Support the Trail Bridge over Lee Highway

[chris_s]

As part of the I-66 widening, VDOT has proposed building a bridge for the W&OD trail over Lee Highway. This would improve safety for trail users as well as speeding everyone along. This has inexplicably become controversial and the County Board has heard from a number of neighborhood residents asking them to oppose the bridge. The project will be done as part of a design-build contract, so the design is still up-in-the-air. The at-grade crossing will remain as people who are frequenting the nearby businesses will still want to cross Lee Highway without having to do a large detour to get up onto the bridge.

If you would like to not have to contend with clueless and belligerent turning drivers at the Lee Highway Trail crossing, the Board needs to hear from you ASAP.

The Easy Option: Email the County Board at countyboard@arlingtonva.us It doesn’t have to be long.
The More Impactful Option: Come out to the County Board Meeting THIS SATURDAY and sign-up to speak on agenda item #37. The Virginia Department of Transportations Transform I-66 Inside the Beltway: Environmental Assessment for the widening of I-66 from the Dulles Connector to Fairfax Drive. [Don’t be freaked out by the agenda number. The first 34 agenda items will all be done in a single vote, so this is really the 3rd agenda item.]

This grade-separated crossing is called for in the bicycle element of the Master Transportation Plan. It is important for safety now and will be even more important with the growing volume of turning cars coming as part of the I-66 widening. This intersection has been the location of at least 8 bike & ped crashes in recent years.

Topic

[huskerdont]

That Benjamin Bannaker section of trail has always seemed unfortunate to me, and I wouldn’t mind seeing the trail rerouted as suggested. You come off a fairly fast trail along I-66 and suddenly you’re riding through a playground and park. There’s the basketball court, the narrow underpass with poor sightlines, people heading to the dog park, the hard right across a wooden bride into an area flanked by a playground with kids’ Big Wheels strewn about the place. (Or you go straight and go to the road and through the neighborhood, sure). I always slow down, but I’m sure many don’t, and it probably does annoy people, especially during rush hour. There will always be conflicts and it’s not a perfect world, but this area seems more imperfect than others.

[LeprosyStudyGroup]

@Judd 153631 wrote:

Casting my vote for elevating the entire W&OD into one long bridge.

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If we anchor the far end of this bridge somewhere in geostationary orbit we could probably both please subby and get rid of him permanently!

[KLizotte]

FYI: I copied and posted the original paragraph in this thread to the cycling listserv in my agency. I’ve had a bunch of people respond that they were unaware of the initiative and have written an email to the county in support of a bridge. Try to get the word out!

[mstone]

@Judd 153587 wrote:

Let me be the first voice for abandoning the idea of a bridge and instead creating a tunnel

VDOT basically has a no-tunnels policy, mostly AFAICT because of fear of crime. You can ask for one, but my perception is that you’d be wasting whatever time you put into advocacy for it because there’s no way it would happen.

@KLizotte 153614 wrote:

Also, taking out the trails in Bannaker Park seems crazy too. That hurts not only cyclists but peds (including those who push strollers and use wheelchairs) from using the park.[/quote]

There’s an enormous argument over paved vs natural surface trails (with valid points on both sides). Switching to natural surface, especially given the proximity to the water (reducing impermeable surface) is probably a reasonable trade-off for adding more pavement elsewhere in the park.

@dasgeh 153619 wrote:

Honestly, I think they’re mostly mad about three spots:
As cyclists transition off the W&OD to Van Buren, they cross the path of pedestrians walking to the Metro. Pedestrians are oblivious and cyclists don’t stop.
Apparently cyclists never stop at the 4-way stop signs at Van Buren and 19th. Not even Idaho, but waiting-cars-be-damned-I’m-going-through. Neighborhood hates that.
Where the FMR Trail meets Van Buren, apparently cyclists suddenly appear in the roadway, scaring the bejesus out of drivers. It’s not a clear ROW situation.
[/quote]

