Eisenhower Avenue Connector to be Closed July 6

Also starting next week, the Eisenhower Avenue Connector will be closed. I first heard about this from a reader who saw signs on her commute, but I didn't see anything about it on the Wilson Bridge Site. Then FABB reported about it. Then yesterday I finally got the press release from the Wilson Bridge.

As part of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project, most of the Eisenhower Avenue Connector will be closed to traffic, bicycles and pedestrians from noon Monday, July 6, through September to allow deck replacement work on the Capital Beltway Interstate 95/495 Bridge above the Connector. Vehicle traffic from Eisenhower Avenue to the Inner Loop of the Beltway will be the only remaining movement allowed.
Signs will alert bicyclists and pedestrians that the Connector is closed to them and that they should use alternative routes. South Van Dorn Street is a possible alternative.

Contact Community Relations Manager Bryon Johnston, at 703-329-3424, with questions or comments about this work.

That's kind of late notice for a 2 month detour that will be at least a mile in length (and seemingly not marked, only suggested). And this project doesn't even benefit cyclists. FABB writes:

Last year we met with Woodrow Wilson Bridge staff to discuss the closing, originally planned for last year. We did not think the detour that was proposed for cyclists was adequate. It used a 4-foot sidewalk along Franconia Road that was overgrown with weeds and crossed many driveway entrances. There has been no discussion about the proposed detour since that time.

The connector is a bike/ped only connection through the sound barrier.

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Also related to the Wilson Bridge, National Harbor has put in some temporary parking of the crowd control type, signs telling bikes (not cyclists) to dismount and some sort of bituminous surface (Froggie reports).

Comments

[Froggie]

VMS on the Outer Loop mentioning the closure showed up sometime last weekend. That was my first notice of the specific date.

It's not "kind of a late notice". I, for one, knew the closure was coming up, including the bike/ped connector, by following the Wilson Bridge website. But until last week, I didn't know the specific date. Previously, it had just mentioned "mid-summer" or "Summer 2009" or something like that.

[Washcycle]

Hmmm. If I commuted through there regularly, I wouldn't consider it being posted on a somewhat obscure govt. website with an ambiguous start date satisfactory notification. In fact when the reader who contacted me about this asked if I knew what was going on, I went to the Wilson Bridge page and all I found was this:

Eisenhower Connector Ramps to and from Capital Beltway Outer Loop
To be Closed Overnight Wednesday and Thursday, June 17 and 18
Bicyclist and pedestrian access to be maintained between the Connector and Clermont Drive.

So that's somewhat confusing.

People other than those who obsessively follow the highway system should be clued in too.

[Deb]

"If I commuted through there regularly, I wouldn't consider it being posted on a somewhat obscure govt. website with an ambiguous start date satisfactory notification."

Exactly. And the sign in one direction STILL says (as of early evening yesterday) "path will be closed thursday - friday 6:18 - 6:19" whatever that might mean. The Wilson Bridge project isn't mentioned in either sign, so those of us who are just trying to get to and from work don't know to automatically search for it on a specific website. I searched for it on a different gov't website, and only found info on the extremely brief and mostly non-disruptive closure that washcycle metioned. The gov't never did respond to my email asking for more information.

For those of us who are just users of the roadways, there seemed to be no information at all, and no way of knowing where to get that info. Until FABB posted something and then washcycle, I still had no idea if the bike/ped connector through the soundwall was closing, or just the sidewalk along the eisenhower connector. The sign was absolutely not informative enough for me to know whether I needed to find a new route.

Thanks, washcycle, for helping those of us just trying to get to and from work know what obstacles to expect along the way.

[Froggie]

Wash: on the link I listed previously, this closure is the first one listed under "Future Traffic Outlook", and has been for at least a few weeks.

Disagree that the project website posting isn't "satisfactory notification". Though I'll agree that there should be other avenues of notification. Also agree, as Deb noted, that signs in the field are sub-par...though the VMS on the Outer Loop make it pretty clear that the ramps will close Monday.