County Board asked to authorize Carlin Springs Connector Trail, but not without opposition

At the June 13th Arlington County Board meeting, the County Manager is recommending that the Board approve agreements between the County, the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority (NVRPA)  and Dominion Power that would allow the County to construct and maintain a connector trail from the W&OD Trail to South Carlin Springs Road along an existing desire line to the south of Carlin Springs road and the north of the W&OD (seen here). 

While cyclists and pedestrians can currently access the W&OD and FMR trails via the disc golf course and parking lots on the south side of Four Mile Run and via dirt paths on the north side, this 8-foot wide connector would create a more direct, and better quality connection to the W&OD Trail. The connection would include a stop sign giving priority to those already on the W&OD and presumably signage to direct users. 

Despite the diminuative size of this project, it has nonetheless attracted some opposition. Namely from Bernie Berne, President of the Buckingham Community Civic Association.

Mr. Berne's primary concern is that the trail will negatively impact what is now a field located along a stream, by replacing a natural billy-goat path with an 8-foot wide swath of pavement and shoulders. He wrote in an email to a parks list serve:

This project would destroy a meadow area in the W&OD Regional Park to construct a needless paved bike trail that would duplicate a nearby connector trail. 

The meadow area that the Connector Trail would destroy has developed since the County’s Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) placed chains along the W&OD Trail and the N. Carlin Springs sidewalk about five years ago at Walter Tejada's request.  These chains stopped the frequent mowing of the area and permitted the meadow to develop.  The meadow area presently has wildflowers and is providing habitat for pollinators and other wildlife.  

 

Further, the meadow area is reducing storm water runoff into Four Mile Run. 

The Connector Trail is an initiative of DES and the County's Bicycle Advisory Committee that has not [undergone] any public review.  The Bicycle Element of the County's Master Transportation Plan does not describe this Connector Trail.  Construction of the trail would [contradict] recommendations in the Public Spaces Master Plan that are intended to preserve natural areas in County parks and open spaces. 

 

The Connector Trail is clearly not needed. The W&OD Trail presently connects to the east side of N. Carlin Springs Road via an 8-10 feet wide paved trail on the south side of Four Mile Run.  The proposed Connector Trail, which would travel on the north side of Four Mile Run, would duplicate the existing trail. 

 

The proposed Connector Trail would meet N. Carlin Springs Road only 300 feet (0.06 miles) from the existing paved connecting route.  Further, pedestrians and runners presently use an informal footpath that travels along the Connector's route; therefore, they would not significantly benefit from the proposed Connector Trail.

 

Construction of the Connector Trail would place an impervious 8-feet wide strip of asphalt through a natural area.  Further, frequent mowing along the sides of the Connector would destroy even more of the natural area and meadow habitat.  The total width of the disruption would likely exceed 18 feet.

 

The Connector Trail would therefore disrupt a planned natural area and destroy a meadow habitat without creating a significant benefit for pedestrians, cyclists or other users of the W&OD Trail. In addition, construction and maintenance of the Connector Trail would waste County funds and resources.

I'm not unsympathetic to the concerns he's raised (and so glad to not have to argue about parking for once), but I disagree about the trail being needless. It clearly has added utility, and the presence of a desire line proves that. While there are a lot of people who can use the current trail, it's not exactly ADA compliant. Nor do I agree that the effective width of this trail will be 18 feet.

 

I think the benefits in this case likely outweigh the costs (see below), as the meadow is likely to be impacted, but not destroyed. And encouraging more active transportation has environmental (and health and mobility) benefits that may partially or completing compensate for what is lost. 

 

But perhaps a compromise would involve some mitigation. Perhaps the County could use porous pavement, or add in a bioswale, or pay to remove and rehabilitate an equivalent amount of space from the substation access road across Carlin Springs. it appears that more of that has gravel/pavement than is needed. 

 

Those who wish to speak up on this can write the board or speak on this project at the County Board's Recessed Meeting next Tuesday, June 16 at 6:30 PM.

 

Just a quick and very sloppy cost-benefit analysis.

