W&OD/495 bridge

[CCrew]

They were paving the approaches into the new bridge today and looking like they were putting some finishing touches on. I wouldn’t give it much longer before it’s open. About time, because the old bridge is a dropoff on either side now..

[eminva]

According to FABB, it will be open tomorrow!

http://fabb-bikes.blogspot.com/2011/06/new-w-trail-bridge-over-beltway-to-open.html

And it will be a dogleg:

http://virginiahotlanes.com/documents/ped/W-OD%20Trail.pdf

Admittedly did not go through there today, but as of yesterday afternoon there was a rather steep drop off down to the beltway below on the approaches on both sides — and no fence. No agoraphobics allowed!

Liz

[CCrew]

I rode across it at 3am this morning. I call firsts!!! LOL

[Mark Blacknell]

They’re really not going to realign the trail? A sharp turn to enter and exit? Jumping jesus on a pogo stick, I’m tired of all of the half-assed engineering design (maybe it was a high-school engineering project?) that goes into trail facilities.

[CCrew]

@Mark Blacknell 4640 wrote:

They’re really not going to realign the trail? A sharp turn to enter and exit? Jumping jesus on a pogo stick, I’m tired of all of the half-assed engineering design (maybe it was a high-school engineering project?) that goes into trail facilities.

Nope. Make it worse on the east side of the bridge rather than resurface the trail they paved a 18″ wide strip to widen it slightly so it was a bit less of a transition. So now you have a nice seam/line from old to new pavement that runs in the direction of travel to boot.

Whoever signed off on this one should be dragged out there and horsewhipped.

[eminva]

Did they at least put up a fence to keep anyone who misjudged it from going over the Edge of the Abyss (and down to the beltway below)? I was planning to ride in today, but am sick instead, so I didn’t see it myself.

Sounds lovely.

Liz

[RESTONTODC]

Liz,

I hope you feel better soon so you can ride.

We’re still using the old bridge this morning. There were a lot activities. They put up the metal wire fence, similar to the old one.

Hopefully, I will be on the new one going home. I hate the bump as you get on the old bridge.

Rick

[Bruce Wright]

While the new bridge opened today, final paving won’t occur for a while (couple of weeks?). Also, the fence that is supposed to keep cyclists from dropping into the abyss isn’t in place either. Seems like the ribbon-cutting should have been delayed until the job is really complete.

The alignment isn’t good, with two turns into and out of the bridge. Everyone needs to be cautious when first using it.

[RESTONTODC]

I rode on it this afternoon. It’s a not completed job yet.

It looks like they gave this job to the lowest bidder. It doesn’t look safe at all.

[CCrew]

@Bruce Wright 4662 wrote:

While the new bridge opened today, final paving won’t occur for a while (couple of weeks?). Also, the fence that is supposed to keep cyclists from dropping into the abyss isn’t in place either. Seems like the ribbon-cutting should have been delayed until the job is really complete.

The alignment isn’t good, with two turns into and out of the bridge. Everyone needs to be cautious when first using it.

Yeah.. As of 3am this morning it had the orange PVC construction netting up along the abyss, so you should get a good idea of what the permanent fence is going to look like because it would make sense to follow the line that’s there now.. New bridge is certainly at least 3-4 feet wider. I’m not quite ready to condemn them yet, looks like the east side of the trail has been widened 18″ on each side down to the first footbridge, and there’s all that utility piping on the west side which leads me to believe there’s still work to be done. Since there’s still orange markings on the east side marking potholes I think that the 3′ they added to the width may get topped with another layer of asphalt. Certainly hope so, because what’s down there now is pretty pathetic from a quality standpoint.

Now if they run with what’s there they deserve everything they get.

I don’t like the dogleg but it’s workable. Speeds can get kind of interesting in that stretch and it might calm them a bit.

[JimF22003]

@CCrew 4643 wrote:

Nope. Make it worse on the east side of the bridge rather than resurface the trail they paved a 18″ wide strip to widen it slightly so it was a bit less of a transition. So now you have a nice seam/line from old to new pavement that runs in the direction of travel to boot.

Whoever signed off on this one should be dragged out there and horsewhipped.

It looks like they might be getting ready to lay another layer of pavement from the bridge ends down across the part where they added the strip on the side. Hopefully the part with the strip is just a temporary base for the new layer.

[CCrew]

@JimF22003 4677 wrote:

It looks like they might be getting ready to lay another layer of pavement from the bridge ends down across the part where they added the strip on the side. Hopefully the part with the strip is just a temporary base for the new layer.

Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking. Especially since they’ll have to demo the old bridge approach and blend and landscape the new one in.

[acc]

Went out to the bridge today and all the barriers are in place, plenty of fencing on both sides. The entry/exit seems ok, it is a moderate curve. The bad news is it will be torn up again starting Monday. The guys working over there today told me the drainage pipes were not placed before the asphalt was poured.

ann

[CCrew]

@acc 4695 wrote:

Went out to the bridge today and all the barriers are in place, plenty of fencing on both sides. The entry/exit seems ok, it is a moderate curve. The bad news is it will be torn up again starting Monday. The guys working over there today told me the drainage pipes were not placed before the asphalt was poured.

I vote acc for construction supervisor

[acc]

How did you guess there’s nothing I enjoy more than standing around in a bright orange sundress chatting with the construction guys?! I figured they seemed so friendly waving and saying, “Good morning” (I’m pretty sure that’s what they were saying) that I might as well talk to them and find out what they could tell me about the bridge.
:rolleyes:

ann

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