Route 7 Advice

[Drewdane]

I wouldn’t do it – that stretch terrifies me when I’m driving, I wouldn’t go near it on a bike. I’d stick to the back roads. YMMV.

[Phatboing]

@eminva 93665 wrote:

Hello —

Does anyone routinely ride on Route 7 between the beltway and the W&OD? Have you ever done it? Have you seen others doing it?

Liz

I’ve done it from Tysons to Falls Church on several occasions (usually involving beer or coffee acquisitions at Trader Joe), and yes, for route 7, sidewalk is the only sensible option. But if you go at a fast-pedestrian-not-slow-vehicle speed, it’s not terrible.

The north side of 7 has sidewalk all the way through, and that’s usually what I use – all the better to keep an eye on people heading towards on-ramps. The 66 off-ramp near West Falls Church is probably the most harrowing – the line of sight is not really clear, so you’ll likely want to make the crossings with urgency. Then in Falls Church, entrances to the shopping center (the one with the Giant) have poor visibility for both drivers and pedestrians, so watch out there.

If you’re up for the extra mileage, another option is to continue on 7 until Gallows, and then come down Gallows to the W&OD. The 495 ramps will get your blood up, but there’s visibility and stuff.

[americancyclo]

I regularly ride down 7 from Shreve to the Library to pick up my daughter.

Westbound is easier, since there is a sidewalk on the north side of the street. Lately though (since we’ve switched from a trailer to a trail-a-bike), I ride on the shoulder of Route 7 from Shreve to Pimmit. The afternoon merges aren’t that bad, and there is room to maneuver. I usually take the farthest rigth lane just before Idylwood and try to ramp up as fast as i can in the slip lane between there and Pimmit. It’s downhill, so I don’t impede traffic too much. I cut in to the Trader Joe’s Parking Lot and then get on the sidewalk between Trader Joe’s and the Library. The library road connects to the office park just past the library that ends up at the light at Marshall, so that’s a good option too, if you’re going west.

I haven’t even ridden eastbound (with or without child) but I have seen a few that do. Just be careful on the ramp merges. If you get the light leaving Marshall, you should be able to find some space, but the hill up to Idylwood might be problematic, particularly with all the lane jostling to get in the 66 ramp lane.

Good luck!

[Steve O]

@eminva 93665 wrote:

Hello —

Does anyone routinely ride on Route 7 between the beltway and the W&OD? Have you ever done it? Have you seen others doing it?

There are sections with a shoulder and sections with a sidewalk, but some sections have neither. And of course there are hills, I-66 on/off ramps, etc. Generally I don’t like riding on the sidewalk but I could swallow my pride, I suppose.

The blocks closest to the W&OD are probably fine, I’m guessing, due to the volume of traffic and many signals.

Liz

I’m with Drewdane; I wouldn’t do it. And I ride on the Whitehurst!

Check to see if Mohegan Drive connects through to the neighborhood to Los Pueblos. Google maps show them disconnected, but the satellite view shows it may be a passage. If so, then you have a relatively short route anyway.

From Marshall check this out:
Mohegan off the east side of the school
Through the (maybe) passage to Los Pueblos
Right on Pimmit
Left on Idyl
Left on Idylwood
Right on Barbour
Left on Venice (or left on Pinecastle)
Right on Pinecastle
Negotiate yourself back onto the trail

Good luck!

[americancyclo]

@eminva 93665 wrote:

I’m finding backtracking via Idylwood tedious and congested.

I’m very bored of the grind up Pimmit and waiting for a break in traffic to open up at the intersection of Idyl Ln and Idylwood. The ride down Barbour is nice though!

Don’t you know the SRTS person for Marshall? Can they help out with anything here?

Mohegan needs to have that fence taken down. That would improve the route a bit.
A connection to Providence St would be nice too.

Ideally, there would be a MUP on the along the 495 right of way that went from the W&OD at Idylwood Park north behind the Renaissance to connect with Marshall.

[americancyclo]

@Steve O 93675 wrote:

I’m with Drewdane; I wouldn’t do it. And I ride on the Whitehurst!

Check to see if Mohegan Drive connects through to the neighborhood to Los Pueblos. Google maps show them disconnected, but the satellite view shows it may be a passage. If so, then you have a relatively short route anyway.

Mohegan does not connect. There is a 9 ft high chain link fence to separate the apartments from the condos. Read whatever you’d like in to that based on demographics.

@Steve O 93675 wrote:

Right on Pimmit
Left on Idyl
Left on Idylwood
Right on Barbour
Left on Venice (or left on Pinecastle)
Right on Pinecastle
Negotiate yourself back onto the trail

Good luck!

I think this is the route she already takes.

[eminva]

@Steve O 93675 wrote:

From Marshall check this out:
Mohegan off the east side of the school
Through the (maybe) passage to Los Pueblos
Right on Pimmit
Left on Idyl
Left on Idylwood
Right on Barbour
Left on Venice (or left on Pinecastle)
Right on Pinecastle
Negotiate yourself back onto the trail

Good luck!

This is the route I take although as americancyclo points out, Mohegan is closed. I bolded the worst part above. That left is difficult; you are coming up a fairly steep hill so sight lines aren’t great, which doesn’t really matter because there is a long line of cars also trying to make that turn. Do you wait in line or ride up alongside of them and try to piggyback when a motorist gets a break and makes his turn? The problem with the latter is that you don’t really have a shoulder once you turn and you sort of have to figure out how to slot yourself into the traffic, if you turn simultaneously with a car.

Also, we figured out that riding through the townhouses is kind of a bad idea; there is a lot of spillover kiss and ride and students-who-drive-and park traffic through there. It is better just to just to ride on the Route 7 sidewalk to the school entrance. There aren’t any driveways there and very little foot traffic.

