Cycling in Arlington Cemetery

David Jordan recently wrote a letter to the editor in the Post

To observe Memorial Day this year, I decided to go to Arlington National Cemetery.

Assuming the worst for traffic, I rode my bicycle. I was riding on the road, like any other vehicle. (The cars were packed bumper to bumper approaching the cemetery's entrance.) But just past the visitors center I was pulled over by private security guards in a Jeep. They told me that bicycles are not allowed in the cemetery.

How could it be possible that bicycles are not allowed on the roads of Arlington Cemetery? When cars and SUVs of all sizes are directed by "helpful" traffic specialists, is it too much to ask that bicycles be afforded the same consideration? Of all the places in Washington, where the words "freedom" and "liberty" are uttered frequently, it seems especially sad and ironic that anyone seeking to pay his respects would be denied the opportunity simply because he wasn't in a car.

I can understand Mr. Jordan's annoyance if he felt drivers were getting preferential treatment, but in this case, it's unwarranted. I contacted the Cemetery and they replied:

No personal vehicles are allowed in the cemetery, unless you are attending a funeral or visiting a loved one’s grave. This applies to bicycles, as well. If you are visiting the cemetery for any other purpose, you are allowed to ride a bicycle to the Visitors Center and park it, just as you are allowed to drive your personal vehicle to the Visitors Center and park in the Visitors Center parking lot. In addition to the more than 4 million tourists that visit Arlington each year, we average between 27 and 30 funerals a day and anywhere from 4 to 5 funerals an hour.  You can imagine the challenges with funeral traffic alone – from the vehicles in each funeral procession to the cemetery vehicles that come in to prepare and close the gravesites to the vehicles and buses that transport the military ceremonial troops to and from each service. Thus, traffic in the cemetery is closely monitored, not only in order maintain the decorum appropriate for a national cemetery, but for safety purposes as well.

In regards to Memorial Day, no one is allowed to drive or walk to the amphitheater for the Memorial Day Observance. Everyone, regardless of whether they drove, biked or took the Metro, was required to ride the shuttle up to the amphitheater.

So this isn't a case of allowing cars where you don't allow bikes. While I could see the utility in allowing biking in the Cemetery - or through the Cemetery to 2nd Street South, and I've been critical in the past of cemeteries that don't allow bicycle-through traffic, Arlington is different. I think it's reasonable to ask cyclists and drivers to park and walk (or use the shuttle).

It would be helpful if Arlington included this information (about who can drive/bike in the Cemetery and who can't) on their website, but this isn't a case of discrimination. If anything, cyclists get preferential treatment, we can - after all - park for free. Drivers pay $1.75/hour for the first three hours, and $2.00/hour thereafter.

Bike Arlington has this about Arlington National Cemetery:

Usually, bicyclists are permitted to use certain routes within the Arlington Cemetery, Fort Myer, Henderson Hall and Pentagon military reservations. However, security and safety concerns may arise at any time that result in the closure of those facilities to non-military personnel. Bicyclists should monitor conditions and be prepared to use alternative routes if necessary. While bicycling in military facilities:

• You must wear a helmet and have a picture ID.
• You may only cycle through Arlington National Cemetery after a security check at Fort Myer. This means that you cannot enter from Memorial Drive; you can only enter the Cemetery from Fort Meyer.
• The route marked in yellow on the map, through the fort and cemetery, is the only route that the military allows cyclists on.  Bicyclists should stay on the designated routes and obey all traffic laws and military rules.
• At twilight and at night you must have reflectors showing.

But the map only shows a route through Fort Myer.

Update: This morning, the Post published a couple of responses that hit on a few of the points in here.

I understand his frustration at being denied entry on a bicycle, but perhaps some enlightenment would help. In the 1990s, there was a request to open the cemetery to cycling commuters who were looking for a shortcut to work. Along with many others, I strongly protested this request, for obvious reasons: Arlington National Cemetery is a sacred place, and it should be treated with reverence and respect. The prospect of bicycling commuters using it as a way to get to work was abhorrent.

If he had wanted to visit the cemetery on foot, I'm sure he would have enjoyed it and could have found a spot to leave his bicycle.

