TheWashCycle

Let's make the Fort Circle Trail better

The Fort Circle Trail located east of the river is one of DC's oldest bike trails. Though underused, and a fraction of what it was once promised to be, it's beloved. The trail provides a mountain biking opportunity within the district as well as a natural hiking path through wards 7 and 8, but there steps - some simple and some not - that we could take to make it better. 

 

The FCT is a 7-mile long, mostly unpaved, trail through the east side of DC from Fort Stanton to Fort Mahon - though many maps and sites (such as this one) show it covering a shorter distance. It was supposed to be more.

 

1974 Fort Circle Plan

From 1930 to 1965 NPS planned a Fort Circle Drive for people tour the forts by car, and they spent decades trying to acquire the necessary land, starting with the War Department handing over the forts themselves in 1933.  But in 1968 they produced a new management plan which replaced the drive with a continuous hiker-biker trail because the drive was deemed impractical and impossible to build due to residential expansion into the area.  Detailed plans for the full trail were created and the first sections of the trail, a section in Rock Creek Park along Military Road and the one in east DC, opened in 1971.  The plan was still to build a 23 mile long arcing trail from Fort Greble in far SW to Fort Marcy in Fairfax County as part of preparation for the bicentennial. But only one other section of the trail, a portion of the C&O Canal towpath that predated the plan, was ever completed. Funds earmarked for the Fort Circle trail were used to cover bicentennial cost overruns elsewhere, and no further money was ever allocated. 

 

In 1987, NPS developed a plan to improve the trail. It included extending the trail to Kenilworth Park, the Frederick Douglass home and the Suitland Parkway as well as repairs and smaller improvements. A year later, WABA submitted a report that advised against paving the trail at this time, as it was a unique and useful facility as it was, and NPS dropped it from consideration. Not that it mattered, as little from the '87 plan was ever done.

 

In 2004, NPS again updated the management plan and this time they dropped the idea of a continuous hiker/biker trail for environmental and aesthetic reasons. They deduced that it would have required bridges, switchbacks, tree removal, retaining walls and trail widening that would have lost the "sense of wildness" in the existing parks. Instead they would encourage development of a foot trail consisting of the sections from 1971 and existing sidewalks, as well as connection sidewalks and signs. It was to be designed in coordination with DDOT, but no such planning has occurred. 

 

It's unfortunate that NPS closed the door on a multi-use path, especially since there is space for one.  (They have mapped out an on-road bike route for part of the way). It would be similar, though not identical to what was mapped above. The bridge across the Anacostia would be in a different place, for example, and perhaps that would push the route west to the MBT trail instead of north to Eastern Avenue, but fundamentally the same and forming a sort of inner bicycle beltway.

 

But, let's assume the door on that is closed for a generation, there is still room for improvement with what we have. As it is, the FCT is the only mountain bike trail in DC. It is officially a hiker/biker trail, but ped volumes are low and generally the pedestrians using the trail are walking dogs or hiking. This makes it ideal for mountain biking, but still usable for transportation.

 

One problem is that how to get to the trail is not obvious.  DDOT/NPS could improve that by doing a better job connecting it to nearby trails, as it gets extremely close to several of them.  On the southern/western side of the FCT, it comes within a city block of the Suitland Parkway Trail, and it could be connected via a small extension behind the Anacostia Museum using the existing foot trail and a small connector.

 

In the middle, the trail already connects to the Pennsylvania Ave SE sidepath, but a less stressful connection to the ART is possible by developing a short segment of trail along the existing gravel road in Anacostia Park and then pass underneath DC-295 by going over the derelict Shepherd Railroad Spur. On the east side, trail users could continue along the blue line below, along G Street SE to reach the southern side of Fort Dupont, where a nature trail takes cyclists over some charming footbridges, into the main valley of Fort Dupont, and riders can continue up to reach the main line of the trail system. 

