The Skinny on the Washington Blvd "Trail"

[chris_s]

This gets confusing fast because there is an existing “trail”, that you’re speaking of that runs along South Washington Blvd from Columbia Pike, past the Pentagon, over Route 110 to the MVT.

But when Arlington County talks about the Washington Blvd Trail, they’re generally talking about the new trail that they are building of which Phase I has been built and Phase II is wrapping up design. This Washington Blvd Trail will run along Washington Blvd from the Route 50 bridge, behind the Navy Support Facility on Courthouse Road and up into Towers Park just a block or two from Columbia Pike.

It’s especially confusing because Washington Blvd crosses Columbia Pike TWICE.

So to be clear, this discussion is about the OLD, EXISTING, substandard Washington Blvd Trail that runs past the 9/11 Memorial at the Pentagon and connects to the MVT. (as seen in this Youtube vide: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wQ_mOSEhaQ)

[dasgeh]

@chris_s 53517 wrote:

So to be clear, this discussion is about the OLD, EXISTING, substandard Washington Blvd Trail that runs past the 9/11 Memorial at the Pentagon and connects to the MVT. (as seen in this Youtube vide: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wQ_mOSEhaQ)

Good point. Yes, it’s this one. The skinny bollards are in the video around 8:20.

Maybe we should refer to this on as the “Rte 27 Trail” and the other as the “Washington Blvd Trail” (we used to live on Washington Blvd in Lyon Park, and people generally called the road part of Wash Blvd by the name, and the highway extending North from 395 as Rte 27″

[chris_s]

Now that I’ve covered that, as far as widening:
– VDOT will be widening the portion of the “trail” that is on the bridge that goes over 100.
– Arlington’s Master Transportation Plan calls for widening the whole thing, but I don’t believe any progress has been made. The project description in the MTP is as follows:

Washington Boulevard Sidewalk Upgrade
Widen the existing Washington Boulevard sidewalk between Memorial Circle and the Pentagon to meet trail standards. The trail would link with other Pentagon area trails. (Arlington, DC, NPS, VDOT) (1.2 miles)

I believe the bollards are under DoD (Pentagon) control.

[dasgeh]

@chris_s 53521 wrote:

Now that I’ve covered that, as far as widening:
– VDOT will be widening the portion of the “trail” that is on the bridge that goes over 100.
– Arlington’s Master Transportation Plan calls for widening the whole thing, but I don’t believe any progress has been made. The project description in the MTP is as follows:

Washington Boulevard Sidewalk Upgrade
Widen the existing Washington Boulevard sidewalk between Memorial Circle and the Pentagon to meet trail standards. The trail would link with other Pentagon area trails. (Arlington, DC, NPS, VDOT) (1.2 miles)

I believe the bollards are under DoD (Pentagon) control.

Thanks so much.

For the powers that be who might be listening, one reason this trail is important is the grade. Now that I’m becoming an expert in “how to get around Arlington on less than 5% grade”, I can tell you that going around the South side of the Cemetery is one of the best ways to get from Eastern Arl (i.e. down by the River) to Western Arl (i.e. up on the hill). If we’re going to get more butts on bikes, we’re going to get some people who just want to get from point A to point B and want to minimize hills and distance. There are no ways to get up the Rosslyn hill (that I know of, PLEASE correct me if I’m wrong) without topping a 5% grade. (When we have the Rte 50 trail back, we’ll be able to go around that hill, but still.) Columbia Pike –> Southgate Road has only a very short section over 5%. So this Rte 27 Trail is an important connection.

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