@PotomacCyclist 69321 wrote:

Just for comparison’s sake (and for nostalgia, because we know everyone misses those old potholes so much).

This is what Long Bridge Drive used to look like just a couple years ago, when it was known as Old Jefferson Davis Highway…

So glad the crappy road surface has been taken care of. I rode this way after snowmaggedon as part of my route to avoid the MVT and occasionally since then, and it was always less than pleasant, though it was at least different.

Also glad the old name is gone. Now if only we could rename Rte. 1 where it’s called Jefferson Davis Highway and officially drop the state’s Lee-Jackson designation for Martin Luther King Day (says I, a carpetbagger)… I won’t hold my breath.

[baiskeli]

CaBi stations at heavily-used parks with bike trails leading to them is a great idea. When’s Bluemont get one?

[bobco85]

@baiskeli 69482 wrote:

CaBi stations at heavily-used parks with bike trails leading to them is a great idea. When’s Bluemont get one?

I remember hearing that CaBi stations must be a certain distance from overhead power lines which is why there are almost no stations on the W&OD, but I think the tennis court shelter would be a wonderful place, especially since Ashlawn ES right across the street is expanding.

[consularrider]

@bobco85 69486 wrote:

I remember hearing that CaBi stations must be a certain distance from overhead power lines which is why there are almost no stations on the W&OD, but I think the tennis court shelter would be a wonderful place, especially since Ashlawn ES right across the street is expanding.

And the Sunrise Seniors could get out for a ride.

[Tim Kelley]

http://www.bikearlington.com/pages/bikesharing/capital-bikeshare-crowdsourcing-map/

[Kolohe]

@baiskeli 69482 wrote:

CaBi stations at heavily-used parks with bike trails leading to them is a great idea. When’s Bluemont get one?

I supposed technically, the one at George Mason and Wilson is ‘Bluemont’ – well, the Bluemont Junction trail.

(and it used to be 1) the closest one to Arlington Forest 2) dockblocked something fierce. Though in the past year, the dockblocking has got a lot better – as in hardly happens anymore, at least when I’m in that area now)

[baiskeli]

@Tim Kelley 69488 wrote:

http://www.bikearlington.com/pages/bikesharing/capital-bikeshare-crowdsourcing-map/

Yep, I’ve already put my suggestion on that map – everyone vote for it now please!

[Author]

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