 

Alternatively, once on the east side of 295 a trail could be built along the red line below along the Ft Dupont Tributary through the green space between F and G and then across Minnesota Avenue. Maybe the tributary could be daylighted on the west side too.

NPS could also develop connections within the park to the Ice Arena and the Nationals Youth Baseball academy (light blue lines).

 

If some expansion was in the cards, carrying the trail across the Suitland Parkway at Stanton Road and then building another trail on the south side, up the valley on St. Elizabeths campus to the Entertainment Arena and the Capital Heights Metro station. 

The trail network in this area is developing into a truly world-class network, but DDOT needs to connect the different facilities, while continuing to expand the overall network and improve neighborhood access. A trail along the Shepherd Branch would aid with this too.

 

 

DC's Capital Improvements Plan

Here's a list of every project in DC's FY20-25 Capital Improvements Plan that I could find that's relevant to cycling:

• 11th Street Bridge Park - The 11th Street Bridge Park project will transform the aged, unused span of the 11th Street Bridge into a signature, elevated park for the District— comparable to the High Line in New York City. Spanning the Anacostia River, the park would link Historic Anacostia with the Navy Yard. Preliminary plans include bike and pedestrian trails, outdoor performance spaces, play areas, gardens, posted information about the river and its ecosystem, and a dock to launch boats and kayaks to explore the river. [WC: nit - The span is gone, they're going to utilize the piers] - $9M
• Capital Bikeshare Expansion (and Replenishment) - allow DDOT to expand the Capital Bikeshare system in all eight wards of the District; funding over 100 new stations and 1,000 bikes. This project will also allow the Program to replenish old equipment in need of replacement. Capital Bikeshare is the most cost effective form of transportation in the District for both the government and the user. CaBi boasts the highest farebox recovery rate of any transit system in the region, covering roughly 85% of its cost from system revenues.
  While Capital Bikeshare is continuing to expand within the District, its oldest bicycles (launched in September 2010) are at the end of their manufacturer specified useful life, and stations are also approaching the end of their useful life. - $14M
• Safety & Mobility (aka Vision Zero) - This project envelopes any projects that have a primary focus of improving safety and efficiency of the District’s transportation system. By the year 2024, Washington, DC will reach zero fatalities and serious injuries to travelers of our transportation system. The project includes bicycle & pedestrian safety, street sign improvements, vision zero improvements, the Crosstown Bicycle Lanes, Alabama Avenue SE Safety improvements and utility markings.  - $63M. Projects under this Master Project will support the objectives outlined within Vision Zero Plan which include, but are not limited to, the following activities: 
  • Improving and expanding bicycle lanes and infrastructure (like the 
  • Improving and expanding trails
  • Improving the production, distribution, and placement of signage throughout the District
  • Advancing plans to preliminary design
  • Delivery of Arboretum bridge and trail
  • Planning, design, and construction of safety improvements on high crash corridors, such as Alabama Avenue SE 
• Streetscapes and Beautification - Any project with the primary focus on the streetscape improvements which include vehicular, pedestrian, and bicycle safety improvements and beautification efforts such as green space, lighting, and signage that support the mission of the District Department of Transportation. - $178M This includes:
  • New York Avenue Streetscape and Trail Project
  • Florida Ave. NW, 9th to Sherman
  • Rhode Island Ave NE
  • Connecticut Ave NW from Dupont Circle to California Street
  • likely more, but I don't have the details to determine them
• Urban Forestry - Includes trail maintenance funding - $70M
• Douglass Bridge - replacement of the Frederick Douglass Bridge and improvements to the intersections of South Capitol Street with Suitland Parkway and the Anacostia Freeway (I-295). Includes sections of the Anacostia Riverwalk trail and connections. - $504M
• Streetcar Benning Road to Union Station - Includes Streetscape improvements for multimodal transportation, including bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, along the four-mile, east-west corridor - $188M
• H Street Bridge replacement - The reconstruction of H Street (Hopscotch) Bridge will expand the transit network and foster further economic development, as it will incorporate the H/Benning streetcar line and expand multi modal offerings, and enable Amtrak to increase its capabilities and provide for future development at Union Station - $220M

The plan also notes that the District has $6M in budget authority for trails from the Recreational Trails Program and that there is other money available for routine maintenance, major rehabilitations, reconstruction and replacement of facilities including bicycle facilities.

