The New Vesper Trail at Tysons

[n18]

This new trail is partially open, and as far as I can tell; the only thing left is painting the bridge. They finished paving it two months ago, but some fence links delayed the project. From the W&OD, it took me 12 Minutes to get to it with my road bike(My average speed was 12 MPH). I probably used it 10+ times by now. Here is the route from W&OD to the new trail that I used, and the least stressful. The residential roads north of Maple AVE are wide(4 lanes wide without markings) with few parked cars. I used the road despite not being as confident as others here in this forum, but it was midday. The sidewalks don’t suffer from tree roots, so they are an option for less confident cyclists. Compared to using Maple AVE/Chain Bridge RD to get to Tysons, it’s almost totally flat, except Creeek Crossing RD, but it’s a Yo-Yo, and I reach 20 MPH near the top. The only hot spot to watch out for is the intersection of Church ST and East ST. Too many drivers treat Church ST as “one way”, like Wilson/Clarendon in Arlington, and during Spring/Summer vegetation makes it harder to see northbound traffic on East ST, turning left into Church ST.

The easiest thing to overlook when following the route I suggested is to overlook Overlook LN, if you keep going straight, you get an uphill after the curve, so try not overlook Overlook LN. If you missed it, you can turn at the next left, which is just before the hill.

Topic

[mstone]

@Steve O 187257 wrote:

Agreed (e.g., new W&OD crossings near the Vienna Community Center). However, we don’t even know if we need to block vehicles. Signs may be sufficient. After all, that’s what is generally used to keep vehicles from going in places they don’t belong (1-way streets, exits instead of entrances, etc.). Not 100% effective, but almost always good enough. Let’s try signs first. And surface paint. If they work, then no need for any other treatment. Cheaper, safer.
We don’t put telephone poles (with painted yellow diamonds around them) in the middle of streets for good reason. Why is there this insistence on putting obstacles in the middle of trails?

As an example, for several of these cases, instead of having a no-imagination right angle intersection, why not have a large chamfered approach to the trail with a landscape feature (flowers, whatever) separating the sidewalk and trail into 3 paths arranged in a triangle. Makes it obvious to cyclists that they need to turn, makes it obvious to drivers that they shouldn’t run over the flowers, makes things look a little nicer, doesn’t require people to process signs, and doesn’t require a post in the middle of the trail.

[n18]

Ribbon cutting ceremony was held Tuesday last week. Here are some photos on Facebook. I see that they didn’t paint the bridge.

Also, I have updated the route in the OP to one that skips Maple AVE altogether, and shaves 30 Seconds, by changing the part to the south of Maple AVE to use Echols ST and East ST instead. Echols ST is bumpy, but is short.

For those who don’t know the area, there is a daily traffic jam for 1.5+ Miles in the afternoon going west, average speed is 7 MPH, and it takes 12 Minutes just to through it. It seems that it ends around Lawyers RD, leading to Reston to the north, or I-66W to the south. If more Vienna residents bike, it would improve the traffic in the area.

[pmf]

@n18 190089 wrote:

If more Vienna residents bike, it would improve the traffic in the area.

I’ve lived in Vienna for 23 years. Seen it go from a sleepy town to a congested town full of wealthy people inching down Route 123 in their over priced cars. I don’t think it’s the population of Vienna per se — I think it’s the explosion of the Tysons area. Most of the problem is from people going to and from Tysons to their jobs, but I think they are just passing through. I live off Lawyers road and its a challenge most mornings to turn right with all the traffic coming from Reston. Traffic has gone from bad to worse. Even on the weekends it’s terrible. And now they’re tearing down a hotel and restaurant on the corner of Nutley and 123 to build some huge mixed use condo development. Its all we need. Same with the Marco Polo lot. And up at the metro. There will be 500 more cars buzzing around in a few years. I can’t wait.

[scoot]

@pmf 190459 wrote:

And now they’re tearing down a hotel and restaurant on the corner of Nutley and 123 to build some huge mixed use condo development. Its all we need. Same with the Marco Polo lot. And up at the metro. There will be 500 more cars buzzing around in a few years. I can’t wait.

People have to live somewhere. Better to provide high-density mixed-use development in locations that could be served by high-quality transit than to further expand the car-dependent sprawl somewhere in Chantilly or Loudoun County.

[n18]

@scoot 190461 wrote:

People have to live somewhere. Better to provide high-density mixed-use development in locations that could be served by high-quality transit than to further expand the car-dependent sprawl somewhere in Chantilly or Loudoun County.

I see this website posted on many lawns http://SaveMaple.org/ Many in the town like low-rise, low density buildings.

[Author]

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