The State of the Foundry Branch Trestle is Poorer

WMATA has done another inspection of the Foundry Branch Trolley Trestle, and they now say it could collapse at any minute. 

An inspection last week found the 122-year-old structure in “imminent risk of collapse,” prompting park rangers to renew a warning to keep pedestrians off a trail underneath the trestle in Georgetown.

That portion of the trail has been closed to bike users and pedestrians since August 2016, after the Park Service determined the trestle’s structural condition too frail to allow people to run underneath. But many trail users have ignored the warnings and jumped over a fence to stay on track.

Trail advocates, including myself, have been eager to see this used as part of a trail that could run from the Palisades to Georgetown. Unfortunately WMATA has seemed much more eager to tear down the trestle than to make that happen. At the January BAC meeting DDOT said they were working towards a spring 2018 start date for the feasibility study. Despite that, WMATA is seeking permission from NPS and DC to tear it down, after which they would reportedly store the pieces some place in case a plan to restore it emerges. 

The findings are not surprising. Other inspections in recent years have led to similar conclusions, frustrating preservationists and trestle enthusiasts who have been calling for its restoration. Some have asked the District Department of Transportation to take over the structure and turn it into a pedestrian walkway that would connect Georgetown and the Palisades neighborhood.

Supporters say this would take the trestle off the list of the most endangered places in the District and put it back in service after decades of neglect.  The trestle has sat unused since the streetcar shut down in 1962, and its age shows; sections of the steel supports have rusted away and wooden ties have fallen.

It's not true that it has been unused since 1962. People used to walk across it until the 1980's when someone fell off it to their death, but it hasn't been used as streetcar trestle in that time. 

It may be that everyone has dickered around with this so long that demolition is the best remaining option. I'm not sure if this is a case of demolition by neglect or just garden-variety neglect, but either way WMATA has done a terrible job of managing this asset for the people they were supposed to serve and now, ironically it they - and everyone else - will be worse off than if they'd done the right thing back in 1996. Or if the Rider's Fund had in 1993. Or if DC Transit had before that. The right thing, of course, would've been to give it to DDOT for the purpose of making a trail. Making it into a trail in 1993, when everyone was interested in it, ironically, would have served bus riders far more than letting the thing sit for 25 years, and certainly more than spending ~$200,000 to remove the trestle (and then store it). A further kicker is that I suspect the riders fund will have to come up with the money for that. Winning! 

Unfortunately, all 3 owners held out hope of making money off the right-of-way. That hope hinged primarily on Georgetown U, since they're one of only 3 parties that would be interested in it. Of the other two, NPS has no reason to buy it since basically it's in the exact state they want it to be. DDOT could use it, but it's never quite made it up to a high priority for them. 

Several years ago I talked to the person at WMATA who managed this property and asked him how much they wanted for it, thinking, if it wasn't too much, I could find a way to raise the money and then get DDOT to take it over and build a trail on it. But the guy wouldn't even give me a number because he thought it would hamper negotiations with Georgetown. Then Georgetown didn't buy it (even after WMATA tried to force them to when they expanded the driveway that crosses it). I'm not sure they were even really interested.  Now WMATA's left holding a strip of land with negative value while a much-used hiking trail sits closed for 1.5+ years. Sigh.

Making it worse is that DC tried to help them get historical preservation grant money to repair it, and they failed to turn the paperwork in.

But that's all runners under the trestle now. At this point the question is, is the cost of tearing it down and building a new bridge less than the cost of restoring it, even if we consider the historical value of it - whatever that may be? I think, sadly, that it probably is. But there's another wrinkle. Will NPS let DDOT build another bridge if WMATA tears this one down? It's hard to say, and DC should figure that out before they let WMATA tear it down, but if not, than restoration is the only option to save the trail. 

Palisades resident Brett Young has watched with dismay in recent years as Foundry Branch Bridge has fallen further into disrepair. Back in 2014, Young pushed Metro to commission an architectural study of the structure. The transit authority obliged that June, with architecture firm Structura concluding that a host of necessary replacement and repair efforts would cost approximately $2 million, while a temporary stabilization would cost around $800,000.

“It is recommended that a restoration program be implemented within the next three years to address noted structural concerns and to maintain the stability of the framing system and limit further deterioration,” the report reads, adding that until that happens “the structure should be regularly monitored for any changes from its present condition.”

On Sunday, Young showed a reporter several sizable wooden planks that had fallen recently from the bridge — and could have injured someone walking underneath at the wrong moment. The most rapid deterioration happens during snowstorms, Young said. Other curiosities at the site include a bicycle lodged in a tree atop the bridge.

Young has long floated the possibility of converting the three-mile trolley right-of-way from Georgetown to Galena Place in the Palisades into a 30-foot-wide trail with separate lanes for pedestrians and bicyclists, rather than a narrow path that’s periodically interrupted by impassable abandoned rail bridges. But given that agencies don’t yet agree on short-term plans, his proposal will likely have to wait a while.

Comments

[Crickey]

A cycling lane along MacArthur would be far more useful and cost effective.

[Washcycle]

MacArthur doesn’t go to Georgetown.

[washycle]

Also, I disagree that a bike lane along MacArthur would be more useful. It would be used by zero walkers, zero runners, zero people with strollers and few kids. It might be more useful for bike commuters like yourself, but that isn't the same thing.

And they won't go to the same places, in addition to Georgetown, the ROW goes on the far side of the reservoir and creates shorter connections within the neighborhood.

But of course we aren't in an either/or situation here. We can do both.

