Oxon Run Trail Concept Plan

DDOT has completed the Oxon Run Trail Concept Plan and it does a great job of rebuilding and enhancing the existing trail.

The existing trail runs from from South Capitol Street SE to 13th St SE in the Washington Highland area. The new trail would extend southeast to the DC-MD line and connect with the trails in Oxon Hill Farm NP and northeast to Southern Ave (and the Metro station there) where, with help from PG County, it will connect to the Suitland Parkway trail.

There will be a full trail on both sides of Oxon Run, much of it widened to 10' and improved. There are several bike/ped bridges that cross the stream and those would also be widened and improved.  Many of the sidewalks will be upgraded and new ones will be built. In some places the trail will be rerouted to make it straighter. Bike lanes will be added to Southern Ave and Mississippi Ave to serve as the northern piece. New bike ped bridges will be built in DC across Oxon Run south of the South Capitol Street bridge and in Maryland crossing the unnamed tributary to Oxon Run adjacent to the existing Oxon Cove Connector Trail pedestrian bridge; crossing the unnamed tributary along Audrey lane; and across Barnaby Run - all on NPS land.  A new trail from Joliet St SW to Blue Plains Dr. SW is included too. Most of these bridges can be seen on the rendering below, which is of the southern section.

The project will have a significant stormwater element to it. Water now goes from street to stream,and the plan is to add bioretention elements as an interim step.

The southern extension is along NPS land and so has an added level of complexity. The rest of the trail is on land DC controls, but agreements with the NPS, MNCPPC, and the Town of Forest Heights may be required for potential easements or maintenance agreements once construction is complete. The northern extension is mostly on-road, away from Oxon Run. Due to the steep slopes in that plot of NPS-owned land, concerns about military uses on the land in the past (and possible buried contaminants) and some trees that NPS thinks highly of, DDOT doesn't think the park land there is as suitable for a trail.

DDOT has been working with the Oxon Run Citizen Association (ORCA) as a citizen stakeholder group and is now waiting on comments

If funding is found, they'll design it all at once, but the construction will be done in two phases. Building it will cost about $10.7M for 5 miles of trails, connections and other amenities. If lights are added, which the community really supports, that adds another $5M, in part because the lights can't be solar due to the tree canopy. The money would likely come from the Department of Parks and Recreation and it hasn't been identified yet.

That trail is in serious need of help, and if it becomes a connection between the Wilson Bridge, S. Cap trail and Suitland parkway, it could be a linchpin in bike/ped connectivity along the SE/SW border with Maryland. This is an overlooked, but critical project and I hope they find funding for it.

Comments

[Froggie]

This southern segment (that you provided a map of) is IMO the #1 gap in the Oxon Hill trail system. Connecting it to the existing trail through Oxon Run Farm is paramount.

[Jim Titus]

I guess much depends on where you are going. To be sure Oxon Hill farm is a nice place to go and trail improvements might bring a few more visitors. But if you are going to the Wilson Bridge or National Harbor, it is a bit odd to ride up the hill from the river just so you can use the Oxon Hill Farm bridge to cross the beltway and then go back down the hill on the other side. Going up the access roads along MD-210 through Forest Heights provides a more gradual incline.

In the long run, I wonder if it would be possible to run a trail under the Oxon Cove I-295, and then run along the river side of I-295 to the WW bridge?

[washcycle]

Jim, I agree with you about MD-210.

I'm afraid we missed the boat on the river side of I-295. As I heard it, NPS wanted to minimize the footprint and felt that a bike trail along that side of I-295 would be too much. And PG County wanted the trail to lead to Nat. Harbor to drive business there. They blew it when they didn't add a MUP to the bridge over Oxon Cove (it was rebuilt too). I don't think we'll get a second bite at that apple for a while.

[Richard Layman]

The Shared Use Path LOS manual recommends a minimum 11 foot width for trails.

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/safety/pedbike/05138/

It's been awhile since I read the draft of the new AASHTO manual for bicycle infrastructure. I guess it goes along with the 10 foot width recommendation that is in the current guide. But it recommends wider paths for those likely to be used by pedestrians and wheeled users as well as bicyclists.

http://design.transportation.org/Documents/DraftBikeGuideFeb2010.pdf

[Richard Layman]

wrt your comment on the bridge and the missed opportunity, I attempted to make some recommendations about more robust accommodations for peds and bicyclists on bridges in MD with regard to the SHA but that was taken out of the final draft.

The Baltimore Sun had an article recently about the Office of Bridge Development in MDOT. That office needs to be more carefully engaged on this issue.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/commuting/bs-md-bridge-engineer-20101026,0,1415452.story

While bridge issues are covered sensitively in the SHA Manual on Bicycle Facilities, in practice SHA seems to not provide adequate facilities for peds and bicyclists. This is particularly important in the suburbs around DC and Baltimore, where freeway beltways end up becoming significant barriers to bicyclists especially.

[Shalom]

I'm delighted that they're finally making concrete plans to upgrade and unify this route. I've used it many times, making do with the half-measures in place today -- it's one of my favorite rides in the DC area. Really connects a lot of diverse neighborhoods and ties into other major bike routes -- can't wait 'til it's in place!

I couldn't find the link to the new plan on the DDOT website, or where the image in the original post comes from -- could you point us to more info?

[washcycle]

whoops. try this concept plan