Robinson Terminal waterfront warehouses for sale

[PotomacCyclist]

No, this is not a spam advertisement. (I don’t own those warehouses. Would be nice if I did.) Cyclists passing through Old Town are familiar with the two warehouses, one on the north end of Old Town and another on Duke Street. They occupy prime real estate in a popular neighborhood. The Washington Post subsidiary is selling both warehouses.

http://oldtownalexandria.patch.com/articles/robinson-terminal-to-sell-waterfront-warehouses

I’m sure there are developers eager to buy and redevelop those properties. There are already plans to open Old Town to more waterfront development. (I won’t get into that contentious topic here. I don’t live there so I’m not really passionate about the issue either way.) These two parcels, along with the massive GenOn coal plant to the north of Old Town, mean that there could be a lot of land available for redevelopment.

So why post this on a cycling forum? Well, the Mt. Vernon Trail runs on-street along Union Street in Old Town, passing by both of the warehouses. No matter what becomes of the warehouses, construction could have an impact on cyclists there. Perhaps any new developments could be useful for cyclists, such as additional paths to the waterfront. (Most of the existing waterfront paths are limited to pedestrian use only, not cycling.)

Even more important is the railroad spur that runs from the main tracks near Slaters Lane and passes by the old coal plant before ending up at the north Robinson Terminal warehouse. If the warehouse site is converted to non-industrial use, then that means there is no need for the railroad spur to remain. It is no longer needed to deliver coal to the closed plant. And it will no longer be needed to deliver newsprint or other materials to the warehouse.

Removing the tracks from the north end of Union St. would make that corner much more bike friendly. While crossing the tracks is manageable, the road would be more comfortable with smooth pavement, with much less anxiety involved. There is already a separated bike path through Oronoco Bay Park, so there is no need to convert the tracks in the park to a rail trail. It might be better to dig up the tracks and add grass.

But the section of tracks between 3rd St. (in front of the old coal plant) and Slaters Lane could be used for a much needed rail trail, providing a better connection from Union St./Fairfax St. to Slaters Lane, and from there to the Monroe Ave. bridge and the paths along Potomac Ave. to Crystal City. This rail trail could work even with the redevelopment of the coal plant site.

Any other wish lists for the Robinson Terminal sites and the railroad spur? Not that I have any power to make any of the wishes come true, but it could be interesting to see if there are any good ideas for those sites. WABA and other bike groups are probably talking to Alexandria already, but the more awareness about the new opportunities, the better.

http://goo.gl/maps/CTH5M

Topic

[chris_s]

It so happens Alexandria is updating their Bicycle & Pedestrian Master Plan this year. I’ll see if I can dig up the appropriate place to send suggestions for it. If anybody else knows, please chime in.

[KLizotte]

Good opportunity to install a velodrome?!

[PotomacCyclist]

There’s enough space at the coal plant for TWO velodromes. Or a velodrome and a BMX bike obstacle course. Not that I ever do any BMX riding. But if they ever built an Olympic BMX course there, I might be tempted to try it out.

[Terpfan]

I would rather they pave over the tracks all the way from Pendleton up through Slaters and then loop it behind Buzz up to the sidewalk there so folks go under the bridge or over the Monroe Ave bridge. The path is in horrible shape along the area from Pendleton all the way to the power plant. Plus, that merger onto Union is annoying as it’s a T intersection sans any stop signs for anyone involved. If you looped it with train track then the line of sight becomes much better there.

As for the terminals, I just have a bad feeling they’re going to be “mixed use,” but really actually high-end condos with a lot of traffic coming in and out of them. I think Union really isn’t designed to handle much more traffic then it has so I can see the city putting in stop lights. Not something I’m looking forward to on my bike…unless they heed your advice and build us a whole nice trail right along the river there; I’m not holding my breath. I also don’t live in the city (anymore), but it is a very very contentious debate locally–particularly given supposed ownership by some elected officials, but that’s a tale for another day.

The power plant offers so much potential, but who knows what they will do with it. Can you imagine if they did turn the railroad tracks into a path? It would really link up Crystal City, Old Town, and Del Ray well. Then all they need to do is figure out how to connect some of the neighborhoods past the beltway (Rose Hill, Penn Daw, Groveton, etc) and they would really be doing awesome.

[PotomacCyclist]

@chris_s 54687 wrote:

It so happens Alexandria is updating their Bicycle & Pedestrian Master Plan this year. I’ll see if I can dig up the appropriate place to send suggestions for it. If anybody else knows, please chime in.

Maybe the Alexandria Local Motion website?

http://alexandriava.gov/localmotion/info/default.aspx?id=11418

The Alexandria Transportation Master Plan:

http://alexandriava.gov/localmotion/info/default.aspx?id=14184

The contact info is located at the bottom right of every page on the site.

There’s also the Alexandria Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alexandria-Bicycle-and-Pedestrian-Advisory-Committee/112205025523158

and here: https://sites.google.com/site/alexandriabpac/

[Author]

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