Stanchions

Steve Offutt has a post on CommuterPageBlog about Stanchion's and whether they're needed.

Presumably [the stanchion] is there to prevent cars from driving on the trail... in all my years of riding the trails, I have never encountered any unauthorized vehicles on the trails.

I haven't either, but as I pointed out in the comments, it does happen.

Here's a photo of a place where a car drove on the ART and damaged the bridge, and I've seen many tire marks on that trail that indicate cars try to drive on it.

And also here, where the google streetview vehicle drove onto the NE Branch trail. I also seem to remember a Washington Post article about people who accidentally drive onto the C&O canal towpath, and one woman who died as a result.

Steve Offutt makes a good point that they're overused and that they can be counterproductive if they keep authorized vehicles, like snowplows as in the photo, off, but I do think drivers will drive on trails at certain places without them.

Photo by Steve Offutt

Comments

[RideTheWomble]

People drive in the parks along the W&OD in Arlington all the time. Usually, it's someone who wants to use a pavilion for a party, but doesn't want to carry the food. They've severely damaged bridges with vehicles more than once.

In Arlington, the folks who are authorized on the trail for maintenance, etc, have keys to the locks on the stanchions. For as long as I can remember, though, the stanchions have been unlocked, and can be removed by merely lifting them out of their holes.

[John]

On many occasions I have seen cars try to drive north on the Mount Vernon Trail (MVT) from the little neighborhood near the stone bridge. There is no stanchion and apparently no sign.
One thing trail designers should think about is whether the wooden bridges on these trails can hold an emergency vehicle. Last summer a bicycle accident victim was being transported off the MVT about 1/4 mile from the stone bridge access point. The ambulance could use the trail to drive forward onto the Parkway. Instead the driver had to back up. It is a good thing the victim's injuries were not life threatening.

[Jon]

I've only been biking on a recreational basis for less than a year, and I've seen two instances of trail driving. One was on the College Park Trolley Trail, where someone was using the trail to deliver mulch to their back yard, and the other was on the Sligo Creek Trail between Riggs and East-West, where it's confusing what's the trail and what's the driveway.

I am *sure* that if there were fewer stanchions, I'd see a lot more of this. I think they're particularly important to protect trail sections with bridges.

[Carla]

My comment on that post never got posted... Weird...

The Barcroft trail that runs from George Mason Dr to Walter Reed Rd, parallel to Four Mile Run, gets cars in there ALL THE TIME.

Summer weekends are guaranteed to have tons of cars there because of the BBQ shelter. I have been almost run over more than once, been honked at, and when you do end up face to face with a car, they refuse to move out of the way, forcing you to get out of pavement, into the dirt (not ideal or safe with a road bike).

I have yet to see police enforce it, though I've seen police at the middle entrance, behind the soccer fields, but not once I've seen them checking if there's any cars already in the trail. The times I've seen the police cars blocking that entrance, there were already over 5 cars inside.

The trail is only a mile long, if that much, you'd think it'd be easy enough to enforce it!

Park rangers on bikes do check the place here and there, but the one time we had our BBQ in one of the pits there, they were more concerned to what type of drink was inside our red cups than with the cars parked by the shelter (which they didn't address at all).

[Harry Buckles]

Stanchions help prevent lazy cops from driving on the trail. Police may be authorized, but rarely do they actually need to drive on a trail. I'll accept that it might be necessary in some emergencies.

However, cops are lazy, and if they can, they will drive. They will then get upset by any of us mere citizens questioning them.

[Purple Eagle]

This seems to obvious, but perhaps Mr. Offutt has never seen vehicles on trails because the barriers are preventing cars from accessing them?

In more rural settings the problem is often with ORV's, although these vehicles are more likely to use dirt trails that would be favored by mnt. bikers and hikers. But frequently there is mounded up dirt at road intersections to prevent the ORVs from accessing the trails.

[RideTheWomble]

Carla - I have called the Arlington Police non-emergency number (703.558.2222) about cars in Barcroft Park, and they have been very responsive.

The other big trouble spot I have noticed is at the intersection of The W&OD and the Custis. Anyone remember the tire-track-sized trenches in the decking of the bridge near there about two years ago?

Go ahead and call, if you see people back there, as they do thousands of dollars worth of damage to things like the bridges. That money would be better used on improvements or maintenance like repaving.

[JeffB]

I once ran into a woman driving down the CCT from River Road. When I asked why she was on the trail she said she was going to pick up her husband who had had a flat tire.

I don't know how she turned around. Maybe she then drove backwards back up the trail?

[Steve Palincsar]

Google's Street View uses tricycles as well as motor vehicles. Don't assume because you see Street View photos of bike trails that Google's misbehaving. Here are photos of the Street View trikes;
http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2009-05-18-n40.html

[washcycle]

I know about the trikes, but this wasn't done with a trike. It predates those and they stopped when they got to River Road because they realized their error. Also, Google Maps now shows that stretch of the trail as a road.

[MB]

Huh. This makes me wish that I'd called the cops on the half dozen SUVs in the BBQ pavillion near the Custis/WOD intersection I saw last year. I was so boggled by it that I just kept riding . . .

[Steve O]

Steve here. I stand partially corrected. If you go to the original post, you will see one example of a useless stanchion, however (at the connection of two trails. Huh?).
@Purple Eagle - You'll note on the original post that I show examples of places where the stanchions have been removed or missing for years.

Also, Paul McCray from the W&OD commented over on Commuter Page that they took out their stanchions 15 years ago and have had few problems since.

Seems like a mixed bag. In some places they would be very useful and valuable, and in others unnecessary.

[washcycle]

I agree Steve. There are some in places where they aren't needed. There are also some places where needed ones are absent.