Progress on the Oxon Run Trail

On my inaugural ride back on the bicycle after getting the cast off, I went to check out the Oxon Run Trail, which is currently being  rebuilt, improved and expanded. Last time I went there, in late November, only the section south of Atlantic was being worked on, but now they've expanded the work all the way to 4th Street SE and a little beyond it.

The concrete work is farther along then the asphalt is. So the wide sidewalk portion of the trail along South Capitol from Oxon Run to Winkle Doodle Branch and the Maryland boundary is mostly finished.

 Farther north, more sidewalks are complete, but the trail sections have only one layer of asphalt down at this point.

Just past 4th Street a lone piece of construction equipment has started removing turf in preparation for a new section of trail.

Then I also swung by St. Elizabeths to check out the "pedestrian walkway" built in 2013 and connecting 11th Place SE with the Pavilion. It's clearly intended for the primary use of pedestrians, but I see no reason why a careful cyclist couldn't use it as a shortcut. Unfortunately on this day there was a pretty good reason why I couldn't use it - it was closed for construction. I'm not sure what construction was going on or why it was running long.

I kind of wonder who uses this walkway, it stops short of both the Congress Heights Metro and the Homeland Security facility.

Comments

[contrarian]

Glad to hear the cast is off. I wish you a speedy and complete recovery!

[Uptowner]

Can we push back on anyone building a concrete sidewalk and calling it a "shared path". These facilities are rarely comfortable for cycling, and if people do use them for cycling, they suck for walking. In the Netherlands, share bicycling/walking infrastructure only exists in rural areas (forests and farmland), and concrete slab bike paths do not exist anywhere, because they are bumpy and uncomfortable to bike on.

Why should we celebrate our city applying a rural design with a substandard material?