On Monday morning the Arlington Memorial Bridge renovation project hit the road closure portion of its work and as a result the downstream sidewalk is now closed for a year.
The six-lane bridge will be narrowed down to three lanes by 4 a.m. Monday as crews get to work on the meat of a $227 million renovation project for the 86-year-old span across the Potomac River.
Prep work has been underway for several months with a staging area set up adjacent to the George Washington Memorial Parkway and Mount Vernon Trail near the bridge.
The detour for cyclists is on the map at the top. But I suspect many trail users will use the billygoat path instead. We'll see if there are any crashes as a result.
Keep an eye out for directional signage as the construction work may necessitate sporadic changes in the walk and bike lane locations. Access points for both pedestrians and cyclists will be available from the Mount Vernon Trail, Metro, or Arlington National Cemetery from Virginia.
The project began in August and MVT users have already seen impacts to the trail area.
Cyclists and pedestrians on the Mount Vernon Trail may also experience delays during this process. While the trail won’t close, the equipment will be passing over the trail and workers onsite will be directing traffic on the trail.
In exchange cyclists aren't getting much. The new bridge will be the same as the old one.
The bridge’s sidewalks show de-lamination and spalling of the concrete surface, and displacement of the granite curbs. Aluminum structures have already been placed across sections of the bridge’s sidewalks to protect pedestrians from falling at deteriorated areas.
Since no bike facilities will be added, the only thing of relevance to cyclists are the sidewalks. There, the rehabilitation is going to consist of removing and replacing the sidewalks with exposed aggregate finish to match the existing exposed aggregate finish in texture and color. Personally, I don't care for aggregate finish. I think it makes for a rough and, when wet, slippery ride. I would have preferred dividing the sidewalk into two parts, with an asphalt section for cyclists, but that's not happening.
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