[fongfong]

Define "along." Not enough room on most parts of MacArthur for such a lane without taking out a travel or parking lane. Seems like if that was put to a vote in that neighborhood, the off-road trail on the right of way would win hands down.

[Crickey]

MacArthur actually has things along it. And it does go to Georgetown. There's a sidewalk on each side (other than at the reservoir) for joggers and strollers, which means I actually understated how much room there is.

I wouldn't use it as a commuter. I think both routes are a bit off purpose for that. For purely local use, I think Macarthur's better.

And then there's the cost. The trestle bridge is simply very, very expensive.

[washycle]

MacArthur ends at Foxhall Road. I wouldn't call that Georgetown and neither does Google maps.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Georgetown,+Washington,+DC/@38.9091879,-77.0822474,14z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x89b7b649d094d649:0x4298822336a2e4f4!8m2!3d38.9097057!4d-77.0653565

The trestle covers a length that MacArthur doesn't. It literally starts where MacArthur ends. MacArthur "competes" with the section from Foxhall to Palisades.

I'd bet that a trail along the ROW would have more daily users than bike lanes on MacArthur (assuming we don't count cars that park or drive in the bike lanes).

[Crickey]

Yes, you are correct that Macarthur stops literally at the edge of Georgetown. I guess I could claim I'm right, too, since I didn't say "into" Georgetown, but that would be churlish.

I just look at the proposed route of the trail, which only touches neighborhoods in a few places, and it seems unfathomable to me that it would get the usage that a lane that goes thorough neighborhoods would. Also, the sidewalk on Canal that starts at Foxhall is pretty wide and could be made into a riding and walking path.

[darren]

in addition to preserving the bridge structures, I think there's a value to reactivating and reusing for a new purpose the whole right-of-way of the trolley line to make its history more prominent.

this trail wouldn't be the most heavily used, or meet a desperate need in the biking network (besides a better Foxhall to G'Town link), but to let the bridge structures rot away, and the ROW lie fallow, just seems like an opportunity to preserve a part of the community's past could slip away

[contrarian]

The section of the trail with the trestle begins where MacArthur Blvd. ends. Right now the only access to Georgetown from that spot is the sidewalk along Canal Road, which is awful. It's narrow, it's steep, and there are utility poles in the middle of the sidewalk. Because Canal Road runs between the canal and a cliff there's no room to widen it.

Another thing a trail over the trestle has going for it is that it maintains elevation. There's a big ravine there, that's why they put a trestle in. For both pedestrians and cyclists maintaining elevation is a great thing. I think if a trail were built along that section in a few years people would wonder how we ever lived without it, kind of like the way the CCT is today.

The section of MacArthur from the trestle to the Safeway is miserable, it's narrow, the sidewalks are narrow and poorly done. I've heard it can't be widened because it's controlled by the Army Corps of Engineers.

The trackway is only usable up to Galena Place. From the Safeway that's about a mile. That section also has lousy narrow sidewalks, but there's some potential for either bike lanes or better sidewalks.

[contrarian]

I just look at the proposed route of the trail, which only touches neighborhoods in a few places, and it seems unfathomable to me that it would get the usage that a lane that goes thorough neighborhoods would.

There are actually lots and lots of connections to the trackway right now, they're just informal dirt paths. If it were formalized into a trail -- with a bridge at Maddux Run (Discovery Creek) it would be very useful for getting around the neighborhood. You could get to the playground, the library, the grocery store, the post office, the elementary school, or the CVS from anywhere in the neighborhood along a path without major grade changes. People of all abilities would be able to bike or walk - -something that just isn't the case today.

[washycle]

Yes, you are correct that Macarthur stops literally at the edge of Georgetown.

I never said that. And the map I linked to shows that it ends just shy of Georgetown.

[DE]

Hell, finish this trail and I'll use it, and I don't even live in DC or Maryland. Over the last 25 years I've spent a fair amount of time running, walking, and driving in this area, but cycling has been limited to the CCT and towpath because it really sucks for cycling. It's either quite hilly, or quite dangerous-seeming, and sometimes both, and connections are often unpaved so only suitable for certain types of bikes.

[Crickey]

Good discussion, guys. Thanks.

[Brett Young]

How did I miss this discussion?
I've been talking with the various entities and I'm saying it aint over til its over.
Palisades Citizens Association , Foxhall Community Citizens Association and the Citizens Association of Georgetown have all endorsed letters of support for saving the trestle. I've talked with Mary Cheh and Jack Evans and I'm still trying to drum up support.
Yes Crickey, I'm still offering you a tour of the area if you are interested. Contact the Washcycle Master Dave and he can put you in touch with me.
If DDOT or Myself thought Mccarthur Blvd was wide enough to add bike lanes, it would have been done already.
The median is owned by Army Corps. No one wants to get rid of those trees either. And no one wants to get rid of the cars parked on MccArthur Blvd.
So a 5 mile trail from Galena to Prospect and 37th in Georgetown uninterrupted except for 2 major streets and 1 very minor street is the safest corridor for cycling in this region.
(Foxhall RD, Reservoir Rd, Chain Bridge roads are the only streets in this 5 mile space) Hardly gets used either.
Would connect to the following:
Georgetown near Exorcist Steps
Georgetown U
Canal RD tunnel
Georgetown Day School
Fletchers Boat House
The River School
Palisades Rec Center
From Rec Center, very close to Key School.
Ends at Galena, but cyclists connect to CCT at Norton Ave via Sherier

BTW the whole debate about Palisades Rec Center was about parking and traffic. Very few people ride their bikes to the rec center due to a lack of quality cycling access.