Route advice: Eisenhower to GUH

[CaseyKane50]

Here are some options.

1) Stay on Eisenhower Avenue (go past the Hoffman Building and the Metro) until you hit the traffic circle, go around the circle onto Holland, turn right on Jamison Avenue, turn right on South West Street, turn right onto Roundhouse Street (this is a private road and parking lot, but bikes are allowed to proceed through), turn right onto Payne, turn left onto Wilkes Street. You will stay on Wilkes Street through the Wilkes Street Tunnel. Turn left onto Union and proceed north, bear to the left on Pendleton and then turn right onto the Mount Vernon Trail. (Note, there isn’t a trail marker at Pendleton, but the turn is just past the railroad tracks.)

2) Stay on Eisenhower until you see a set of office buildings on the right (just before the Telegraph Road overpass). Turn right into the Courtyard Hotel’s parking lot and then make an immediate left. This will take you underneath the overpass and put you onto Mill Street. You can then proceed on Mill until it becomes Jamison and follow #1 above.

3) Instead of turning right onto South West Street in #1 above, turn left and proceed to Cameron Street. Turn left on Cameron and then make a right onto Commonwealth (by the King Street Metro). I take this route in the winter and in bad weather, as it avoids some of the wooden boardwalks on the Mount Vernon Trail.

[KelOnWheels]

Cool! I will check those out

[Mr Plow]

@KelOnWheels 56073 wrote:

My sister-in-law has just finished thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail (woot!) and is going to be working at G’town University Hospital for a bit.

She’s looking at apartments on Eisenhower over near Van Dorn Metro and is wondering about cycling to work – anybody got advice for navigating around the Hoffman and up to the MVT?

Google Maps suggests Eisenhower>Mill Rd>Jamieson>Dulany>Diagonal>Commonwealth all the way up to 4MRT, MVT up to the Key Bridge, then 35th to O to the campus, up to Reservoir, and over to the hospital.

What say you, brave navigators of Old Town and Georgetown?

I commute Eisenhower to Foggy Bottom and this is essentially the way I typically take for the Virginia portion. The only real difference is the section around the King St. Metro.

Only buses are supposed to go straight at the intersection from Dulany to Diagonal crossing Duke St., so what I typically use is the pedestrian tunnel on the left side of Dulany that crosses under Duke St. It requires dismounting, or else the security guard will yell at you, but I find it the simplest way of dealing with that intersection. Not sure when they open the tunnel, but they lock it after 9 PM and all day Sunday.

Once past Duke St., I normally cut through the Metro parking lot instead of Diagonal, just to avoid a couple annoying lights. I then salmon about 15 yards up Cameron (never had any issues there) and turn left onto Commonwealth, which I take up to 4MR to MVT. No real hills this whole way and not many cars to deal with as well.

An alternative I sometimes take is after passing the King St. Metro, I take Cameron up to a trail that runs along the metro tracks toward the Braddock Metro. Then a left on Braddock Rd. and an immediate right onto Mt. Vernon Ave all the way up to Commonwealth. This is nice in that it goes right through Del Ray, but it also means dealing with a few more cars.

[KelOnWheels]

@Mr Plow 56108 wrote:

I commute Eisenhower to Foggy Bottom and this is essentially the way I typically take for the Virginia portion. The only real difference is the section around the King St. Metro.

Only buses are supposed to go straight at the intersection from Dulany to Diagonal crossing Duke St., so what I typically use is the pedestrian tunnel on the left side of Dulany that crosses under Duke St. It requires dismounting, or else the security guard will yell at you, but I find it the simplest way of dealing with that intersection. Not sure when they open the tunnel, but they lock it after 9 PM and all day Sunday.

That’s good to know – she’s probably going to be commuting late.

[KelOnWheels]

OK, new plan! How about from Mark Center to GUH?

Teh Googles says to ride up Beauregard to Walter Reed to get to 4MRT but that seems awfully trafficy.

