Working with the NPS GWMP on snow removal – comments by 2 March

[KWL]

Others have mentioned clearing this trail section. While I would like to see the entire MVT cleared, if only the marked trail is done I would be a happy winter commuter.

[CycleTheWorld]

I would appreciate pre-treatment and clearing of the Mount Vernon Trail between Four Mile Run Trail and 14th Street Bridge including the 14th Street Bridge Trail into the District of Columbia.

Thanks!

[dbb]

Here are the some of the materials the Arlington Bike Advisory Committee provide to the NPS a couple of months ago. As you can see, we were trying to describe an effort (for them) that would be modest and probably achievable within the resources currently available.

I saw these maps in the Superintendent’s notebook during the meeting.

Provided to the forum for awareness.

[ATTACH]11064[/ATTACH]

[komorebi]

Many thanks to dbb and all of the others who have been working with NPS GWMP on this issue!

If NPS has to choose between (1) the Boundary Channel Drive to 14th Street Bridge route, or (2) the Washington Boulevard to Memorial Circle route, I would vote for the former.

After Snowzilla, the VDOT plows that were clearing Route 27 dumped snow onto the sidewalk/path over the Boundary Channel, creating ridiculous walls of ice boulders. leprosystudygroup posted some pictures here. In other words, even if NPS clears the Washington Boulevard to Memorial Circle route once, the VDOT plows might come along later and block the route again. Unless NPS can convince VDOT to stop dumping snow onto the Route 27 sidewalk (unlikely), or unless NPS is willing to re-clear the sidewalk every time VDOT re-plows Route 27 to widen the cleared roadway (even less likely), the Boundary Channel Drive to 14th Street Bridge route is more likely to stay open once it’s cleared.

[DismalScientist]

@PBS 135662 wrote:

The entire MVT within our borders is such an obvious goal.

BTW, most of the MVT between TR Island and the 14th St Bridge is not actually in Arlington.

[renaut]

see attachment, whatever NPS can do for that route I’d be very appreciative.

[dasgeh]

@PBS 135662 wrote:

You may be right about levels of cooperation, but I really, really hope the position of Bike Arlington and the county as a whole isn’t just to deliver routes going out of Arlington. The entire MVT within our borders is such an obvious goal. There are 6 steps in your alternative vs the easy to communicate, easy to use, and more than a little beautiful MVT. We need to push for the good stuff.

I hear you about watering down the ask, but the reality is that NPS doesn’t have enough money to repair the Memorial Bridge. Think about that for a second – the Memorial Bridge is probably going to be closed (because of the risk it will fall down) in about 10 years. And the cost to fix it is about twice the entire NPS road-maintenance budget for the ENTIRE US for one year. And the best solution they have is to ask Congress for more money. Congress.

So resources are really tight. And to be honest, they don’t have to listen to us. They don’t even have to sit down with us. Of course it’s good government and good policy, but realistically, there’s no stick if they don’t. We’re talking to the GWMP folks — the other NPS areas in this region are not even at the table. National Mall is not even talking to us. We need to make sure there are carrots in this for the GWMP, so we can entice the other areas to the table.

That’s not to say that we shouldn’t make clear what the long-term goal is: clear the whole thing. But the short term (as in next winter) goal is to reliably clear some routes. These won’t be the best routes, but they will be routes. This winter they haven’t even reliably cleared the Memorial Bridge sidepaths.

To clarify, we’re looking at the area in the jurisdiction of GWMP. That’s everything within NoVA (I believe) and the Memorial Bridge (the entirety of which is in DC). It does not include the Lincoln Memorial (which someone suggested) or the Jefferson or the path at the end of the 14th Street Bridge, etc.

The question is: what are the priorities. That’s not to say we shouldn’t include everything, even if it’s far down the priority list. But if we make it easy for NPS to use and to actually do something, we can make some progress. Right now, we have nothing reliable. By working with them, we can get some routes reliably cleared. We can progress from there.

[PBS]

@bobco85 135666 wrote:

This route is more-or-less what Dismal is describing: https://goo.gl/maps/D5iEw6Asy6L2

• Eads St is on the opposite side of Four Mile Run and serves as a continuation of Commonwealth Ave
• Long Bridge Drive (not Road) runs as a connector to Boundary Channel Drive from Crystal Drive (both run on the east side of I-395)
• Boundary Channel Drive runs along the northeast side of the Pentagon and is a good access to LBJ Grove, Columbia Island Marina, and the MVT near 14th St Bridge
• Route 27 is Washington Blvd
• Route 110 is Jefferson Davis Highway
• Fort Myer Drive is the southbound equivalent of northbound Lynn St which will take you between Arlington National Cemetery and Key Bridge in Rosslyn (the 2 roads combine to create Meade St)
• The route is less useful if you need to go farther east in DC, though

Hopefully, that clears things up.

Thank you!! That’s super helpful.

[PBS]

@dasgeh 135705 wrote:

So resources are really tight. And to be honest, they don’t have to listen to us. They don’t even have to sit down with us. Of course it’s good government and good policy, but realistically, there’s no stick if they don’t. We’re talking to the GWMP folks — the other NPS areas in this region are not even at the table. National Mall is not even talking to us. We need to make sure there are carrots in this for the GWMP, so we can entice the other areas to the table.