Projects that still have federal Highway Fund budget allotments remaining include:

• Malcolm X Interchange Improvement - $30M
• Rock Creek Park Trail - $16M
• Maryland Ave NE Road Diet - $4M
• Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Enhancements - $4M
• Met Branch Trail - $4M
• Klingle Valley Trail - $2M
• Florida Avenue Multi-modal trail - $2M
• Anacostia Trails - Kenilworth - $863K
• Bike sharing - $860K
• Connecticut Ave NW Multi-modal study - $643K
• Bicycle and Pedestrian Education - $558K
• Capital Bikeshare - ~$360K
• Rehab Rock Creek Trail - $276K
• South Capitol Street Trail - $252K
• Rock Creek Trail design - $140k
• Trail maintenance - $123K
• Pennsylvania Ave 17th to Washington Circle - $98K
• Rock Creek Trail improvement - $71K
• Safe Routes to Schools - $40K
• Arizona Avenue Trails - $34K
• NY Ave trail design - $5K
• Lincoln Connector Trail - $4k
• Shepherd Branch Trail - $2k

Trails and Transit access get funding in 2018 TLC Program grants

Last May, the MWCOG approved 9 projects as part of their Transportation Land-use Connections (TLC) Program. The TLC Program provides short-term consultant services to local jurisdictions for small planning projects that promote mixed-use walkable communities and support a variety of transportation alternatives. Some of these nine projects have, or likely will include, elements to improve biking. Those include:

District of Columbia – Barry Farm-Metro Access Feasibility Analysis - This project will determine the feasibility of a new transportation connection across Suitland Parkway between the Barry Farm public housing complex redevelopment and the Anacostia Metro Station. Since DC is already doing a feasibility study of a trail along the Shepherd Branch railroad corridor, and since that is one ideal location for a crossing - grade-separated or otherwise - this study may aid that effort. 

Prince George’s County - Cheverly Metrorail Station Bike/Ped Access Study - This project will provide planning and design assistance for improving bicycle and pedestrian access to the Cheverly Metro station. Currently, non-motorized access to the station is extremely limited (WC: This is true) because of missing or fragmented pedestrian and bicycle facilities. The master plan recommends trails and bikeways designed to enhance pedestrian safety and provide better access to the station. Improvements may include sidewalk retrofits, trail connections, and on-road bicycle improvements. This project will provide planning assistance to refine these alternatives. Such improvements will increase the comfort and convenience of walking and biking, and establish a foundation for multimodal transportation to the Cheverly Metro and surrounding communities. 

Prince George's County – Eastover and Forest Heights Trail Improvements - This project will provide planning assistance for several trails and sidewalks in the Eastover and Forest Heights area. These communities have fragmented sidewalk networks and few on-road bicycle facilities. In addition, MD 210 is a barrier to east-west pedestrian movement and trail connections are lacking to Oxon Run Trail in Oxon Cove Park (Oxon Run Trail is in DC, Oxon Creek Trail is in MD, but whatevs). The Prince George’s Master Plan of Transportation recommends a series of improvements to enhance pedestrian safety and provide better access to the region's trails and bicycle network. This project will help to implement the vision outlined in that master plan as well as in the Eastover/Forest Heights/Glassmanor Sector Plan. It will also assist with trail improvements to Oxon Cove, and provide regional connectivity per the National Park Service Paved Trails Plan.

