Gravelly Point - Mount Vernon Trail Redesign

The NPS has started public scoping of the Gravelly Point and Roaches Run EA. The Park Service wants to redesign the areas to make Roaches Run more accessible and to make the Mt Vernon Trail safer with fewer conflicts. The process has been going on since 2008 and the alternatives have been narrowed down to three, with one being the no-build option. Of the two remaining options, Alternative D seems to be the better/more expensive one.

Both options will create a pedestrian trail to Roaches Run from the Crystal City Connector along an abandoned roadbed. This will not be for cycling, but a bike rack will be installed at the intersection of the two trails. Both will include interpretive sites along the MVT, a new waterless bathroom right with a wayside/bike parking node along the trail just north of the bridge over Roaches Run, and Trail/Parkway Safety Enhancements along the Mount Vernon Trail between Gravelly Point and the airport to address safety concerns due to the proximity of the trail to the road. The safety improvements could include reflective line painting on the trail, protective barriers, vegetative barriers to reduce headlight glare and signage and striping to discourage passing, or improve the safety of passing.

Concept D, shown below, also includes a trail realignment in the congested area of Gravelly Point. This includes a new “through-route” constructed to bypass congested area and cross the entrance road mid-block. The current route in the congested area woukd be converted to a pedestrian route, and extended around the east and south sides of the parking lot to the proposed wayside/bike parking node with the Mount Vernon Trail. Cyclists would be discouraged on the pedestrian path. Concept D would instead widen the existing trail from the parking lot to the turn north.

GWMP will host a Public Meeting on Tuesday, June 5, 2012 from 6:30pm to 8:30pn at Indigo Landing Restaurant on Daingerfield Island. All are encouraged to attend. Comments will be accepted until June 22nd.

Comments

[Froggie]

This would appear to be the "express bike lane" project that I mentioned back in February.

[Rootchopper]

LOoks like the bike trail intersects the access road closer to the Parkway. Probably inevitable but not a great idea.

[Sarah]

none of this will occur in the next ten years at least.

if anything changes it will be for the worse for bicyclists; if anything changes it will use the least amount of money and skimp on quality, and be ugly.

just look around to prove my point...

how long have NPS had those portable disgusting toilets out there??...

it is so embarassing to be an american...

[Chewey]

Let's hope that some of this comes true. I commute daily on the MVT and Gravelly Point in particular is a giant mess, especially on a Saturday and Sunday. There are always, without fail on the weekends, groups of people just standing on the trail gawking at the planes lifting off and landing. I mean, I have no problem with the gawking; I do it a bit myself (I never really get tired of riding past the airport as a jet flies over my head to land or take off). But I just want to yell at people to get off the goddamn trail when they do it.

Even without the gawkers, it's just a lot of people walking slowly in groups on the trail. I don't say that as a bad thing; the trail is for walkers as much as bicyclists. But it just means that there needs to be something done to alleviate that particular traffic snarl. Almost as soon as you turn north the jam clears up, so a new bike trail that bypasses that turn would be a welcome development, though, as rootchopper notes, that will almost inevitably mean the trail intersecting the access road near the parkway.

Speaking of the parkway, if the only thing they did was paint reflective lines on the section of the trail along the parkway, that would be an improvement. I work nights, and when I ride home after work I constantly have the glare of headlights in my eyes along that section. There are some points where it's almost impossible to see anything in front of me because of that, so I have to just do my best to make sure I'm staying on the nearly invisible trail. It can be a bit dangerous when there are other people coming the opposite direction at night.

But maybe this is all wishful thinking; by the time any of it comes into play I'll probably have moved somewhere else in the city and won't be using that trail anymore.

[Kolohe]

And of course, extending the Long Bridge Park trail directly to the MVT (and/or 14th st Bridge) would reduce of lot of commuter bike traffic on the MVT at Gravelly Point.

[Kolohe]

Ah, both the alternatives have that as 'related actions'

[Chris]

I bet if they removed those disgusting post-a-johns the only complaints would come from cabbies. Does NPS realize they're basically subsidizing bathroom facilities for cabbies returning from an airport drop-off? Not only is it an unnecessary cost the vehicular traffic in and out of the parking lot would be cut down dramatically without these guys making a pit stop to take their morning dump.

[Biker]

Maybe they can use tolls to finance this new "Gravelly Point Bypass". The thru-traffic certainly warrants it. I just hope they don't allow any exits off the bypass so that we don't attract any suburban sprawl.

[Kathy]

The amount of people at Gravelly Pt this Memorial Day weekend was astounding. They were parked all over the grassy areas. I can't believe the NPS wasn't enforcing the "no park on grass" rule.

Regarding the cabbie problem, the airport should be forced to provide bathroom facilities for the cabbie/limo drivers. Seriously.

[Dan]

How about some water fountains, as a runner who trains on MVT (and stays to the right and in single file with others, your welcome lance) I appreciate any kind of bathroom facility.

[washcycle]

Excellent comment Dan, be sure to send it to NPS via the link above.

[Westnorth]

The pedestrian cluelessness at this location knows no boundaries. I once had to yell at a crowd of people who had set up huge cameras on tripods in the middle of the trail -- at night! I've taken hundreds of photos while momentarily standing in the middle of the street, but I cannot fathom anyone being so stupid as to just plop down $1000s of camera gear in the middle of a busy road.

The people parking on the grass last weekend were using the bike path as a drive aisle to reach said "informal parking lot." The last thing I was expecting to nearly run into while rounding the corner was a car driving up the path, but sure enough...

Whenever I've needed facilities in this stretch (including Mayorga coffee and wi-fi), I just duck into the airport. For those on bikes, it's an ever so slight detour, and there are bike racks to lock up to.

[Westnorth]

Sorry. I need to close the tag. Whew, much better.