It sucks for cyclists, also. (Something to emphasize when talking to the neighborhood: we’d never design it this way if someone asked us.) That turn at FMR and Van Buren is horrible (and isn’t helped by the weird things on the road, the non-smooth trail transition, and the other obstacles that require as much attention on the ground as on the surroundings. People are going through the neighborhood because the W&OD segment is even more horrible, not to piss off the residents. VDOT could have moved the sound wall to the other side of the power poles and given the trail more breathing room. The trail could cut the corner on the metro property and run along the east side of the road as a much wider replacement for the existing sidewalk (but that would have cost parking spots!) As it stands you’ll never get cyclists to follow the alignment behind the power station because it’s just plain uncomfortable to ride there and the chances of reversing the decisions that made it that way seem slim. If there were a way to fly over the metro station and sycamore and connect the two parts of the w&od I think cyclists would take it even with the horrible path behind the power station, but the money for that simply doesn’t exist. (We can have that enormous bridge, or every other bike project anyone might want in arlington.)

Quote:

As far as removing the trail, the neighborhood wants to close 18th St, which would mean that effectively, the trail would just be moved north, with the new alignment then 18th St. So cyclists would still be on Van Buren and it would only solve the last problem above, though it make it slightly more like cyclists take the “official” W&OD routing up Tuckahoe to the Trail.

My feeling is that your purple route, combined with the vdot bridge, would tend to pull people to tuckahoe and off van buren, which is probably better for everyone and probably as good as this section can get without bags of cash falling from the sky.

[Subby]

Datapoint: I was flying through Banneker tonight and jumped the curb onto Van Buren except I unclipped on landing and racked the sh!t out of myself while almost wiping out.

SHUT DOWN THE PARK.

[kcb203]

@dasgeh 153619 wrote:

Honestly, I think they’re mostly mad about three spots:
As cyclists transition off the W&OD to Van Buren, they cross the path of pedestrians walking to the Metro. Pedestrians are oblivious and cyclists don’t stop.
Apparently cyclists never stop at the 4-way stop signs at Van Buren and 19th. Not even Idaho, but waiting-cars-be-damned-I’m-going-through. Neighborhood hates that.
Where the FMR Trail meets Van Buren, apparently cyclists suddenly appear in the roadway, scaring the bejesus out of drivers. It’s not a clear ROW situation.

As far as removing the trail, the neighborhood wants to close 18th St, which would mean that effectively, the trail would just be moved north, with the new alignment then 18th St. So cyclists would still be on Van Buren and it would only solve the last problem above, though it make it slightly more like cyclists take the “official” W&OD routing up Tuckahoe to the Trail.

As a bonus, less asphalt in Arlington, which is good.

I don’t see why it’s a four-way stop. I think everyone would be happier and safer if they eliminated the stop signs on Van Buren and only had stop signs on the east-west street.

[dasgeh]

Folks, I’m hearing that you (pro bridge) have not been writing in just take a second and write the email. Please

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[mstone]

@chris_s 153598 wrote:

And to be clear, the bridge hasn’t been designed. That’s a concept, but the bridge could look completely different.

Whoever does their concept art either needs some training on how to make more attractive concepts, or is actually trying to get the project killed by NIMBY pushback.

[dkel]

@Subby 153654 wrote:

I was flying through Banneker tonight and jumped the curb onto Van Buren except I unclipped on landing and racked the sh!t out of myself while almost wiping out.

You’ve fallen soooo far since last year’s BAFS.

[Judd]

@mstone 153649 wrote:

VDOT basically has a no-tunnels policy, mostly AFAICT because of fear of crime. You can ask for one, but my perception is that you’d be wasting whatever time you put into advocacy for it because there’s no way it would happen.

I was being facetious in suggesting a tunnel. I don’t want to encourage vampires and red haired people to bike more. Tunnels do present problems with people hanging out in them and doing less than desirable stuff, much like some underpasses on 4MR attract dudes who want to mill about and smoke pot and not share with me. In the tunnel video I posted, there are actually gates that lock on that tunnel in the late hours of the night. In the case of that specific tunnel, it actually is a great solution because it goes diagonally underneath the intersection of two major highways. Trail users would otherwise have to cross 8 lanes of 50 mph traffic and then cross 8 lanes of 50 mph traffic again.