Fairfax County - Laurel Hill-Lorton VRE Connector Trail Feasibility Study - The Laurel Hill-Lorton VRE Connector Trail would provide a link to the Gerry Connolly Cross County Trail and adjacent communities on the west side of I-95 with the Lorton VRE Station and neighboring communities on the east side of I-95. The trail would enhance connectivity within Fairfax County for pedestrians and bicyclists, specifically connecting new developments in Laurel Hill with direct access to the Lorton VRE Station. This feasibility study would examine the engineering challenges related to this trail project, such as crossing Pohick Creek, and crossing the current/future CSX Railroad bridges and VDOT I-95 bridges. The TLC feasibility study would also develop preliminary cost estimates and provide guidance for prioritizing future funding for engineering design, right-of-way acquisition, and project construction. 

Several other projects were declined funding, these include:

Scott & Veirs Drive Shared Use Path Design in Rockville

Capital Bikeshare Equity User Survey in Arlington - "We seek technical assistance to design and execute a survey of
current and potential future Capital Bikeshare users, for a better picture of the barriers and opportunities to better serve low-income and minority communities, non-English speakers, and casual (nonmember) users in particular"

Long Bridge Trail Action Analysis in Arlington - Arlington County seeks help advocating for improved bicycle and pedestrian connectivity in the vicinity of Long Bridge. Specifically, Arlington proposes building a direct link between Long Bridge Park, a future new Long Bridge, and the Mt. Vernon Trail. This link can best be realized in the context of the once-per-century opportunity presented by a new Potomac River crossing

City of Fairfax Transportation Demand Management Program

Complete Streets Network Connectivity Plan in College Park

Development of Mixed-Use Zoning Regulations to Support Multi-Modal Travel and Connectivity in Small Area Plans in Prince William County

 

 

Barry Farm could become the most bike friendly neighborhood in Ward 8 by 2020

DC could begin demolition of Barry Farm any day now, in fact they're already a little behind schedule, and once they're done rebuilding it, the new Barry Farm could be the most bike-friendly neighborhood in Ward 8. This is a $400 million project that will 

transform the 444-unit public housing complex in Southeast D.C. into a mixed-income community with rentals and townhomes within walking distance of the Anacostia Metro station and other city amenities.

The multiphase project, to be constructed by Baltimore-based A&R Development and the Preservation of Affordable Housing in partnership with the D.C. Housing Authority, is expected to include 1,400 mixed-income homes and about 50,000 square feet of retail space at buildout, with the first units available in 2020.

It will also provide extensive new open space and parks including a larger park at the center; and improved infrastructure including new roads that introduce a new east-west and north-south grid pattern with smaller pedestrian-friendly blocks to improve circulation and pedestrian connections. Those new roads will link the development to the Anacostia Metrorail station and Historic Anacostia through improved pedestrian, bicycle and streetcar route connections, and additional new bus routes through the community.

The project is generally bounded by Sumner Road to the north, Firth Sterling Avenue to the west, the Saint Elizabeth’s Hospital property to the south, and Wade Road to the east. 

For cycling there are several items at play. A bike lane will run down the center the parcel on  the eloquently named "Road 4" (or sometimes "Road 3") . That bike lane will connect to another new one on two-blocks of Sumner Road and that will connect to a future trail on the Shepherd Branch rail ROW. On the map below bike facilities are green and pedestrian ones are red.

Later a new bike/ped bridge could carry people over Suitland Parkway (probably part of the trail again).

On Sumner the bike lanes will be between parking and a travel lane and on Road 4 it will be between the curb and the travel lane.

 

The trail will not be part of this project but we get some idea what it could look like.

With such a large ROW, I hope they separate cyclists and pedestrians. And I hope they don't make the trail meander. 

What the drawings don't show is that on the other side of Suitland Parkway is the Suitland Parkway Trail, which will someday be improved, and on the other side of 295 is the future South Capitol Street Trail, which would make this a high trail access community. It's disappointing that the bike lane on Sumner doesn't keep going to MLK Ave and to the pedestrian bridge over Suitland Parkway which would help tie cyclists to that trail better. In the future, we can also hope that there will be a bike/ped connection from the south end of Road 4 to the St. Elizabeths campus and maybe this road can be transformed into a trailhead for a 2nd trail on the south side of Suitland Parkway.