Thanks everyone, all the responses are helpful.

Liz

Edited to add: I agree with americancyclo on the need for a Providence cut through, or something along those lines. Don’t know the SRTS coordinator but I will try to find out. Andrew’s is the only bike at the racks so there may not be a huge groundswell for change, though.

[n18]

I have ridden RT7 area many times, usually on the sidewalk. The only area with no sidewalk from 7-Corner to Tysons Corner is on the South/West just before and after I-66 intersection, from Dale Dr to Idylwood RD. The North/East side always have a sidewalk. There used to be no sidewalk when approaching I-495 on the North side, but they built this sidewalk ramp to a service road, then sidewalks with curb cuts all the way to Gallows RD/International Dr intersection. The South/West side around I-495 has sidewalks and curb cuts too. There used to be no sidewalk west of I-495 intersection, but they built it around the same time they improved the bridge as shown in this StreetView.

Here is the shortest option, but it involves using the sidewalk in some places, particularly on RT7. I have not used Barbour Rd/Idylwood part, but it’s a climb up Barbour Rd, and downhill on Idylwood Rd.

Here is another option that involves sidewalk use that uses part of Shreve RD as a shortcut. There is a rough paved path now mostly gravel on the south side of Shreve RD. You don’t see it from W&OD intersection, but there is an access to it at this spot where people sit on some chairs.

The only problem with using the sidewalk around I-66 area is that people walk from/to West Falls Church Metro where there is only one side with sidewalk, on the North/East area until Idylwood intersection.

[americancyclo]

@eminva 93687 wrote:

That left is difficult; you are coming up a fairly steep hill so sight lines aren’t great, which doesn’t really matter because there is a long line of cars also trying to make that turn. Do you wait in line or ride up alongside of them and try to piggyback when a motorist gets a break and makes his turn? The problem with the latter is that you don’t really have a shoulder once you turn and you sort of have to figure out how to slot yourself into the traffic, if you turn simultaneously with a car.

I ride this route in the PM, so traffic patterns may be different. Summiting Idyl Ln, most all drivers are turning right on to Idylwood, so I usually move over to the left part of the lane around when I pass the bus stop. Sometimes I have to wait a while to turn left, other times, drivers on Idylwood waiting to turn left on to Idyl Ln will wave me through if the other direction is clear.

@eminva 93687 wrote:

Also, we figured out that riding through the townhouses is kind of a bad idea; there is a lot of spillover kiss and ride and students-who-drive-and park traffic through there.

it’s totally empty by the time I go through there, if I go that route. Good illustration of the difference in time of day.

@eminva 93687 wrote:

Edited to add: I agree with americancyclo on the need for a Providence cut through, or something along those lines. Don’t know the SRTS coordinator but I will try to find out. Andrew’s is the only bike at the racks so there may not be a huge groundswell for change, though.

Sally Smallwood, Safe Routes to School Coordinator

contact info found on this page: http://www.fcps.edu/fts/safety-security/safety/saferoutes.shtml

[Rockford10]

@americancyclo 93678 wrote:

There is a 9 ft high chain link fence to separate the apartments from the condos. Read whatever you’d like in to that based on demographics.

Yeah, DKel and I used to live in those apartments. The mugging that occurred because of our drug-dealing neighbor made us realize we really needed to spend more on housing.

[dkel]

@Steve O 93675 wrote:

Mohegan off the east side of the school
Through the (maybe) passage to Los Pueblos
Right on Pimmit
Left on Idyl
Left on Idylwood
Right on Barbour
Left on Venice (or left on Pinecastle)
Right on Pinecastle
Negotiate yourself back onto the trail

If you don’t like the left on Idylwood, you could go:
Right on Idylwood
Left on Hurst
Left on Virginia Ln

That puts you at the top of the hill over 66, where you can rejoin the W&OD either there at the top, or at the bottom of the hill by Shreve. It’s only a little further than cutting through Barbour.

[cephas]

I’ve done it when in a hurry or feeling brave. I take the left 6 inches of the left lane to avoid the ramps, and, so far, have survived/avoided needing an ambulance. No, really, besides less than a handful of impatient drivers in my many traversings of that section, no incidents to speak of.

Sent from planet ***** on my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Steve O]

@americancyclo 93678 wrote:

Mohegan does not connect. There is a 9 ft high chain link fence to separate the apartments from the condos. Read whatever you’d like in to that based on demographics.

I once wrote a blog post on another fence in another place. It may or may not be similar.

[DaveS]

@eminva 93665 wrote:

I’m finding backtracking via Idylwood tedious and congested.

Dropping down to Great Falls street in McLean may be something to consider. From 7 its all blessedly downhill. You could go Idylwood to Great Fallls to W&OD (Idylwood on that end was just repaved) or Lisle (you don’t need to peddle a single time) to Olney to Magarity to Great Falls to W&OD. I haven’t traveled that length of Great Falls in that direction in the morning but I cross it a lot and it doesn’t look like a lot of traffic is headed south in the morning. Once in McLean you could mix it up some days too: Idylwood-Kirby-Westmoreland-W&OD; Idylwood-Kirby-Powhatan (KOM opportunity)-Sycamore-W&OD.

Dave

[Drewdane]

I would ride on the sidewalk (cut over to the feeder lane in front of Oak Street Apts/Whole Foods when it starts) to Pimmit, turn right, then left on Idyl, and then turn right on Idylwood to Virginia Lane (or cut through on Hurst street, which is less crowded and avoids a little climb on VA lane), and join the WOD at the top of the hill.

[Author]

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