Pedestrian bridges over Mount Vernon Trail?

[PotomacCyclist]

I’m assuming you mean bike/ped traffic crossing the GW Parkway. Cost is one reason. Another is the NPS insistence on maintaining “natural” environments and aesthetic views. (They talk about this frequently, even though a high-speed parkway for automobile traffic doesn’t seem to be very natural or aesthetically pleasing to me.)

There have been a lot of suggestions for a bike bridge or tunnel for the GW Parkway crossing south of Memorial Bridge, and also for the Washington Blvd. crossing in that same area. NPS did make some modest changes to the Washington Blvd. crossing just to the south of the bridge. It’s an improvement but still not an ideal design. They also added rumble strips on the road lanes on the GW Pkwy section leading up to the intersection, but that’s not a permanent solution. If they don’t want to spend money on a bridge or tunnel, then maybe they could install a traffic light or a HAWK signal (High-intensity Activated crossWalK), which is activated by a cyclist or pedestrian. That has been proposed too. But even that might not be ideal, since it’s almost guaranteed that many drivers will ignore the signal and run through the light (as they do at normal intersections).

Of course, there is the cost to all of the people who have been injured or killed at those intersections over the years.

I know that path is the most convenient route for some people. But for me, I generally try to avoid the Wash. Blvd. crossings and use the 14th St. (George Mason) Bridge path instead. I don’t think I used the part of the MVT near Memorial Bridge this year, but I did use the 14th St. Bridge crossing frequently. Until the Memorial Bridge intersections are improved, I’ll continue to use the 14th St. Bridge instead of Memorial Bridge whenever possible. If I need to ride to the Lincoln Memorial or points north, I can still take the 14th St. Bridge and then turn onto E. Basin Dr. and Ohio Drive. While there are still cars there, it’s not nearly as hair-raising or risky as making those Memorial Bridge trail crossings.

***
Although I mentioned that cost is one factor, it might really be a matter of spending priorities. The Washington Blvd. bridge over Rte. 110, about 1500 ft. to the south of the Memorial Bridge road crossings, is scheduled to be replaced in the coming years. While that project will include a much wider and improved bike/ped path on both sides of the bridge, it won’t solve the trail problems at the GW Parkway crossing. A bridge designed for car and truck use costs millions of dollars. This new bridge will cost $20 million. It’s a VDOT project, so you can’t say that they are using money that could have been spent on the GW crossing. But you could wonder if a state agency has that money available, why can’t NPS and the federal government spend money to fix the GW crossing and improve the Wash. Blvd. crossing.

http://www.virginiadot.org/projects/northernvirginia/route_27_over_route_110.asp

http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?3696-Washington-Blvd-%28Rt-27%29-Bridge-over-110

[Terpfan]

@peterw_diy 68221 wrote:

What’s the reason NPS doesn’t put pedestrian bridges where there’s a lot of ped and bike traffic crossing MVT, err, yes, I mean GW Parkway, like Belle View in Alexandria/Fairfax and Memorial Bridge in Arlington?

They’ve been pretty adamant that they will never do it for the reasons PC cited. I wish they would just do some speed enforcement during normal hours at the Belle View spot. I usually cross there or up by Tulane. At both places, people are routinely humming along at 60 and sometimes 70mph, which makes finding the gaps to cross much more difficult. It’s funny too, because I do see them running enforcement there occassionally late at night.

But the crossing up by Memorial is much worse imo.

[mstone]

@Terpfan 68277 wrote:

They’ve been pretty adamant that they will never do it for the reasons PC cited. I wish they would just do some speed enforcement during normal hours at the Belle View spot. I usually cross there or up by Tulane. At both places, people are routinely humming along at 60 and sometimes 70mph, which makes finding the gaps to cross much more difficult.

Remember, at NPS they don’t like pedestrian safety to interfere with the natural beauty of speeding cars.

[chris_s]

@Terpfan 68277 wrote:

They’ve been pretty adamant that they will never do it for the reasons PC cited. I wish they would just do some speed enforcement during normal hours at the Belle View spot.

We were THIS CLOSE to automated speed enforcement…and then this happened. *sigh* My understanding is that the cameras were never activated.

[Terpfan]

@chris_s 68291 wrote:

We were THIS CLOSE to automated speed enforcement…and then this happened. *sigh* My understanding is that the cameras were never activated.

But they would probably take their cues from the DC government in put them in obscure places that have nothing to do with pedestrian safety like out by the Langley exit or something.

[dbb]

There is one just south of the Gravelly Point entrance on northbound GWMP. I’d hazard a guess if the NPS flipped the switch to on on that sucker, we would see the national debt go down!

[DismalScientist]

@dbb 68317 wrote:

I’d hazard a guess if the NPS flipped the switch to on on that sucker, we would see the national debt go down!

What? It would gather more that a $1,000,000,000,000 in fines each year? :confused:

[dbb]

@DismalScientist 68324 wrote:

What? It would gather more that a $1,000,000,000,000 in fines each year? :confused:

The way some of the motorists drive on the GWMP? Possibly.