To be very blunt and overly simplistic, this has a big effect on Arlington residents, Arlington has already determined it’s important enough to plow the trails they control, and Arlington is rich (relatively speaking). The carrot should be that we’ll plow, or pay to plow, every inch of the MVT that’s within our borders (yep, I acknowledge that some inches are elsewhere). Yes, I know we don’t own it, but that should be less of a concern than the fact that the residents need it.

I’m _very_ glad there’s progress being made here, but the obvious answer is that it’s ridiculous that between my house and work, there are at least four different authorities responsible for trails, and nobody wants anyone else to touch their stuff. From my house I have the W&OD, Arlington, and the NPS if I want to go one way. I have VDOT if I want to go another. My commute to work shouldn’t rely on the whims of these various organizations. I think Arlington is making huge strides in taking responsibility for the situation, but our eventual goal needs be that the network works as a unit, regardless of who “owns” it.

[dbb]

@PBS 135722 wrote:

I’m _very_ glad there’s progress being made here, but the obvious answer is that it’s ridiculous that between my house and work, there are at least four different authorities responsible for trails, and nobody wants anyone else to touch their stuff. From my house I have the W&OD, Arlington, and the NPS if I want to go one way. I have VDOT if I want to go another. My commute to work shouldn’t rely on the whims of these various organizations. I think Arlington is making huge strides in taking responsibility for the situation, but our eventual goal needs be that the network works as a unit, regardless of who “owns” it.

I think everybody’s endgame is pretty much the same. Get the folks that build and maintain our transit systems (the trails) to agree that they will maintain them in a manner similar to what is provided for autos. The multi-jurisdictional issue is an artifact of the fact we live in the DC area (not saying that multi-jurisdictional issues don’t exist elsewhere). If I were to (gasp) drive from my home in Crystal City to downtown, I would use streets that are operated by Arlington, VDOT, DDOT, and NPS.

Getting the NPS (GWMP) to this point is great. We are collaboratively looking for ways to build routes that allow cyclists to get across the river. Will it force me to change my route when it snows? Entirely likely. Will it allow me to consistently have a clear route when it snows? That is my goal. I see this as the first step of a long process where the NPS (and VDOT, DDOT, NVRPA, et al) begin the planning and programming necessary to clear the trails we rely on. That won’t be quick, cheap or easy and will require everybody pulling on that rope. The problem is that the resources to do a full-on snow clearing from all the places we would like to see cleared don’t exist right now. Without additional funding, the NPS is forced to do less of something else.

The “hot spot” approach modest enough so the GWMP may be able to shift resources around to implement. At that point, we will need to step up and help them keep those resources and get more to do the things we think are important. The success of the initial intervention can serve as a foundation for expansion.

Dasgeh is right – the GWMP likely has a billion dollars in reconstruction requirements without the funding. It would be imprudent of them to look to increase that number by adding large program costs.

[dasgeh]

@PBS 135722 wrote:

To be very blunt and overly simplistic, this has a big effect on Arlington residents, Arlington has already determined it’s important enough to plow the trails they control, and Arlington is rich (relatively speaking). The carrot should be that we’ll plow, or pay to plow, every inch of the MVT that’s within our borders (yep, I acknowledge that some inches are elsewhere). Yes, I know we don’t own it, but that should be less of a concern than the fact that the residents need it.

I’m _very_ glad there’s progress being made here, but the obvious answer is that it’s ridiculous that between my house and work, there are at least four different authorities responsible for trails, and nobody wants anyone else to touch their stuff. From my house I have the W&OD, Arlington, and the NPS if I want to go one way. I have VDOT if I want to go another. My commute to work shouldn’t rely on the whims of these various organizations. I think Arlington is making huge strides in taking responsibility for the situation, but our eventual goal needs be that the network works as a unit, regardless of who “owns” it.

I echo what dbb said and wanted to add that having Arlington do and/or pay for some of this is not off the table. But (1) this is NPS land, so Arlington can’t just drive their plows over those trails; and (2) Arlington isn’t going to fund this unless and until we’ve tried to work with NPS first. This is a process. We prioritize, we ask NPS what they can do, then we look for other partners (ArlCo, VDOT, DoD) to fill the gaps. We’re just on step one here. Thanks for helping out.

[BlueMasonJar]

What’s the deal with volunteering to clear? Would they let people clear a critical path with hand tools?

I ask just cuz one immediate solution might be some kind of volunteer agreement. I for one, would not be above showing up and shoveling rather than waiting for someone to plough. I say that as someone relatively new to this discussion.

Just curious if this was raised in any discussion.

[dbb]

@BlueMasonJar 135741 wrote:

What’s the deal with volunteering to clear? Would they let people clear a critical path with hand tools?

Great question. Will take it up with the GWMP leadership. Technically they need some coverage for volunteers (I had to get approved as a volunteer bike counter at the VA side of the 14th Street Bridge) but when a number of cyclists did some outlaw clearing following the last storm it was done under the universally relevant “don’t ask, don’t tell” doctrine.

[BlueMasonJar]

That makes total sense. I was just thinking along the lines of “how can we help ourselves & demonstrate value?”

The question is – can we get legal somehow?

[dbb]

@BlueMasonJar 135744 wrote:

The question is – can we get legal somehow?

Aren’t we all scofflaws?

To paraphrase Al Gore, just say that you did nothing wrong but won’t do it again. Mention controlling legal authority as well.

[Author]

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