[FoxhallRidge]

@jojopuppyfish 84310 wrote:

So we had a walk yesterday and there were 30-50 people.
I think the breakdown in the community is that you have alot of vocal and committed people that do not want this space used as a bike lane.
Then you also have many people who have no problem with it that aren’t as vocal and wont sit down to write an email in favor of it.
Finally you have the rest of the 2000 people in Palisades who aren’t passionate either way.
I’ve never been an activist before and for ever 20 great conversations I have with the community, all it takes is 1 a-hole for me to want to throw in the towel.
It isn’t going to be easy to get this passed.
Any suggestions are welcome.

BTW as for the Bridge we are awaiting the assessment report from WMATA who definately want to get this bridge off their hands. Possible suitors are Georgetown U or DDOT.
We’ll see who ends up acquiring the bridge.

Stick with it, Brett. I am a huge supporter of this idea. People are too short sighted. I have walked along that path and it is beautiful (incredible views), but completely unused. It is a shame really. I can picture it being one of the treasures of the NW DC area in 20 years. I moved to the area (the new Foxhall Ridge development) last year and I immediately could not understand why that path was not a paved trail. I mean, it is PERFECT. Not to mention that there is no reasonable connection to the University, given the grade changes and the scary sidewalk on Canal. Using that bridge to connect the University to Foxhall and the Palisades is so obvious it is silly that the plan is not already in motion.

I bike to work everyday from Foxhall Ridge to Dupont. Because of Canal road and the grade changes, I typically drop down to the river trail and then go through the Georgetown waterfront before picking up Rock Creek to Dupont. But I often ride home through the Georgetown residential streets and tried as best I could to figure out a way to stay up on the hill all the way to the University, but there is no way to get down to Canal unless you literally bike to the other side of the University and then ride down the entrance, which is way out of the way. So that means you have to head down to M street before the University and then bike along scary Canal. Connecting the University to Palisades using that abandoned bridge would be ideal because it would avoid going down and then back up on the steep hills (and it would avoid Canal).

Anyway, just wanted to tell you to keep fighting the good fight. I have been following the developments and your work in support of the trail, including finding this forum just now.

P.S. — What would the plan be for crossing Foxhall after the bridge? That is already a strange intersection where MacArthur starts. I wonder if there would be a way to have a little pedestrian/bike bridge over Foxhall on the hill portion once coming off the big bridge. The fact that Foxhall is a steep hill right would seemingly make it easier to have a little bridge in the air over it.

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