Roosevelt Island Parking Area Modifications

[Geoff]

@Fast Friendly Guy 78546 wrote:

…REPLACE TROLLHEIM plank bridge!

I’m with you. I fell and got hurt bad there a year and a half back. Couldn’t ride for months. Still have problems in one of my hands.

[oldbikechick]

Since I travel through regularly, I definitely agree that:

-bikes need to be separate from the parking lot. Any situation where cars are backing up into a bike lane is a recipe for disaster.
-the 90 degree turn is problematic. Mainly because the majority of cyclists don’t want to slow down enough to make the turn, so they go through the parking lot (see above). Also, signage is poor, and in the dark, I could imagine someone going straight into the river after going across the crosswalk from west to east if they were unfamiliar with the area.
-So, I would support both alternatives 1 and 2. In addition to cost considerations, it would also be good to know how long the upgrades will take. Is there one alternative that takes more time (and therefore more disruptions to trail users passing through there) than the other?

[dasgeh]

@oldbikechick 78559 wrote:

Since I travel through regularly, I definitely agree that:

-bikes need to be separate from the parking lot. Any situation where cars are backing up into a bike lane is a recipe for disaster.
-the 90 degree turn is problematic. Mainly because the majority of cyclists don’t want to slow down enough to make the turn, so they go through the parking lot (see above). Also, signage is poor, and in the dark, I could imagine someone going straight into the river after going across the crosswalk from west to east if they were unfamiliar with the area.
-So, I would support both alternatives 1 and 2. In addition to cost considerations, it would also be good to know how long the upgrades will take. Is there one alternative that takes more time (and therefore more disruptions to trail users passing through there) than the other?

As someone who goes through there EVERY DAY during commuting hours, and someone who rides slowly enough to never have gone down on the Trollheim (sorry to brake the streak), I can tell you that I use the parking lot in large part because of pedestrians on the trail. There are so few cars in the parking lots in commuting hours, that those conflicts are not the biggest deal. I find that the 90 degree turns are really a safety issue when cars are around — it’s really hard to see that bikes are going to cross the driveway when you’re in a car.

Any alternative that keeps ped and bikes on the same surface is going to that issue worse than how it is today for commuters.

[Geoff]

@dasgeh 78592 wrote:

As someone who … rides slowly enough to never have gone down on the Trollheim …

Speed isn’t necessarily the issue on the Trollheim. While it was a factor in my first fall, my second fall was when I was being very cautious and slow, having learned to respect the trolls. After picking myself up, I was amazed to find that, just standing there holding the bike by seat and handlebars, the bike’s wheels were still sliding out from under it. It was that slippery. Algae? So now, under some conditions, I treat those planks like glare ice.

I should also say that the entire walkway was not as slippery as that one patch. Other riders were rolling by without problems.

I wonder: whatever made this patch so slippery, would it effect any other surface or material used there?

[Drewdane]

@dbb 78463 wrote:

Just got this email from the NPS.

George Washington Memorial Parkway Seeks Public Comment on Plans to Improve Safety on the Mount Vernon Trail at Theodore Roosevelt Island Parking Lot

McLean, VA – The George Washington Memorial Parkway, a unit of the National Park Service (NPS), seeks public comments on proposed alternatives for a Mount Vernon Trail safety improvement project at the Theodore Roosevelt Island Parking Lots. This project seeks to improve visitor experience and safety by realigning a segment of the Mount Vernon Trail and reconfiguring the entry to the Theodore Roosevelt Island pedestrian bridge. More information regarding the project, including purpose and need, site characteristics and preliminary alternatives are available on the George Washington Memorial Parkway website at: http://www.nps.gov/gwmp/parkmgmt/planning.htm.

The George Washington Memorial Parkway is accepting public feedback on the proposed alternatives presented from Tuesday, March 4 to Wednesday, April 2, 2014. During this period, people are invited to identify any issues or concerns they might have, so the NPS can appropriately consider them in the preparation of a final alternative. Comments may be submitted electronically on the project website at: http://parkplanning.nps.gov/mvtatri. Written comments may be mailed to: Superintendent, George Washington Memorial Parkway, c/o Turkey Run Park, McLean, VA 22101.

