The New York Avenue Bridge (this was the best name I could find for it) carries New York Avenue NE and US 50 over the Anacostia. Just south of it is Amtrak's Anacostia bridge. Neither is bikeable. In fact from Benning Bridge to the Bladensburg Park pedestrian bridge - a distance of over 3 miles - there is nowhere to cross the river by bike making for a sizeable barrier. There is a plan to build a bridge across the Anacostia north of the golf course (as seen on this flyer, and asked for in the Benning Road Bridge post) in 2012, though you can probably push that date back a bit, but there is no plan to add access at New York Avenue.
Of course, just adding a bike facility to one of these bridges isn't enough because getting to the bridge isn't easy.
On the east side, the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail would connect a crossing to Kenilworth and Bladensburg. But help is needed getting to the North Kenilworth/Tuxedo/Cheverly area.
On the west side a little less help is needed connecting to the Arboretum (which, again, should be opened up - 24 hours a day) and Fort Lincoln.
Here's what the wish list includes (map).
1. A crossing - as part of one of the two existing bridges or on a separate bridge just south of the Amtrak bridge. Retrofitting the New York Avenue bridge is probably the cheapest.
2. A side path along New York Avenue connecting the crossing to Fort Lincoln Drive NE.
3. An underpass to connect the crossing to the Arboretum - and for the Arboretum to open up some gates and allow for bike access.
4. A rail with trail along the Amtrak line and a bridge over John Hanson highway to Tuxedo Road (thereby giving access to, among other things, the Cheverly Metro)
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