Bike Commute 6: New Trail Detour

Bike Commute 6: New Trail Detour, originally uploaded by Rootchopper.

Another shot of the new trail detour between the Humpback and 14th Street Bridges taken from the ramp to the 14th Street Bridge. You take a right to go south and a left to go north over the Humpback Bridge.

Comments

[Michael N]

The (only) good aspect of how this was done is that it is wider than the trail - but given the level of foot and bike traffic in better weather and that it is as steep as it is combined with two turns, it isn't as wide as it will need to be to help people avoid crashes. As another comment notes, where the new surface meets the pavement you can lose control. Also, the initial portion when turning from heading north to go up this new "ramp" is steep enough combined with the sharp turn that some folks I would guess are going to get off and walk. If this will be around for a while it would make sense to add another ramp just south of this one for downhill and have this one for uphill. So far also no signage to slow down which when descending would be a good idea since you don't get a clear view of it until on top of it when coming from the bridge.

[John]

Wht you can;t much see is that beyond the Jersey barrier the pavement for the old trail has been removed. The bridge itself is shrouded in a white tarp. I suspect that this means that the stone facing work is underway and that we are nearing the end of the project. If so, this little tweak to the trail (admittedly poorly designed) is probably going to be gone by mid- to late-Spring.

[Joe]

Do they still request cyclists dismount?

[Michael H.]

The DOT webpage for the project lists a completion date of spring 2011. These are the construction updates for this week:

- Setting stone masonry on the east side of the bridge
- Continuing grading work along the bridge approaches
- Placing roadway aggregate base
- Forming and pouring concrete curb and gutter

Hopefully it will only be a matter of weeks before the entire reconstruction project is finished.

[John]

I had to dismount on the connecting section here this morning. Loose material at the bottom and a glaze of snow/ice made this the only part of my 14 mile commute that I had to dismount for.

[Joe]

Road through here 3 times today. The loose gravel is VERY dangerous if you are not use to off road or gavel road riding. Even on a mountain bike I was wheeling the front wheel over the loose stuff on the transition from pavement to keep from the front from washing out.