DDOT has been busy building a new 9th St NE bridge to replace the one built in 1941. The new one is finished, and traffic should have already switched to it by now. This past weekend, I went out to ride across both bridges to compare and contrast. It was hard to compare the narrowed one lane traffic on the old bridge to the two open lanes on the new bridge, but for those who use the sidewalks it will be a world of difference.
Sidewalk on the old bridge.
Sidewalk on the new bridge
The old bridge has a ramp from NY Ave that meets it part way across, something the new bridge does not. It had these awful - and probably unusable to those in wheelchairs - curb ramps.
Another nice aspect of the new bridge is that, instead of blocking the railroad tracks with the usual opaque steel sheets, they used clear plexiglass, which gives a great view of the rail yard and the Washington Monument.
Unlike the old bridge, the new bridge will leave space underneath to continue this sidepath (which probably needs to be improved).
Unfortunately for sidewalk cyclists, they placed the streetlights smack dab in the middle of the new sidewalk east of the bridges
But all in all, it's an improvement to this critical route, which is the only place to cross the railroad tracks for about a mile (from the Met Branch Trail to Montana Ave).
The lamp posts in the middle of the sidewalk don't look very friendly for wheelchair users, either...
Posted by: er | December 15, 2010 at 10:00 AM
er: that's exactly what i was thinking. i can understand seeing lampposts in the middle of the sidewalk on something that was built ages ago, before we all became more aware of the need to accommodate for things like wheelchairs.
seeing that on something built in 2010 is wholly unacceptable. that should be torn up and redone.
Posted by: IMGoph | December 15, 2010 at 05:17 PM
This is all part of the elitist war on cars!
Posted by: SJE | December 15, 2010 at 05:50 PM
er: Excellent point.
Posted by: washcycle | December 15, 2010 at 05:54 PM
Well at least they got the sidewalks on the bridge right... but it makes me wonder, maybe placing the lamp posts in the sidewalk was a contractor mistake? For the sake of the planners, I can only hope.
Posted by: Chris | December 15, 2010 at 07:18 PM
Why the giant median? Seems like te space would be better as a bike lane.
And yes, those lamp posts look illegal. Is there 4.5 feet of clearance?
Posted by: JJJ | December 15, 2010 at 09:59 PM
JJJ: if you're referring to the giant median on New York Ave, it's for left turn lanes for westbound NY Ave to access the bridge...the old direct ramp from WB NY Ave to the bridge is being permanently removed.
Posted by: Froggie | December 16, 2010 at 07:15 PM