Sad Story of Infrastructure Investment Failure

[bentbike33]

https://www.nps.gov/gwmp/learn/news/interior-department-announces-major-infrastructure-investment-for-the-george-washington-memorial-parkway.htm

TL;DR: $161 million to rebuild the north end of the GWMP from Spout Run to I-495. No mention of any non-motor-vehicle facility. Some park that is.

[huskerdont]

It’s the topography! No one can ride a bike where there be hills or bumps. /s

https://www.insidenova.com/news/arlington/superintendent-of-g-w-parkway-outlines-slew-of-upcoming-projects/article_6f17747c-760a-11e8-9fdb-f3592198af61.html

‘Despite the hopes of some in the audience, Romero said the roadway upgrades will not result in higher speed limits on the parkway. The park service also does not plan to install a bicycle trail along the parkway north of Theodore Roosevelt Island, in part because of topography, he said.’

Seriously wasted opportunity here. At the very least, there needs to be some bike/ped access across the American Legion Bridge. Could link that up from Balls Hill at Georgetown Pike if they’re going to fail so miserably with the parkway.

[ginacico]

@huskerdont 212121 wrote:

At the very least, there needs to be some bike/ped access across the American Legion Bridge. Could link that up from Balls Hill at Georgetown Pike if they’re going to fail so miserably with the parkway.

Oh, they’ll build a path on American Legion Bridge during its planned expansion. But stupidly (maybe typically?) they don’t want to connect it to existing bike routes.

Here’s the WABA blurb and petition to sign.

[scoot]

Amazing how topography that is too hostile for a trail can somehow be conducive to a four-lane divided automobile raceway.

[Meh]

@ginacico 212122 wrote:

Oh, they’ll build a path on American Legion Bridge during its planned expansion. But stupidly (maybe typically?) they don’t want to connect it to existing bike routes.

.

I kinda don’t mind that, honestly – putting the connection to MacArthur just means we’ll all be using the connector to the east side of the aqueduct bridge. Yes, I know it will mean hike-a-bike for most.

@scoot 212123 wrote:

Amazing how topography that is too hostile for a trail can somehow be conducive to a four-lane divided automobile raceway.

Eh, I’ve only hiked the PHT bits below Chain Bridge, how is it upstream of that? (Not sure I want those paved, either, they’re fun in an urban scrambling way).

[Mongo]

Am I missing something, or is there no connection to any trail on the Virginia side of the bridge?

[Meh]

@Mongo 212140 wrote:

Am I missing something, or is there no connection to any trail on the Virginia side of the bridge?

It looks like we can expect Balls Hill to Westmoreland to get a lot more popular – it’s about the only existing connection down there unless they do a flyover to the Scott’s Run/Swinks Mill side.

[huskerdont]

“Eh, I’ve only hiked the PHT bits below Chain Bridge, how is it upstream of that? (Not sure I want those paved, either, they’re fun in an urban scrambling way).”

The PHT above Chain Bridge goes inland for a bit, along Pimmit and through Fort Marcy Park before abutting the river again a couple of miles below Turkey Run. It *sort of* parallels the parkway, in a zig-zaggy, up-and-down sort of way. It’s a hiking trail and yeah, it shouldn’t be paved.

People drive really fast on the north part of the parkway; 65-70 mph is not out of the ordinary even though the limit is 45. There would need to be some sort of buffer between the road and the trail, and I guess it’s just too much to expect any efforts at alternative infrastructure or slowing things down. I would settle for being able to get from Balls Hill to MacArthur via the bridge. I did sign the petition.

[mstone]

@Mongo 212140 wrote:

Am I missing something, or is there no connection to any trail on the Virginia side of the bridge?

there are no bike trails on the virginia side of the bridge. they’re supposed to build one along 495, but seeing how quickly the i66 trail was downgraded I’ll withhold judgment on that. in theory you could connect to the PHT but I don’t really see much value in doing so (it’s a long walk to there from anywhere, so the number of people doing that would probably be really low). given the nature of the PHT you could always just put in a big ladder down from the bridge sometime in the future if it seemed necessary.

[Mongo]

@mstone 212147 wrote:

there are no bike trails on the virginia side of the bridge. they’re supposed to build one along 495, but seeing how quickly the i66 trail was downgraded I’ll withhold judgment on that. in theory you could connect to the PHT but I don’t really see much value in doing so (it’s a long walk to there from anywhere, so the number of people doing that would probably be really low). given the nature of the PHT you could always just put in a big ladder down from the bridge sometime in the future if it seemed necessary.

Let me rephrase that from being no trail connections to any connections of any type. It seems to me that there would be no way to get off in Virginia after crossing the bridge.

[mstone]

@Mongo 212148 wrote:

Let me rephrase that from being no trail connections to any connections of any type. It seems to me that there would be no way to get off in Virginia after crossing the bridge.

hmm. maybe there are too many bridges being discussed in this thread. assuming we’re talking about the legion bridge IIRC the design documents had it dumping onto surface streets (Live Oak Dr?) and/or a planned 495 trail. which is fine as far as it goes–the MD side is a bigger face palm, since there’s an actual trail along the potomac there, which a lot of people want to get to, that you simply won’t be allowed to access because reasons. (with the ferry gone, that’s the only opportunity to get to the C&O from virginia between chain bridge & point of rocks, and in the planned future the only plausible safe cycling route to take your kids from northern virginia to the C&O [assuming a 495 trail gets built from the legion bridge to Tysons].)

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