 

Well, what's the harm to the environment? We're talking about a 200 foot long, 8 foot wide trail or 1600 sq. ft. of pavement. The Center for Neighborhood Technology (a green infrastructure advocacy group) puts the annual cost of runoff from 1 foot of pavement at about $1 a year. So $1600 a year is the annual environmental cost. 

 

The benefit is greater cycling and walking utility. Yes, you can get to all the same places without it, just as one could get from Alexandria to National Harbor before the Wilson bike path opened, but you can do it faster, easier and more intuitively with the connection. 

 

The best available alternative is a 300 foot detour. The average person will is willing to spend 30 minutes commuting, which makes for a 6 mile bike commute. A 300 foot detour reduces the number of people willing to bike commute (or other transportation) via that route by ~1%. How much would you the County be willing to pay per additional bike commuter? Or to make it more accessible to someone in a wheelchair? $1600 is a pretty small threshold.

 

Update: In a recent email from a more careful reader than me, in the documentation for this that I linked to above, the county notes that there is 0.49 acres of runoff catchment area for the 0.01 acres of pavement and that they are building a "permanent settling basin..to prevent runoff from reaching Four Mile Run." Here's more relevant facts:

THE PROJECT WILL RESULT IN AN ADDITION OF 1,840 SQUARE FEET (0.04 ACRES) OF NEW IMPERVIOUS SURFACE. THE PROJECT WILL DISTURB 3,320 SQUARE FEET OF LAND.

 

A DITCH WILL BE CONSTRUCTED ALONG THE UPSLOPE SIDE OF THE TRAIL BEGINNING AT THE WEST END WHERE IT CONNECTS TO THE EXISTING SIDEWALK. THE DITCH WILL FOLLOW THE TRAIL ALIGNMENT TO THE EAST. THE DITCH WILL BE DIRECTED TOWARDS A NATURAL DEPRESSION TO THE NORTHEAST. THE DITCH WILL BE LINED WITH NO. 57 STONE.

 

CALCULATIONS WERE PERFORMED USING THE VIRGINIA RUNOFF REDUCTION METHOD (VRRM) AND TR-55.

 

THE PRE-DEVELOPMENT HYDROLOGY WAS BASED ON A GOOD FORESTED CONDITION AND THE POST DEVELOPMENT HYDROLOGY WAS BASED ON THE PROPOSED CONDITIONS.

 

BASED ON THE VRRM THE PROJECT GENERATES 0.13LB/YEAR OF PHOSPHORUS. BASED ON A SITE ARE OF 0.13 ACRES, THIS RESULTS IN REQUIRED TREATMENT VOLUME OF 203 CUBIC FEET.

 

BASED ON THE ENERGY BALANCE EQUATION  OF THE VRRM, APPROXIMATELY 238 CF OF STORAGE ARE REQUIRED FOR CHANNEL PROTECTION AND 391 CF ARE REQUIRED FOR THE FLOOD PROTECTION.

 

DUE TO THE SMALL SIZE OF THE DETENTION FACILITY REQUIRED AND MAINTENANCE CONCERNS, A SWM DETENTION FACILITY IS NOT BEING PROPOSED WITH THESE PLANS. HOWEVER, IN ORDER TO OFFSET THE STORAGE REQUIRED, A LARGER FACILITY FOR THIS AND OTHER PROJECTS WILL BE PROPOSED AT A LATER TIME.

The trail with the ditch for stormwater control. 

Comments

[DE]

I can see both sides of this. It is a shame to pave a portion of the meadow; however, it's also odd to worry about that little bit of pavement runoff in an area where houses continue to be built in larger and larger footprints, increasing runoff into Four Mile Run. That thing already flash floods like you wouldn't believe.

A good alternative would be to create a cut-through in the southernmost, narrowist portion of the substation property, which is already gravel. As I recall, in the 90s there was an informal cut-through here that I used to use. Not sure if it would be doable, but I would assume most cyclists here are wanting to access Kensington, not Carlin Springs, which is a crap road to ride on through here at the moment. If they wanted to access the Greenbriar/Grenada neighborhood, there's already an access point for that area.