[jabberwocky]

@DismalScientist 68324 wrote:

What? It would gather more that a $1,000,000,000,000 in fines each year? :confused:

Info I found online says the GW Parkway carries ~75000 vehicles per day. Which is 27,375,000 per year. Deficit for 2013 is about $700,000,000,000. So if every single person who drove by every single day got a ticket, each ticket would only need to be $25,570 and we would eliminate the deficit for 2013!

(note: estimates and math may be wildly wrong).

[PotomacCyclist]

No one ever speeds, especially on the GW Parkway. Everyone is careful to pay attention to everything around them. They observe the posted speed limit. They always drive safely for the current weather conditions.

Well… there might be some exceptions:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/11/AR2006051101829.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/05/AR2006100501934.html

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/archive/index.php?t-645829.html

“Law enforcement officials said later that two motorcycles were clocked last year [2005] going 160 mph on the parkway but were never caught.”

[Terpfan]

@PotomacCyclist 68335 wrote:

No one ever speeds, especially on the GW Parkway. Everyone is careful to pay attention to everything around them. They observe the posted speed limit. They always drive safely for the current weather conditions.

Well… there might be some exceptions:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/11/AR2006051101829.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/05/AR2006100501934.html

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/archive/index.php?t-645829.html

“Law enforcement officials said later that two motorcycles were clocked last year [2005] going 160 mph on the parkway but were never caught.”

I wonder what the NPS’ chase rules are. An LEO relative of mine who sees a lot of the speeding motorcyclists told me they rarely give pursuit because one they can’t catch up and two they’re dissuaded from high speed pursuits. I know in the city that MPD disengages at something like 60mph on non-highway areas. But I’m still trying to imagine how someone goes down anywhere on the GWP except maybe south of OT at those speeds? The hilly section has those bumps from all the grates that i would think the car would lose control unless they hugged the inside. Either way, you’re right, definitely see some speeders. I’ve had folks blow by me on the GWP south of OT at what had to be double the speed limit.

[cyclingfool]

@Terpfan 68337 wrote:

…on the GWP south of OT at what had to be double the speed limit.

I’m sure they were just out for a pleasant and leisurely drive in a natural, park-like setting. I understand that going over 100 miles an hour helps to ram more of the fresh air into your respiratory system, enhancing the experience. :rolleyes:

[PotomacCyclist]

@Terpfan 68337 wrote:

I wonder what the NPS’ chase rules are. An LEO relative of mine who sees a lot of the speeding motorcyclists told me they rarely give pursuit because one they can’t catch up and two they’re dissuaded from high speed pursuits. I know in the city that MPD disengages at something like 60mph on non-highway areas. But I’m still trying to imagine how someone goes down anywhere on the GWP except maybe south of OT at those speeds? The hilly section has those bumps from all the grates that i would think the car would lose control unless they hugged the inside. Either way, you’re right, definitely see some speeders. I’ve had folks blow by me on the GWP south of OT at what had to be double the speed limit.

I’m not sure where they are driving this fast. Several of the people on the BMW thread talk about driving 70-90 and even 100 mph on the parkway, but a few talk about how dangerous and foolish it is to do so.

The guy who hit 126 mph and then tried to outrun the police, turned into the exit to the CIA HQ. D’oh!

[Not that I think it’s a laughing matter in general to be driving so recklessly. But you have to laugh AT that guy for being such a fool. Fortunately he didn’t kill anyone that night. He was a Georgetown law student who seems to have learned his lesson in the years since that 2006 incident.]

[Terpfan]

@PotomacCyclist 68358 wrote:

I’m not sure where they are driving this fast. Several of the people on the BMW thread talk about driving 70-90 and even 100 mph on the parkway, but a few talk about how dangerous and foolish it is to do so.

The guy who hit 126 mph and then tried to outrun the police, turned into the exit to the CIA HQ. D’oh!

[Not that I think it’s a laughing matter in general to be driving so recklessly. But you have to laugh AT that guy for being such a fool. Fortunately he didn’t kill anyone that night. He was a Georgetown law student who seems to have learned his lesson in the years since that 2006 incident.]

Yah, that kid is definitely worth laughing at for his idiocy. Although I’m partially surprised the PP bothered to even follow-up with him. I called them one night when I had to swerve to avoid someone coming directly at me from the off-ramp (clearly drunk or insanely stupid) who didn’t even stop until halfway into the parkway. The PP dispatcher basically said “if you didn’t get the plates, nothing we can or will do.” I was pissed because it’s not like when you’re driving late at night and some crazy person comes head on at you, that you sit there thinking of trying to memorize his or her license plate. And it was only a mile or two from their PP outpost. C’est le vie.

People really do need to slow down on the GWP. I watched a guy flick his high beams onto another driver (going the approximate speed limit) and tailgate them right by Belle Haven last night. Part of me wish I had something to throw at him for being such an a**.

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