-National Park Service-

i’ve not had a chance to visit the site yet. The Park Service uses our comments to help determine the most appropriate course of action. This is an opportunity to shape our bicycling facilities.

So what’s next?

[Drewdane]

@Drewdane 92965 wrote:

So what’s next?

Does anyone have updated info re: the status of this? My emails to NPS have gone unanswered.

[chris_s]

@Drewdane 138576 wrote:

Does anyone have updated info re: the status of this? My emails to NPS have gone unanswered.

At the January Arlington BAC meeting, someone (fairly high up) from NPS said that the TR Island parking lot trail realignment was moving forward this year, IIRC.

[Drewdane]

I was pleasantly surprised this morning to see they’ve begun work! Trail has been cut in preparation for leveling and paving. I’m a little concerned that cyclists will be routed across the entrance to the parking lot; hopefully there will be signage or something to encourage drivers to turn in with caution.

[Steve O]

@Drewdane 155151 wrote:

I was pleasantly surprised this morning to see they’ve begun work! Trail has been cut in preparation for leveling and paving. I’m a little concerned that cyclists will be routed across the entrance to the parking lot; hopefully there will be signage or something to encourage drivers to turn in with caution.

That should not be the case. Click on the links in Chris_s’s post earlier and you can see renderings of alternatives 1&2. I can’t recall which of those it is, but both of them have the crossing not far from where it is now, except diagonally–eliminating the 90 degree turns. Cars are supposed to have stop signs with the trail users getting the ROW.

I’ll be curious to see if they replace the useless bollard at the bottom of the bridge.

[bobco85]

@Drewdane 155151 wrote:

I was pleasantly surprised this morning to see they’ve begun work! Trail has been cut in preparation for leveling and paving. I’m a little concerned that cyclists will be routed across the entrance to the parking lot; hopefully there will be signage or something to encourage drivers to turn in with caution.

Do you mean during construction? Yesterday, I saw what looked to be preparations for a temporary crossing at the parking lot entrance, and I figure that trail-users will be guided onto that. I, too, am concerned that drivers coming off the GWMP will not be able to stop for trail-users in time because they are not expecting the crossing. Hopefully signage will help, but it’s still going to be dicey.

[Tim Kelley]

A more current thread on this is here: http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?11586-TR-Island-Parking-Lot-Pending-Work

[Drewdane]

@bobco85 155171 wrote:

Do you mean during construction? Yesterday, I saw what looked to be preparations for a temporary crossing at the parking lot entrance, and I figure that trail-users will be guided onto that. I, too, am concerned that drivers coming off the GWMP will not be able to stop for trail-users in time because they are not expecting the crossing. Hopefully signage will help, but it’s still going to be dicey.

I’m not an architect, but to my untrained eye it looks as if they are preparing to permanently reroute the trail from the bottom of the corkscrew across the entrance to the lot, run it parallel to the road, and rejoin the existing trail where the retaining wall begins.

[bobco85]

@Tim Kelley 155174 wrote:

A more current thread on this is here: http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?11586-TR-Island-Parking-Lot-Pending-Work

I’m moving all my future posts on this topic to this thread since it has the updated info.

[Drewdane]

@bobco85 155187 wrote:

I’m moving all my future posts on this topic to this thread since it has the updated info.

Honestly, I think this thread is more comprehensive and thus more useful.

[Drewdane]

@Steve O 155165 wrote:

That should not be the case. Click on the links in Chris_s’s post earlier and you can see renderings of alternatives 1&2. I can’t recall which of those it is, but both of them have the crossing not far from where it is now, except diagonally–eliminating the 90 degree turns. Cars are supposed to have stop signs with the trail users getting the ROW.

I’ll be curious to see if they replace the useless bollard at the bottom of the bridge.

What I saw closely mirrors Alternative 4, which is listed as “dismissed” in the NPS powerpoint, so maybe it is a temporary mulch trail. I suppose time will tell.

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