[dasgeh]

Trollheim had a pretty layer of frost, but nothing menacing.

[dasgeh]

@huskerdont 194813 wrote:

It is plowed by Arlington, yes. Any downed trees are also removed, and they do it pretty quickly. Leaves are another issue. I have never seen Arlington remove them (except when they are removed in snow plowing), but I have seen sections of the trail where the leaves have clearly been removed by somebody. But a couple of posters here would know for certain about that (perhaps dasgeh or Henry).

Arlington County clears them. I’ve pinged the relevant people. (parks@arlingtonva.us or kstalica@arlingtonva.us — the trails one is dead)

FYI, repairing the W&OD under Wilson gutted the budget for this kind of stuff, which is why (I assume) the leaf collection has been less stellar this year than in the past. Usually, the leaves are cleared the day after I have the thought “this is bad”.

[dasgeh]

@bentbike33 194699 wrote:

For the detour (westbound), I recommend exiting the trail at the Roosevelt St. cul-de-sac, up to a left on Sycamore/Roosevelt (there is a median in which to take refuge if you have to wait for the southbound cars to clear) for the short hop to a right onto 16th/Columbia. Then either past Bikenetic or all the way out to Little Falls, and right back to the W&OD. See this ride.

This seems to work westbound, but I would STRONGLY recommend against it eastbound — the sightline at the intersection of Columbia/16th St & Sycamore/Roosevelt is VERY BAD.

Also, it’s December.

[dasgeh]

@chris_s 194528 wrote:

The 50 / 27 Interchange is going to require something truly drastic to fix its safety problems. Like, this level of drastic:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]20526[/ATTACH]

Is there enough land under those Xs to build a school?

[dasgeh]

@Judd 194674 wrote:

251 18th Street S.

For those wondering where this is (and too lazy to Google), it’s a block due west of the Crystal City end of the Crystal City Connector.

[dasgeh]

Welcome, Greta Ann. Glad you’re here!

[dasgeh]

If a color change is in order, can we do neon pink?

[dasgeh]

At least you can avoid the whole mess by taking those nice bike lanes on Wash… oh, nevermind.

[dasgeh]

@Brandon 194415 wrote:

Honestly, I’ve never seen this section of the trail that “packed” before. The only time I’ve had issues was when local HS cross country teams decided to start holding after school practices between Brandywine and Patrick Henry because they run in huge groups side by side and let’s be honest, HS kids typically aren’t that aware of their surroundings. Is this going to try to pay for that Sycamore/Roosevelt overpass from East Falls Church metro and Brandywine?

On the bridge from EFC – Brandywine, ArlCo is studying to make this connection. That’s the first step. Then we get the project into a plan, based on the study. Then we apply for funding. So… it’s going to be a while. (Don’t shoot the messenger; I tried for a different outcome during the Bike Element).

On the widening, I the the mode separation will help. I’ve seen plenty of days where it was too crazy with all the runners and walkers and cyclists, and mode separation will help. It’s not competing with the bridge project.

[dasgeh]

Team M-B is in!

[dasgeh]

Team M-B is figuring out logistics for the day. Are teams meant to stay together for the biking part? If we have to jet at 1:30pm, will we miss all the fun?

[dasgeh]

@zsionakides 194332 wrote:

It says all these devices require a speedometer, which is not too cheap an add-on. Also I would be curious about using a speedometer with an electric skateboard. I guess you would have to carry it while riding or use a wearable.

The proposed ordinance only required speedometers on the shared devices. I don’t know if they amended on dias (haven’t watched yet), but I don’t read Virginia’s law to allow give them that authority. Of course, I don’t see where they get the authority for the speed lmiit or sidewalk ban for ebikes so…

[dasgeh]

I’m so sorry this happened to you. Just to make sure I know the facts, did you ask for the police to take a report and they refused?

[dasgeh]

@scoot 194243 wrote:

I didn’t think of that in my responses for this segment, but I agree that the gap further east in the 50 southside trail is a big hole in the network for bicycling. From Penrose there is no way to access the 50 trail at Henry Gate Ft Myer without crossing north of 50 and then back again. And the northside trail has too many dangerous ramp and intersection crossings to serve as a viable alternative anyway. In fact when heading that direction, I ride Fillmore north all the way to Pershing instead.

The secret trail behind Long Branch ES is a great alternative to Fillmore. You can access it either by crossing at Fillmore and using the access road towards Washington Blvd (then turn left) or by taking the 27 trail under 50.

@scoot 194243 wrote:

Unfortunately a southside trail along 50 in that segment could have even worse crossing hazards, unless it is somehow grade-separated. Drivers barely slow down at all to take the ramp from 50 east to 27 east, so that would be an awful crossing. Also, in spite of the lack of merge area, drivers are able to navigate the ramp from 27 west to 50 east at high speed because their view of eastbound traffic is unobstructed well ahead of the entrance point.

A trail already makes this crossing (see above). The sightlines are good, but it would be safer with a street light to illuminate people crossing.

@scoot 194243 wrote:

One useful alternative I would push for: extend the 50 southside trail along the Ft Myer fence from its current terminus down to the 2nd Street bridge. This would require a bit of land either from the Army or from VDOT, but it would provide direct access from the existing trail into South Arlington without any high-speed ramp crossings.

I’d love this, and I’d continue it around the Fort Myer fence to Southgate Road. Unfortunately, staff quashed my effort to get this in the Bike Element.

[dasgeh]

@Relwal Noj 194238 wrote:

I think the Route 50 corridor between Irving St and Washington Blvd is in dire need of a project. It is very dangerous to allow the left turn movement on a high-speed street like Route 50 onto the side-streets where there are no left turn lane present (which is every intersection in the project corridor except Fillmore St). I’m guessing this project will end up widening Route 50 to construct a median and left turn lanes because Ashton Heights and Lyon Park will never allow VDOT to restrict the left turn movement altogether.

I took the survey and commented that I would like to see either side of the Route 50 Trail extended to the Washington Blvd (Route 27) trail as part of this work.

Yes! Those left turns are why I feel like using that trail is basically Russian roulette. It’s particularly bad if you’re biking with kids on their own bikes — you can kinda look to see if someone might turn left when you are crossing, but it’s hard to predict if there’s a care coming that would turn when your kid is crossing. It’s really scary.

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