New I-66 Trail

[huskerdont]

On February 11 I rode the portion from Nutley to just shy of Gallows (dodging glass, tree limbs, construction debris, gravel, perhaps the odd barricade). It was about like I thought it would be, perhaps a bit better: probably helpful for some commuters, but not something you’d do recreationally, except as a curiosity. I think those in the neighborhoods along the Interstate really missed an opportunity to have a trail they could use to run or hike along, maybe take the doggo for a walk–all things you won’t be seeing outside the sound wall.

[consularrider]

Gallows to Cedar is still not open
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Between Chain Bridge and US 50 there were no closed signs, cones, or fencing, but they are still working on it.
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The Braddock Rd sidepath looks complete, but is still closed.
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[mstone]

rode more of it today. the few sections on the correct side of the sound wall make it painfully clear how much better the trail could have been with more commitment from VDOT.

[mstone]

@huskerdont 225891 wrote:

On February 11 I rode the portion from Nutley to just shy of Gallows (dodging glass, tree limbs, construction debris, gravel, perhaps the odd barricade)

August, trail still covered with construction debris. I assume this falls under VDOT’s general “we don’t maintain trails” policy.

[mstone]

It’s now possible to get through the I66/US50 interchange. Once you’re on the south side the trail stops in a gully with the only exit to climb a steep gravel construction trail and hop a guardrail onto US50 at an expressway merge just before a no-shoulder constriction (NOT RECOMMENDED). There’s supposed to be a trail through random hills park here eventually, but the ETA is spring next year and there’s no sign it’s even begun. For all practical purposes the trail will end on the north side of the I66/US50 interchange for the foreseeable future.

The blake lane crossing is a substandard joke. It’s one of those intersections with limited crossings and the curb cut is one of those narrow right angle sidewalk things with the steep curbs on the sides. Most riders will need to slow below walking pace to negotiate the turn, and a group of riders are unlikely to be able to make the crossing signal legally. Going east that will dump you on the wrong side of sutton road (which is marked as a bike facility). From there you’d either have to wait another light cycle to cross sutton or ride a sidewalk until you have a chance to cut across the road. Since they just repaved the intersection I’d assume this is it. There should at a minimum be a way to cross on both sides of sutton road, there should be wide aprons, and the sidewalk should be trail-sized. I cannot fathom why they didn’t route the trail under blake lane to sutton except for the general level of care devoted to this project.

[n18]

@mstone 225845 wrote:

The access at sarah harper is an existing trail which will eventually be the connection from waples mill. It’s maintained to the usual standards of fairfax county MUPs.

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Can’t tell from the picture. One time there were like 3 trees blocking Willow Pond Trail(Adjacent to Lee Highway/RT29, near Fair Oaks Mall) for several months. I reported it to Fairfax County Park Authority along with Google Maps link, and within 3 days they were removed. So they can do it, it’s just that someone has to report it. I don’t think it works for vegetation overgrowth though, they can barely cut grass.

[mstone]

@n18 226093 wrote:

One time there were like 3 trees blocking Willow Pond Trail(Adjacent to Lee Highway/RT29, near Fair Oaks Mall) for several months. I reported it to Fairfax County Park Authority along with Google Maps link, and within 3 days they were removed. So they can do it, it’s just that someone has to report it. I don’t think it works for vegetation overgrowth though, they can barely cut grass.

FCPA is pretty good about responding to trail issues. But most trails outside of the stream valley trail network aren’t maintained by FCPA. It might be VDOT (who specifically don’t do routine trail/sidewalk maintenance), it might be fairfax DPW, it might be FCPS, it might be a neighborhood association, it might just be ¯_(ツ)_/¯

[mstone]

Fun fact: on a sunny day, the lack of shade and the shiny white soundwall combine to allow a rider to receive light and radiant heat from both sides! With hot asphalt below! Maybe we should nickname it “the rotisserie”. The (short) sections where the sound wall is on the sensible side are at least 20 degrees cooler. With global warming, in 20 years it’ll probably be like taking a recreational summer ride in death valley. Maybe it’ll be possible to put some kind of potted plants on the jersey wall? Perhaps a shrubbery.

TLDR; took a ride on the 66 trail in the early afternoon today, it was miserable.

[chrisvonsimson]

So I live in the area where the “trail” gets a bit odd, just north of Fair Lakes. However, it is still a huge upgrade, and now helps me avoid a car getting over to Centerville as the Trader Joe and USPS post office are close to a spur of the trail.
I’ll post some photos of what I saw.

[lordofthemark]

I finally rode it yesterday, entire length from Gallows Rd to the stub end south of I66 at rte 50.

1.  yeah, being between the highway and sound wall is not great. Noise and emissions. OTOH if the alternative is taking a lane on a stroad, maybe not that bad by comparison, because then you’re right behind the tailpipe.
2. which btw, means its  most useful to transportation cyclists/commuters.  though yesterday the other riders i saw appeared to be fast recreational riders. There was even a walker.  I doubt the trail gets runners, dog walkers, or casual recreational riders
3. Yes, some parts are better than others, the parts more elevated from the highway better than those at the same level
4. Some of the crossings of exits were clever and well designed, with good signage.  But yes, the crossing at Blake sucked. Is there a plan to change?
5. I like the PBL near the metro station
6. Side benefit – improvement to a short section on Gallows.
7.  when that stub end connects west, the utility of this will increase further.
8. no mattresses on the trail, and no snow or ice. There was a fender from the crash that had just shut down WB I66. LE told me to skedaddle as it was a crime scene. So I did.

 

Bottom line- it’s fair to dislike the compromises, and the overall environment that produced them. It’s still a net improvement, I think maybe a significant one (I think you have to have done lots of riding on bad stroads trying to get places out there to appreciate it).  I heard at least one advocate suggest that this is so bad, it would actually deter some folks from further activism. I dunno.

 

[consularrider]

Last Friday I rode from Braddock Rd to Gallows Rd.  I need to go back and try to figure out what the alignment west of Rte 50 is supposed to be.  Right now there is a short no connection on the south side of I-66 there.  Then road connections along Random Hill Rd and Monument Dr (not busy at 3 pm, but could be problematic with heavier traffic) until the sidepath along Fair Lakes Parkway and the I-66 Parallel connection at the Fair Lakes shopping

[mstone]

West of 50 is in an unfinished state; there’s supposed to be a path through the woods where the trail ends but it’s not there. I don’t recall whether it was ever funded. (It was not part of the i66 project.) The entire trail under the 50/66 interchange is basically unusable at this point because there’s no safe route to/from the western terminus; only currently feasible approach is to get off the trail at fairfax farms road rather than taking the underpasses and cross 50 on the west ox bridge (which connects to fair lakes pkwy/circle if you want to continue the 66 trail west).

The long term plan is basically what you described, it’ll be a disaster in the fair lakes area just like the ffx county parkway trail. (Running on sidepaths along various roads.) I was going to check the project documents to check my memory of the exact routing, but they all seem to have disappeared…

[mstone]

archive.org comes through with keeping government documents available: https://web.archive.org/web/20230606135706/http://outside.transform66.org/documents/fabb_02-28-19_for_posting_-_3-15-19.pdf
Route on pages 7 & 8 is just a bunch of dotted lines on west ox, post forest, and random hills.

[Author]

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