One other consideration is that the underpass for Carling Springs Road floods sometimes after very heavy rains and leaves sand on a blind, dark, hard to see curve. An alternative route for high water, such as exists at Wilson Blvd., where flooding is more common, wouldn't be a bad idea.

[Brendan]

That's not the Buckingham neighborhood. It's my neighborhood: Arlington Forest. I'll ask my association to support the project since it's in our neighborhood. Point 2: the desire trail is hardpacked dirt. A paved trail will make no measurable difference to the present conditions.

[scoot]

IMO the trail conditions on the underpass (frequent flooding, sand, blind curve) necessitate a good at-grade crossing alternative. The proposed path should be built, in addition to another one on the opposite side of Carlin Springs, plus a crosswalk.

The detour from WOD to the south side of the stream is much more than 300 feet, since one needs to double back to reach a bridge. (Unless one anticipates and crosses over to 4MR trail earlier... but that is also a time cost b/c 4MR is a slower windier trail)

[DE]

And it's quite hilly on the Four Mile Run trail here, plus if it's flooded at the WO&D, the low-water bridge on Four Mile Run is certain to be under water. Overall it's a good idea.

There had been much whining and gnashing of teeth over on ArlNow because of the new bike lanes along Wilson Blvd. connecting to the WO&D. I rode them up and back this week, and they're a great connector. Despite the concerns, there was no backup of traffic at 5:30 p.m. Connecting infrastructure like this is important if we want more people to ride.

[dbb]

I rode by there this morning and in the area of the proposed trail extension, the mowing along the W&OD was only about 2 feet (a bit more on the Four Mile Run side of the W&OD. It seems that the existing reduced mowed area (compared to the original plans) will offset any paving here. This is a logical and appropriate improvement in Arlington's cycling and pedestrian infrastructure.

[old timer]

This actually isn't just a "desire line," by which I think you mean a trail blazed by bikes and pedestrians through the grass - it was the way the railroad crossed Carlin Springs, and as I recall, it was a paved connection to the road until the underpass going under Carlin Springs was built in the late 1990s. So this isn't a new trail, it's restoring an old one.

[old timer]

P.S. There's even an old apron in the curb still left from the old trail.

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.868285,-77.127453,3a,75y,113.68h,64.66t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s8n1sGGgSwIMqx5L9a_0czw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[washcycle]

Oh...that makes sense. If some of the old railbed is down there, I wonder if removing the ballast etc... might even be a net gain.

[washcycle]

Put a crosswalk and a HAWK light in there and it makes it all the more worthwhile.

[old timer]

I doubt there's old railbed. This was a paved trail just like the rest of the W&OD. In fact, it was part of the W&OD, which technically ended at Carlin Springs and didn't start again until the Bluemont Junction, until the underpass was built. To get through, you either crossed over the road and followed a dirt trail (now the paved part that goes past the power facility), or you followed the Four Mile Run trail on the other side of 4MR.

The fact that this was a trail until just 15 or so years ago is a strong argument for restoring it.

[Mark Antell]

The discussion before the board focused on a safer and less disruptive route allowing passage from N. Kensington or from Carlin Springs to the W & OD. That route would pave a passage from Kensington across Dominion Power's gravel road and then on about 20 feet to the W&OD. On the map above the line of the path would run from the "N" in N Kensington, southwest to the W & OD.
The best feature of the alternative path is that cyclists could pass under Carlin Springs rather than cross at street level.
Mark Antell, Rosslyn Bicycler

[washcycle]

If they're coming from Kensington that would safer, but not if they're coming from 1st Place North.

The way I think of this is like a 4 way interchange. Now with a highway, we almost never decide that 1 or 2 interchanges (and couple of other detours) is acceptable, but with bike/ped infrastructure 1 is all you need I suppose.

As for disruption, that can be mitigated. In fact, under Virginia law it has to be. If we were to suggest narrowing Carlin Springs to just 1 lane in the area of 4 Mile Run - to expand the meadow, y'know - I suspect neighbors would suddenly change their tune about how the meadow must be preserved at all cost. That's an 8 lane road - with pylons in the stream, but yeah, it's the bike trail that is the real environmental bad guy here.