I'm not sure it rises to the level of abhorent. I bike past Arlington on the trail along the NE side and used to ride along the south edge all the time (all within view of the highway-encircled Cemetery) so it isn't much different from that. Perhaps inappropriate is a more measured term. I don't blame Jo Williamson for not knowing that you can't walk on Memorial Day weekend - I didn't - but in this one case it wasn't an option (neither was biking or driving unless you were visiting a loved one's grave). 

The second letter stated the concern I originally thought was the justification for banning bikes

Allowing even well-intentioned cyclists would set a precedent that could lead to this sacred ground becoming an exercise track.

Of course, well-intentioned cyclists are allowed - if they're visiting a loved one's grave or attending a funeral.

Photo by M.V.Jantzen

Comments

[freewheel]

Good post. This is consistent with other memorials around D.C. For example, you can ride through the FDR memorial. You can park or walk your bike.

[freewheel]

I meant to say "you can't ride through the FDR memorial."

[MVMike]

I used to bike commute through Arlington Cemetery in the late 1980s, and bikes were allowed -- even encouraged with the placement of green "Bike Route" signs and guards that happily waved you through. That policy began to change during the first Iraq war. After that, sometimes you were waved through, other times not. You couldn't guess the pattern, so I stopped using that route. And, then we moved away, so I've lost track of the policy. But, when I was last driving through the cemetery (visiting my father-in-law's grave), I thought I saw the "Bike Route" signs still there, up near the grave of Abner Doubleday (not my father in law!) and the Lee Mansion. I'll keep an eye out the next time I'm there. If those signs are still there even though biking is prohibited, it certainly would result in confusion.

Also, to freewheel's point, there's a big difference between vehicular roads through a cemetery, and a pedestrian walkway through a memorial.

That said, I agree with WashCycle -- disallowing bikes in a natioanl cemetery seems like a reasonable prohibition. I just wonder if the policy is consistently enforced and communicated.

[freewheel]

Point taken, MVMike. It would not be a terrible thing for cyclists to ride slowly through on the road only, if it was done respectfully and with some awareness.

[charlie]

it's not Lee Mansion, it is Arlington House.

I thought the original story was weird and was someone new to DC. I played with a friends GPS once and it routed us THROUGH the cemetery to get from Crystal city to DC.

[David Jordan]

There was a bumper-to-bumber jam of cars driving into the cemetary. I was on the road with the cars. I was turned away BECAUSE I was on a bicycle. Cars were not turned around.

[Juan Carlos Martinez-Sanchez]

Some practical points:
1. You can ride through the FDR Memorial, I have done it many times. Just keep your pace reasonable so you don't disturb other visitors.
2.For practical purposes Bike Arlington information on this issue is useless. The bike map has no route marked within the cemetery boundaries.The so called "yellow route" is not part of the cemetery.
So, please provide some clear, helpful information (like where you can park your bike, etc).

[A National Mall Park Ranger]

Juan Carlos, that is incorrect. There are rules against riding bicycles through any of the federal memorials including FDR, Korea and the Vietnam Wall. Instead, they may be walked through or there are bike racks at each site. The fact that you've done it in the past only means you've zoomed too quickly past the red-slash-circle signs to read them.

[Chris]

It's no big deal, but I'm left scratching my head a little about how riding a bicycle through a cemetary is disrespectful but the tour mobiles are not.

[washcycle]

I don't think it's disrespectful personally, but I suppose one might feel that tour mobiles were there to help people visit the cemetery while cyclists were just passing through (or even riding laps for exercise). I do remember an argument among friends about whether it was rude to run in the Cemetery. Of course, I walk my dog in Congressional cemetery so I may be more lenient than some.

[Chris]

While it is true that tour mobiles are in Arlington Cemetary to help people who are tourists visit the cemetary, but when the loudspeaker on the tour bus is blaring to indicate that JFK is buried here or Todd Lincoln is buried there, it doesn't lend to the "sacred place" people steretypically describe it as. Rather, it lends itself to the atmosphere of a tourist circus.

Think of it this way: If you were at Arlington Cemetary to visit a loved one's grave, would you be more distracted (and disturbed) by a tour-mobile rolling along blaring information about where the bathrooms are and the signficance of JFK's life, or would you be more distracted by the noise of a bike rolling down the road?