Boathouse Row Master Plan

In between the new RFK section of the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail and the existing, but still closed, Navy Yard Promenade is a strip of land known as Boathouse Row (not the one in Philly).  The district has begun a master plan process with a goal

to provide upgraded public facilities, improve environmental conditions, preserve existing functions and utilize remaining land to enhance and expand boathouse, marina, dock and water recreation uses.

A meeting was held July 10th (I don't suppose anyone out there went?). The existing conditions presentation includes a map (pdf) of all the planned and existing bike facilities. There are also three draft proposals for the area. The meeting presentation (pdf) points out that preserving and enhancing bicycle access to the river is one of the guiding principals. They also propose a bike rental facility as one of the possible enhancements.

For the ART, the big change in the new design is the place where the trail will cross the railroad tracks. it used to be near Barney Circle, but that may date back to when DC thought CSX was going to let them cross at grade. Now that they have to bridge them, moving it upstream may make sense. Also gone in all three designs is the part of the trail that leads out to the railroad bridge abutment. This is no big loss since it was a dead end. And a road goes out there anyway. If a bike crossing is added to the railroad bridge across the Anacostia - as proposed in the Anacostia Watershed Plan - this can be easily upgraded if needed.

The next biggest change is the restoration of Virginia Avenue as a Greenway to the river.  The ROW exists (I can't believe i never noticed it) and is used mostly as a parking lot and this might make for a nicer way to access the ART from M Street.

There is really no difference between the three master plans from a cycling standpoint. Each has its own subtle route alterations, some closer to the road, some closer to the river, but nothing dramatic. I went down there last weekend and it looks like cyclists will be on the road in most of this section anyway. From the Sousa Bridge to 12th street what is built of the trail so far is all 5 foot wide sidewalk. A couple of sections are being worked on now, under the 11th street Bridge and along Water near M, but it's hard to tell how wide they'll be.  Of the Boathouse Row plans, I like #3 because it puts the restaurant and Boathouse together at the end of Virginia Avenue, but that's me.

Because the river must be maintained as a racecourse, it makes a Virginia Avenue bike/ped bridge unlikely, but one could hope.

The advisory committee met on July 24th to workshop on the preferred alternative, and a second public meeting will be held in September, with the final master plan released within a month after that. So a speedy process time.

Additionally important for the area, the Record of Decision for the 11th Street Bridges project (They did not go with the version I showed here) was released early last month. They're going with a design that puts all bike/ped traffic on the downstream local bridge.

This local bridge would include shared use sidewalks for pedestrians and bicycles. On the downstream side, this sidewalk would be 14 feet wide. The upstream sidewalk would be 6 feet wide.

They've solicited letters of interest from construction firms, expect to begin work in 2009 and finish in 2014.

Comments

[ASmith]

As a "stakeholder" (officer in the District Yacht Club) I was invited to attend. An item of huge importance was not considered in the master planning. WASA is going to do their big stormwater containment project, with digging on the scale of Metro subway stops, down there starting in 4-5 years, finishing about 8 years later. Their current network of sewage outflow is concentrated along there.