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Thus far no detours. there was a hose to go over from the fire hydrant.

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Thank you, Rootchopper! Made me decide to take the MVT this morning from Roosevelt Island to path to Pentagon. A few areas are narrowed by frozen stuff, but completely passable, and one short area that you could attempt to go over or just go around on the grass. So nice to have my usual commute back.

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This evening I rode the Washington Bvld trail from Towers Part to rt50 and it was essentially clear (still a few narrowly clear areas, but better than this morning). I then tried the trails through Lyon Park. From the Rt50 end they started out good, but then there were large areas of frozen foot stomped packed snow in each of the three sections (hard to get up the hill from the first one it was so slick). In some cases there was snow free ground to the side, but it was very muddy and walking the bike through was the best course.

Any word on the Mount Vernon Trail?

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As of about 8 am this morning, the Washington Blvd trail from Rt 50 to Towers Park was nearly completely clear (a few short places with narrowed trail). The trails through Lyon Park looked like they might not be bad, although there is still a big snow block at the north end (so I took N Fillmore). I will take it home and if bad, I will send an update.

 

Any word on Mount Vernon Trail? I would think that much has melted from Roosevelt Island to the airport.

 

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Well, Sunday’s precipitation mix along with the temperatures have set a few places back, I fear. The Custis and W&OD in the Westover area looked clear of snow, but icy patches exist with some of the frozen melt (and some entrances have gotten bad).

No idea how the W&OD south of Columbia Pike is or 4MRT south of Shirlington is (presume as the others, some icy patches).

I tried to peer at the Washington Blvd trail from Rt 50 to Tower’s Park and that still looked bad (although covered in white so some of the frozen ruts/footprints were not as obvious.

Anyone been on these or other trails?

 

 

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Thank you! That was very helpful. I chose to take North Filmore to Rt 50 after spotting that the trails in Lyon Park looked bad. Then took the service road down to Washington Blvd. I jumped on the sidewalk there. The sidewalk wasn’t too horrible, but I needed to put my foot down many times. I could see the trail from the sidewalk and chose to take S Courthouse to Columbia Pike, which was clear. At Columbia Pike on got on the sidewalk and headed east. The sidewalk was in good shape (some curb cuts were bad, but it was generally good). The sidewalks from around Washington Blvd to Joyce were clear (although I took the road from Orme to Joyce). Joyce looked low in snow but high in mud.

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In Arlington:

4MR Trail south (east?) of Eads looks like it could be clear, at least I could see that the temporary boardwalk was cleared.

The protected lanes are Eads are nearly clear (aside from some frozen melt) and only one or two places require possible stopping to walk bike over snow piles. Similar for 18th st to Hayes.

 

Anyone know if the trail along Washington Blvd from Towers Park to Rt 50 (Lyon Park area) is clear or at least mostly passable? And the off-street trails in Lyon Park?

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[But this used to be a great source, then they changed (updated?) the forum and it all became harder to use, so now it seems no one does. ]

Ballston connector from Custis to nearly Fairfax Drive is clear – it is actually clear around the Ballston Pond Park. Then there is about 10ft of solid snow/ice until the walkway is cleared by the building. Then the protected 2-way bike lane is unplowed.

In Ballston, the protected lanes on Quincy are not plowed. The unprotected lanes on Fairfax drive are hit or miss, so taking the road is safer since you can suddenly come upon a giant blockage. Many sidewalks are clear, but oddly not the one in front of the Holiday Inn. The driveway is clear, so you can take that to get to the Bluemont trail, which is clear.

Intersections are hit or miss – some clear, some have a way to walk a bike over it, and others are just a mess.

The W&OD between Columbia Pike and Walter Reed is much improved since Wednesday as parts melted. A few bad spots, but generally good. From Walter Reed to the end is still a lot of hard pack. The road works as does turning on Walter Reed (or Shirlington Road, depending on your direction) towards S. Arlington Mill Dr – the path along 4MR is clear.

 

 

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[yes, I have noticed the effective death of this forum except for freezing saddle pictures. Very sad]

Custis is clear* to tarmac from at least St Ann’s church to East Falls Church. Accesses are not typically clear.

W&OD is clear* to tarmac from Custis to Columbia Pike. South of the Pike has been plowed, but there are a lot of frozen tracks/slush such that in the morning it can be difficult to ride on for long periods. Between Walter Reed and the end of the W&OD it is solid pack and I took the road.

 

[The bit of Bluemont trail I could see was cleared, although I can see the melt that crosses the W&OD beginning to build up. Also, 4MRT from Wilson to just under Carlin Springs road looked plowed, but not 100% clear, as I glimpsed from W&OD]

4MRT is clear* to concrete/tarmac from Shirlington to Eads (the wooden bridge by the power plan looked like it wasn’t cleared so no clue beyond that).

Eads protected bike lanes were cleared, but every driveway has snow from the related parking lot, so those are all impassible and I took the road. 18th street to Hayes was the same.

*clear = clear to the trail surface for the majority of the width of the trail. There are bits where the trail narrows. There are occasional bits that have frozen melt or weren’t quite clear, but they are few and short.

 

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In Arlington, many of the trails get their brine treatment. The bigger question, especially now, is which ones have been plowed to date. And bike lanes.

Anyone know the state of any trails? I am hoping to bike to the office tomorrow.

The Arlington traffic cameras show a few areas and many of the unprotected lanes look to be where the snow was pushed to for the car lanes. The protected lane on Fairfax just before 66 looks to be snow covered. Some of the Columbia Pike sidewalks look clear and others not at all.

[I presume Custis has been plowed, although the snowpack-to-ice-to-pavement numbers are always iffy and dependent on when they plowed versus people started using the trail]

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The bits of trail that were a problem before are all smooth now. It is really nice to be able to stay in the bike lanes from crossing to crossing (or ped lanes) now.

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So, I had to go well down the second page of the General discussion topic to find a topic that was not spam. How do we flag those and remove them now? There is no way to report them it seems. And this is by no means the only topic with spam (and they are not always new threads).

 

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So there is no way to complain about possible spambots? Flour for pizza dough – is that really a forum topic? Or suggesting we go to a clothing blog to discuss biking?

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The Washington Blvd trail from S. Courthouse to 9th st S has been cleared (except for the bridge, but that is mostly passable)! The trails through Lyon Park have several clear spots, but a lot of slush that will probably go away soon.

It was great taking 4MRT and W&OD, but not Army-Navy drive to get there.

As per someone I chatted with at a light on the W&OD, MVT was all slush last night.

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Actually, the Ballston connector is clear, except for two small patches as the trail merges with the one around the pond. I was pleasantly surprised when I decided to return that way.

The bike lanes on Fairfax Drive are mostly bad – one or two good blocks and the rest bad. It will take several warm days of no refreezing to clear them.

The protected and unprotected bike lanes on N. Quincy between Wilson and 15th street N are horrible. Near the library one can bike in the protection area (not the protected lane, but the striped area that is supposed to protect the bike lane).

The protected bike lanes in Clarendon on Clarendon are full of snow. Taking the lane is the only way to go. The bike lanes on Wilson in Clarendon were mixed.

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