Route advice – McLean

[bentbike33]

@wheels&wings 193384 wrote:

Hi all – Is anyone familiar with the roads in McLean? This weekend I need to go to an address on Carlton Place off Swinks Mill Road just south of Scotts Run Nature Preserve and Georgetown Pike in McLean. This is north of Tyson’s. Starting near Falls Church, it looks like a pretty straight shot via Great Falls Street and Swinks Mill. But are any of these streets safe on a bike?
Thanks! w&w

Great Falls Street becomes Lewinsville Rd. at about the intersection with 123. Once you cross the beltway, Lewinsville Rd. gets steep and kind of narrow. I have ridden it eastbound where you can bomb down the hill at traffic speeds, but not westbound. There is some off-street “infrastructure” on the wrong side of Lewinsville Rd. that may be a good option westbound. Swinks Mill Rd. does not register as popular in the Strava Global Heatmap, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad, and I have not ridden it.

Another way to avoid most of the worst of Lewinsville Rd. would be to take Timberly to Huntmaster to Bridle Path to Swinks Mill. Just found that on the map.

Another option westbound is Westmoreland to Chain Bridge through downtown McLean to Churchill, to Dead Run Rd (not as bad as is sounds) to Georgetown Pike. It’s all downhill from the Georgetown Pike beltway crossing to Swinks Mill, although Georgetown Pike is pretty narrow there too.

Your problem of course, is that you are venturing here into Cartopia. The roads that go anywhere are narrow, windy, and hilly, and otherwise look like the “professional driver on closed course” in the BMW commercial, which of course the BMW (and Lexus and Mercedes, etc.) drivers think they are starring in.

If bikes weren’t banned from the Scotts Run Nature Preserve trails, there would be a nice mountain bike option, but alas.

[wheelswings]

Thanks tons, bentbike33. I’m happy to climb hills, but yeah – it’s the cars that scare me on those narrow and windy roads. I will study your options. Based on the Zillow numbers in that neighborhood, I think you’re right that it will be BMWs, Lexus, and Mercedes whipping by me, and maybe a Porsche or two.

[Subby]

Lewinsville Road is fine – there is a climb with almost no shoulder up from the beltway, but there is a generous paved path that runs to your left along that section that you can hop on. The right turn on to Swinks Mill is not too far up.

On the return I would just continue on Swinks Mill all the way down to the bottom and then take a right on Georgetown Pike. There is a good shoulder there, and you can climb up through the beltway interchange and take a right on Balls Hill Road. At the intersection of Balls Hill and Old Dominion, bear left on Old Dominion and take that across 123 and then take a right on Old Chain Bridge in the middle of McLean. Follow that to Westmoreland and take a left and then you know what to do from there

[huskerdont]

@Subby 193394 wrote:

Lewinsville Road is fine – there is a climb with almost no shoulder up from the beltway, but there is a generous paved path that runs to your left along that section that you can hop on. The right turn on to Swinks Mill is not too far up.

On the return I would just continue on Swinks Mill all the way down to the bottom and then take a right on Georgetown Pike. There is a good shoulder there, and you can climb up through the beltway interchange and take a right on Balls Hill Road. At the intersection of Balls Hill and Old Dominion, bear left on Old Dominion and take that across 123 and then take a right on Old Chain Bridge in the middle of McLean. Follow that to Westmoreland and take a left and then you know what to do from there

For those not covered by the optional death and dismemberment plan, Churchill Road is a nice alternative to Old Dominion from Balls Hill. And it turns into Old Chain Bridge Road in McLean at the light at 123.

[wheelswings]

Huskerdont, Subby, and bentbike33: Thanks so much for your help with these routes. I definitely prefer steep climbs and extra mileage over getting hit, even if by a BMW with good insurance. And I’ve not yet signed up for the optional death and dismemberment plan.
So I guess I will try Great Falls St. and then get on the left side after crossing 123 and continue on Lewinsville (left side “infrastructure”) to Swinks Mill … or if it seems dicey I will cross over and try Timberly, Huntmaster and Bridal Path.
Swinks Mill itself isn’t bad?
And on the way back I’ll keep going north on Swinks Mill, then right/east on Georgetown Pike (shoulder), right on Balls Hill, left on Churchill (crossing 123, becoming Chain Bridge Rd), and then a left on Westmoreland. Sounds safe-ish?
Thanks!
w&w

[bentbike33]

@wheels&wings 193413 wrote:

Huskerdont, Subby, and bentbike33: Thanks so much for your help with these routes. I definitely prefer steep climbs and extra mileage over getting hit, even if by a BMW with good insurance. And I’ve not yet signed up for the optional death and dismemberment plan.
So I guess I will try Great Falls St. and then get on the left side after crossing 123 and continue on Lewinsville (left side “infrastructure”) to Swinks Mill … or if it seems dicey I will cross over and try Timberly, Huntmaster and Bridal Path.
Swinks Mill itself isn’t bad?
And on the way back I’ll keep going north on Swinks Mill, then right/east on Georgetown Pike (shoulder), right on Balls Hill, left on Churchill (crossing 123, becoming Chain Bridge Rd), and then a left on Westmoreland. Sounds safe-ish?
Thanks!
w&w

Lewinsville does not get narrow until after Timberly, in fact there is a right-turn lane for Timberly starting just after the beltway bridge (which has bike lanes), so I would go that way rather than crossing back and forth over Lewinsville. There is also a paved off-road trail next to west-bound Lewinsville between about Windy Hill Rd. (last light before beltway) and the betway bridge. Lewinsville can be busy on Saturdays because of the nearby Spring Hill Rec center and its vast tracts of soccer fields.

[huskerdont]

I have never ventured outside the Beltway in that area, but inside, Great Falls and Balls Hill are okay, Westmoreland is good, and Churchill is a neighborhood thoroughfare with a low speed limit. Chain Bridge just has a lot of shopping center and business park entrances with all the hazards those present, but people are generally not driving that fast.

[huskerdont]

@wheels&wings 193384 wrote:

Hi all – Is anyone familiar with the roads in McLean? This weekend I need to go to an address on Carlton Place off Swinks Mill Road just south of Scotts Run Nature Preserve and Georgetown Pike in McLean. This is north of Tyson’s. Starting near Falls Church, it looks like a pretty straight shot via Great Falls Street and Swinks Mill. But are any of these streets safe on a bike?
Thanks! w&w

How did this work out, if you don’t mind my asking?

[Subby]

@huskerdont 193553 wrote:

How did this work out, if you don’t mind my asking?

She talked about it on Strava a little but the main issue was that, unbeknownst to me at least, Swinks Mill is closed between Old Dominion and Georgetown Pike.

[wheelswings]

Yes!
The route into McLean was very straightforward and I especially liked the little detour via Timberly to minimize the time on Lewinsville. After the event, I continued north on Swinks Mill and that’s when I came to the road closure, just south of Georgetown Pike. Bentbike suggested the bridge may have swept away in the July 8 floods. So I didn’t get to try the rest of the route, just retraced my steps, but it’s good to know about those roads for future. I was a little nervous venturing into Cartopia so I used lots of lights and dressed like a freak.

[Steve O]

@Subby 193565 wrote:

… unbeknownst to me at least, Swinks Mill is closed between Old Dominion and Georgetown Pike.

Yeah, Kirby got all the press.
Here’s the update: https://www.virginiadot.org/newsroom/northern-virginia/2019/update-on-repairs-to-kirby-and-swinks-mill-roads-in-mclean9-12-2019.asp

Swinks Mill Road at Scotts Run (VA-685)

• Crews continue work to reconstruct the bridge deck, make extensive repairs to substructure and the approaching roadway.
• In the last month, crews excavated and poured concrete working surfaces on the downstream side on which the footers will be built, Installed rebar and poured two footers on the downstream side, installed rebar and support for the stem wall, that joins the foundation to the vertical wallsof the bridge, on the downstream right-side abutment (leg of bridge), and partially installed rebar for stem wall on the downstream left-side abutment.
• Work is on schedule to be complete by the end of September.

Kirby Road at Pimmit Run (VA-695)

• In total, hundreds of feet of the road and bridge saw extensive damage.
• Martins Construction Corporation has been awarded a $2.1 million emergency contract for repairs, and work is anticipated to begin the week of Sept. 23. The work includes:
  • Relocation of Little Pimmit Run to its previous stream alignment in compliance with federal/state permitting agencies
  • Rebuilding the washed-out section of Kirby Road with concrete and rip rap
  • Replacement of a more than 50-year-old 24-inch sanitary sewer line
  • Reconstruction of the bridge over Pimmit Run with work on the abutments, wing walls, parapets, bridge deck, and approaches
• Access to all homes will be maintained during the work. The road is expected to safely reopen to through traffic in mid-December, and final asphalt and lane striping will continue through May 2020.

Looking at the photos of the original damage, you probably could have gone through and portaged over the damaged road.

[Author]

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