[washcycle]

And has been mentioned, passing under Carlin Springs is fine as long as the stream hasn't flooded the trail - which happens - and the trail is cleared of silt - which doesn't. Put in the connector, and "the alternative" and a HAWK light, then mitigate all the stormwater runoff with bioswales and other controls and you've made everything better.

[Arlington activist]

As you probably know by now, the County Board voted 4-1 to deny approval of the proposed connector route.

What you may not know is that Board members asked the County Manager and staff to investigate the possibility of constructing the connector on the gravel road that Mark Antell discussed and the DE stated is a "good alternative". Jay Fisette, an avid cyclist, had recently visited the site. He stated this alternative would not harm the natural environment, would be less expensive than constructing the trail along the proposed route and would achieve all of the goals that the proposed connector was intended to achieve.

County staff stated at the Board meeting that the gravel path is on Dominion Power's property. When staff investigates this further, they will find the gravel path is mostly in the County's Bluemont Park. Some of it may be on NVRPA property, as it is close to the W&OD Trail. Dominion Power may have an easement to use the property to access its electrical substation. However, the County's online maps show that Dominion Power does not own any of it.

"Old timer" recollected that the proposed connector route was a paved connection to Carlin Springs Road until the 1990's. His recollection is faulty.

The connector route was once the route of the W&OD Railroad. Traveling eastward, the railroad crossed Carlin Springs Road at grade, ran along the proposed connector route and then crossed Four Mile Run on bridge.

When the railroad closed, it removed the bridge and its tracks. Anyone traveling on the proposed connector route could then travel no further east than the former bridge site. As a result, there was no need or desire to pave the route.

When the W&OD Trail was constructed in the area, a trail bridge was constructed on the abutments of the old railroad bridge. The trail's planners decided that it was not necessary to spend the money to pave the proposed connector route because the W&OD Trail connected to the Four Mile Run Trail, which in turn connected to parking lots on both sides of Four Mile Run. The parking lot on the west side of Carlin Springs Road is more handicapped accessible than is the one on the east side of the Road,

The area through which the proposed connector would travel was used as a staging area for W&OD Trail construction. An curb cut was built on the east side of Carlin Springs Road to permit construction vehicles to access the staging areas. That curb cut is the "old apron in the curb" that old timer described. The curb cut was not left from an old trail, as there never was a trail at that location.

Construction of the staging area destroyed all of the vegetation that was growing on and near the proposed connector route. Although W&OD Trail planners expected the area to return to a natural state when construction was completed, this did not happen.

As soon as the vegetation reappeared, County mowing contractors began to frequently mow a strip between the curb cut and the new W&OD Trail, permitting County maintenance vehicles to use the area to access the W&OD Trail. Before long, the maintenance vehicles created ruts that eroded soil onto the W&OD Trail after every heavy rain.

Around 2006, Walter Tejada walked through mowed area during a neighborhood walk. Neighbors pointed out to Walter that the unplanned frequent mowing was preventing the restoration of the natural area and a potential meadow habitat. Walter, who is a cyclist familiar with all of the nearby trail routes and their histories, recognized the problem. Walter asked the County's Park staff to place chains at the ends of the proposed connector trail route. It took about two years and a large amount of effort and paperwork for Walter and the Parks staff to obtain permits from Dominion Power and the Northern Virginia Regional Parks Authority to permit the placement of the chains. Bernard Berne's message cited these efforts.

That was the end of any prospect for a connector trail along the proposed route as long as Walter remained on the County Board.

The County staff person responsible for developing plans for the proposed trail knew about Walter's involvement in placing the chains to restore the natural area. He also knew about the potential alternative route along the gravel road to the west of Carlin Springs Road.

However, that person believed that the project was too small to warrant a full County Board hearing. That proved to be a fatal error for the project when the County Manager placed the proposed connector trail on the agenda for the County Board meeting.

