Sep 2020 Road & Trail conditions

[dbb]

Some shots from today. Work was occurring, apparently to lower the utility boxes to grade. As can be seen, the turn for the current detour continues to challenge the construction team (and their vehicles) as well as cyclists.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]21696[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]21697[/ATTACH]

The second photo show the geometry failure. Instead of having cyclists heading east executing a 90 degree left turn with a clean (straight) exit entering the underpass under I-66, the current approach is going about 135 degrees around the circle and then a right turn off the trail to the underpass. For that right turn, cyclists would need to avoid the fire hydrant.

I fear my concerns will play out when the underpass reopens.

[ursus]

@bentbike33 202404 wrote:

So that’s why they built the little trail extension on the east side of Sandburg St. to Iliff Dr.

Did they also build an extension along Gallows? That seems more important than Sandburg. I can see from the tweet that they have made a bike lane along Iliff and put every bollard in northern VA to use. :rolleyes:

Edit: Never mind. It is all explained here https://www.novaparks.com/parks/washington-and-old-dominion-railroad-regional-park/updates/wod-trail-detour-sandburg-st-to.

[zsionakides]

@ursus 202408 wrote:

Did they also build an extension along Gallows? That seems more important than Sandburg. I can see from the tweet that they have made a bike lane along Iliff and put every bollard in northern VA to use. :rolleyes:

Edit: Never mind. It is all explained here https://www.novaparks.com/parks/washington-and-old-dominion-railroad-regional-park/updates/wod-trail-detour-sandburg-st-to.

It would be nice if some of these “temporary” trails could just be made permanent, even if they are simply connectors into the W&OD in the future.

[SarahBee]

@ursus 202408 wrote:

Did they also build an extension along Gallows? That seems more important than Sandburg. I can see from the tweet that they have made a bike lane along Iliff and put every bollard in northern VA to use. :rolleyes:

Edit: Never mind. It is all explained here https://www.novaparks.com/parks/washington-and-old-dominion-railroad-regional-park/updates/wod-trail-detour-sandburg-st-to.

Nope- Gallows is still pretty garbagey as far as bike lanes go. It’s such a missed opportunity to build and “urban style mixed use development” in Merrifield, but not have the urban multi-modal connectivity to make it really engaging and vibrant. Who else loves crossing 29 by bike??? [emoji43]

[dbb]

For those who haven’t been out the W&OD, be advised that the bike/ped overpass is progressing nicely. VDOT says the bridge (less landscaping and improvements below the bridge) will be done in Fall 2020.

A couple of pics from today

[ATTACH=CONFIG]21698[/ATTACH]
The east end of the bridge

[ATTACH=CONFIG]21699[/ATTACH]
The west end of the bridge

[ATTACH=CONFIG]21700[/ATTACH]
A park bench along the trail, with a nice setback to reduce conflicts

[dbb]

The PBL along 4th SW/NW is progressing. Now partially complete on both sides.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]21701[/ATTACH]

[dbehrend]

PG Parks reopened the bridge on the NE Branch of the Anacostia Tributary Trail in Riverdale Park. Thank you to Greenbelt for the update.

Neighbors said the reason PG Parks estimated it would take up to a year to replace the bridge was from plans to replace it with a design that would be less prone to future flood damage and to have it connect at street level.

I’m happy that it’s reopened and hopeful we’ll see a better bridge in a year or so.

[ursus]

@dbb 202419 wrote:

The PBL along 4th SW/NW is progressing. Now partially complete on both sides.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]21701[/ATTACH]

I hope that they remember to repave and paint from G St SW to the freeway when the construction on the east side is finished. Now the rest of 4th Street makes this block seem even more jarring than it used to seem.

[zsionakides]

@ursus 202403 wrote:

Another W&OD detour https://twitter.com/WODTrail/status/1310619472672284672

Starting on or around October 5th, Dominion Energy will begin performing major line work along the trail between Sandburg St and Gallows Rd in the Dunn Loring area. The construction is expected to continue well into next year and will require a detour of the trail onto Iliff Dr.

I just went through here this past weekend and this detour really frustrates me. The detour path is actually really good, clearly separated from traffic with dense flex posts, and properly marked. If this can be put down for a utility project in little time without complaint, I can’t understand why this can’t be built on every road to this standard where right of way exists. Seriously, this detour shows how much the development process is broken and takes way too long.

[Author]

Posts