In all reality, I agree with everything Chris Slatt has said. It’s nice that the neighborhood association wants a perfect plan that addresses all deficiencies of the trail in that area, but there is a brief window of money and interest in VDOT addressing improving the safety of a heavily trafficked crossing. If it isn’t done now, then there likely won’t be another opportunity for 30 or 40 years when some other I-66 project occurs. I’m planning on sending an e-mail in support tonight and will try to attend in person.

[Judd]

I e-mailed the following:

Arlington County Board Members,

I’m writing to express my support for a W&OD Trail Bridge over Lee Highway which is agenda item #37 (The Virginia Department of Transportations Transform I-66 Inside the Beltway: Environmental Assessment for the widening of I-66 from the Dulles Connector to Fairfax Drive. I am an Arlington resident living on the Columbia Pike and frequently cross Lee Highway by bicycle when traveling on the W&OD. Although I consider myself a very experienced cyclist, crossing Lee Highway can often be a stressful event with the volume of traffic and the number of cars turning right from Fairfax Drive on to Lee Highway. The proposed trail bridge would improve safety for pedestrians, runners and cyclists while also improving the flow of traffic from Fairfax Drive to Lee Highway.

While the bridge itself does not address all of the aspects of the W&OD trail that could be improved in the neighborhood, it is one key component to improving Arlington’s trail system and ensuring the safety of all trail users crossing Lee Highway.

Thank you for your consideration and allowing me to comment on this project. I hope that the County Board will continue to support this project as well as other projects that support the health, safety and well-being of Arlington County’s residents and visitors.

Also, my friend Chris Shue totally racked himself tonight exiting Benjamin Banneker Park. If you could somehow convince VDOT to buy him a jock strap and cup for bike riding, the citizens of Arlington County would be forever grateful.

Sincerely,
Judd Lumberjack

[dbb]

@Judd 153671 wrote:

I e-mailed the following:

Also, my friend Chris Shue totally racked himself tonight exiting Benjamin Banneker Park. If you could somehow convince VDOT to buy him a jock strap and cup for bike riding, the citizens of Arlington County would be forever grateful.

Sincerely,
Judd Lumberjack

The “Arlington Way” requires much more public engagement and discussion of this issue. We must not act in a hasty manner.

[dbb]

Here is my letter. Feel free to crib.

Dear Arlington County Board Members,

I’m writing to express my support for a W&OD Trail Bridge over Lee Highway (agenda item #37 on Saturday’s meeting). This presents a unique opportunity to materially improve the support for bicycling and our infrastructure at virtually no cost to the County. The Virginia DOT efforts to improve I-66 recognized the need to improve traffic flow at the intersection of Lee Highway and the W&OD trail in East Falls Church. The bridge will do that.

As a bicycle commuter, I use this crossing frequently and regularly experience the conflicts and delays between pedestrians/cyclists and motor vehicles. The trail bridge over Broad Street (Route 7) in Falls Church shows how effective this proposed bridge can be. Imagine how traffic would back up on Broad Street during periods of heavy trail use – motorists today don’t even know they just crossed the trail.

I recognize that this bridge won’t solve all the problems Arlington faces in providing trails that support bicycle commuting as a transportation alternative, but this is an opportunity we can’t pass up. It solves a big problem and preserves Arlington County resources for other priorities.

Some in the community have expressed reservations about the bridge, but thoughtful design should address many of their concerns. The bridge should be considered not as “if” but “when”. Cycling to and through Arlington from the west is only going to increase and deferring the bridge will just push this investment to the future (and on to Arlington’s budget).

Thank you for your consideration and allowing me to comment on this project. I hope that the County Board will continue to support this project to improve the viability of transportation alternatives in Arlington County.

Sincerely,

[Judd]

@dbb 153679 wrote:

The “Arlington Way” requires much more public engagement and discussion of this issue. We must not act in a hasty manner.

We probably need to do an environmental assessment of Subby’s no-no zone and then have a public meeting. The early concept drawings involve a very boxy steel girder type of design.

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[huskerdont]

My letter was made a part of the public record. If I’d have known, I would have written something witty like Judd.

[Author]

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