You don't walk on Superman's cape. You don't make plans to pave over a natural area that a long-time County Board member has expended a large amount of time and effort to create.

[DE]

Thanks for the history, Arlington activist. Don't understand the part about Superman's cape though.

I don't mind the decision too much myself; I can see both sides, and if the Dominion Power cut through is available, that will be a help for some. But I do wish Arlington (and other trail authorities such as NVRPA) were better about clearing the silt and sand along the underpasses once they've built them. I haven't had an incident here and am now quite careful, but I have wiped out painfully under S. George Mason. The underpass for Carlin Springs is ripe for collisions.

[Arlington Activist]

To DE: The phrase "You don't tug on Superman's cape", which I slightly misquoted is from Jim Croce's 1972 song, "You Don't Mess Around with Jim". See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Don't_Mess_Around_with_Jim_(song)

[washcycle]

Jay Fisette, an avid cyclist, had recently visited the site. He stated this alternative would not harm the natural environment, would be less expensive than constructing the trail along the proposed route and would achieve all of the goals that the proposed connector was intended to achieve.

But that too would require some paving of an area that is currently not paved, no? Isn't anyone thinking about the meadow? Besides is Jay Fisette qualified to make a determination of what will and will not harm the natural environment, especially without any study? I doubt it.

And while a great idea, It's a solution to a different problem, one which right now no one can say is technically possible.

County staff stated at the Board meeting that the gravel path is on Dominion Power's property. When staff investigates this further, they will find the gravel path is mostly in the County's Bluemont Park.

Well, if I've learned one thing in life, it's that you can trust the expert opinion of anonymous online commenters using online maps over that of the County staff who have done actual research on the issue. I'm sure Dominion Power will just gladly step aside.

The trail's planners decided that it was not necessary...

Necessary is not the same as "worthwhile."

The parking lot on the west side of Carlin Springs Road is more handicapped accessible than is the one on the east side of the Road

Well that's all well and good if your goal is to get to a parking lot. But not everyone is trying to do that.

Neighbors pointed out to Walter that the unplanned frequent mowing was preventing the restoration of the natural area...

This natural area that was being restored had been a railroad for a very long time. Then it was a construction staging area. Then in was a mowed and rutted trail access road. And now it is a beaten down path. I think "natural area restoration" is overstating it.

Bernard Berne's message cited these efforts.

Talking about yourself in the 3rd person is weird.

That was the end of any prospect for a connector trail along the proposed route as long as Walter remained on the County Board.

You're right if Walter Tejada supports something, like let's say a streetcar, that something gets done! He's superman! He's never wrong! (As I recall, Jim, he with whom you should not mess, gets his ass handed to him at the end of the song. Just sayin')

He also knew about the potential alternative route along the gravel road to the west of Carlin Springs Road.

That's not really an alternative though. That is a different connection.

Congratulations. You worked the system and the political side to get a sub-optimal outcome for absolutely no gain and the loss of a trail connection with some utility. You're a hero.

[DE]

Someone on ArlNow mentioned to me that there was an at-grade crossing through that parking lot. I didn't argue because: ArlNow. But that crossing takes you over to the Four-Mile Run trail by the disc golf course. First, a lot of people certainly don't even know about it and how to link it up. Second, it's a different trail, somewhat less suited for cycling, and if the water is high (so that the low-water bridge is covered), your next opportunity to get back to the W&OD is at the Bluemont Junction Trail. Again, not the end of the world, but if the goal is to have connectivity, it's less than ideal.

I like analogies, but I still don't understand the Superman thing. Was Walter Tejada supposed to be Zarathrustra?

[washcycle]

The utility of this connector is

1.for anyone going to or from the neighborhood between Carlin Springs Road and Lubber Run. Cyclists going/coming from the east save about 300' those going/coming from the west save about 1000' (unless they want to cross Carlin Springs Road)

2. For situations when the low water crossing is below water.

Those are small improvements, but then it's a small connector.

[Crickey7]

The Superman's cape reference is no good. You should have use an analogy to personally installing a major bicycle part just before a long ride beyond cell service range.