[KLizotte]

Why doesn’t she look into apartments in Crystal City/Pentagon City. We’ve got gobs of them and we’re right on the MVT.

[lordofthemark]

@KelOnWheels 57659 wrote:

OK, new plan! How about from Mark Center to GUH?

Teh Googles says to ride up Beauregard to Walter Reed to get to 4MRT but that seems awfully trafficy.

Its been a long time since I biked in that area (an earlier foray into biking) but IIRC there’s a decent MUT type sidepath along Walter Reed from at least King (maybe from Seminary?) to the 4MRT. The area right around Beauregard and Seminary is probably the worst part.

[CaseyKane50]

@KelOnWheels 57659 wrote:

OK, new plan! How about from Mark Center to GUH?

Teh Googles says to ride up Beauregard to Walter Reed to get to 4MRT but that seems awfully trafficy.

A couple of options that incorporate the original trek from the Van Dorn Metro.

1. Beauregard head south to Richenbacher to Peagram to Holmes Run Trail and then follow the Eisenhower Trail
2. Beauregard head north to Seminary (there is a bridge over I-395, you take the sidewalk on the north side of Seminary) turn right on Pickett, bear right on to Peagram to Holmes Run Trail and then follow the Eisenhower Trail

[CaseyKane50]

@lordofthemark 57677 wrote:

Its been a long time since I biked in that area (an earlier foray into biking) but IIRC there’s a decent MUT type sidepath along Walter Reed from at least King (maybe from Seminary?) to the 4MRT. The area right around Beauregard and Seminary is probably the worst part.

No bike trail on Beauregard, you have to ride on the street or the sidewalk (which is now legal in Alexandria ). Once on Walter Reed there is a bike lane on the north side and a pike path on the south side.

Going south on Walter Reed when you cross King is not much fun either.

[lordofthemark]

@CaseyKane50 57684 wrote:

No bike trail on Beauregard, you have to ride on the street or the sidewalk (which is now legal in Alexandria ). Once on Walter Reed there is a bike lane on the north side and a pike path on the south side.

Going south on Walter Reed when you cross King is not much fun either.

Okay, back when I did it I was coming up from Hampton (a route from Park Center) and I probably took the sidewalk on King (there were few peds there then, and I didnt know about the City law on sidewalk cycling) up to the King and Walter Reed intersection, and dismounted for the crossing.

[Mr Plow]

@KelOnWheels 57659 wrote:

OK, new plan! How about from Mark Center to GUH?

Teh Googles says to ride up Beauregard to Walter Reed to get to 4MRT but that seems awfully trafficy.

That section of Beauregard up until King St. is definitely trafficy, but is probably the best and only option. I’ve only ever ridden that road on weekends, so not commuting hours, but someone who is comfortable with road riding should be fine. If she’s not comfortable riding with traffic, it’s only a little bit of sidewalk riding. A possible option if starting out in the neighborhoods north of Beauregard would be to cut through the NVCC campus via Dawes and Campus Lane, which would avoid most of the bad sections.

Once past King St. and onto Walter Reed, there is a small trail on the north side of Walter Reed, but the road is signed as a shared lane, so I normally just take the road.
So other than Beauregard, it should be fine. Though I can’t say I’d be looking forward to the end of that return commute, going up the hill from 4MR to the Mark Center.

[KelOnWheels]

She has arrived! We’ll have to scope out a route and report back.

[KelOnWheels]

Alright, we’re going to venture out this weekend.

I think we’ll try Fillmore to Dawes, cut through the NVCC campus and hit that last bit of Beauregard up to Walter Reed.

[KelOnWheels]

Just in case anyone’s trying this at home… that handy-looking piece of trail between the Holmes Run Trail and Leverett Ct does not exist. It’s a ravine.

[ShawnoftheDread]

@KelOnWheels 60007 wrote:

Just in case anyone’s trying this at home… that handy-looking piece of trail between the Holmes Run Trail and Leverett Ct does not exist. It’s a ravine.

A ravine is no match for a Space Horse.

[Author]

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