That being said, the project is not without controversy.

Though D.C. officials are pushing ahead, the redevelopment is a tension point between city officials who want to revitalize the community and residents who want to preserve their homes and fear displacement from the first African-American homeownership community in D.C. for freed slaves.

Far Southeast III Livability Study final workshop on March 4th

(Here is my most recent post on this study)

The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) will host its third and final public workshop in Ward 7 for the Far Southeast III Livability Study on Saturday, March 4 from 10 am to 12 pm. The purpose of this workshop is to present the final recommendations for transportation improvements in the study area. 

This neighborhood mobility study is designed to enhance the community's quality of life through improvements to transportation safety, connections to destinations and sustainability. Neighborhoods in the Far Southeast III study area include Fort Dupont, Fort Davis, Twining, Greenway, Benning Heights, Benning Ridge, Marshall Heights, and Capitol View.

The study area’s boundaries are East Capitol to the north; Southern Avenue SE to the east; Massachusetts Avenue SE to the south; and the Anacostia River to the west.

The event details are as follows:

What: Far Southeast III Livability Study, Public Workshop #3  

When: Saturday, March 4, 10 am to 12 pm  (Presentation at 10:30 am)

Where: Nalle Elementary School, 219 50th Street SE

Livability is a term that refers to community quality of life as experienced by the people who live, work, and recreate there. DDOT will work with members of the community and key stakeholders to review recommendations for improvements for people walking, biking, riding the bus, driving, and making deliveries. At the end of the study, DDOT will provide recommendations such as: 

• Enhanced pedestrian crossings
• More accessible bus stops
• Expanded bicycle and pedestrian connections
• Attractive streetscapes and green spaces
• Improved stormwater management
• Signage for better driver information
• Updates to traffic signal timing,
• Speed controls in sensitive areas
• Safety improvements around public facilities such as schools and community centers
• Safety improvements at public transit facilities (i.e. bus stops)           

For more information about the study, please contact DDOT Project Manager, Gabe Onyeador, at [email protected]  or (202) 671-0590 or visit the study website  http://www.fse3livabilitystudy.com.

A new trail connection and on-street facilities could make Far SE more bikeable

The Far Southeast III Livability study presented some results of the ongoing study and some concepts for making the area more livable last week, and they include some long needed bike facilities in the area. 

The study identified issues for cyclists trying to get to/from the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail, getting across the Anacostia and crossing East Capital Street. The general solution to these issues were to complete the bike network, consider alternative designs and to create new connections. In specific, the proposed bicycle improvements (seen on the map below) include protected bike lanes on portions of East Capitol Street, Ridge Road and Burns Street; sharrows on Texas Avenue and Ely place, and a new connection between the Greenway neighborhood and the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail. These do not completely address all the issues identified.

The most important part of this may be the connection to the Anacostia Trail, which addresses two of the issues - getting to the trail and crossing the river. 

It would connect to the existing trail at the southern base of the bridge over the railroad tracks. It would then use the existing road to the point where it crosses the tracks at grade, but instead of crossing the tracks it would continue on a new trail on the south side of the tracks, under DC-295 and connecting to Greenway at either E Street or D Street (why not both?). In so doing it would also cross the unused Shepherd Industrial Spur railroad that may become a trail of its own in the future.

This is a pretty common sense connection and one that is well overdue. 

A less fleshed-out idea is to put eastern East Capitol Street onto a road diet and use some of the newfound space to create protected bike lanes. 

The area would still be short on bike facilities, and no doubt some will find fault with the E-W route being a signed and sharrowed on-street route, but nonetheless there are real improvements here. You can send comments here.

 

 

The Anacostia River Trail is soooo Monday

(This post has been updated with information from the comments)

Sure, a brand new section of trail along the Anacostia just opened on Monday, and yeah, it connects two major trail systems and more than 70 miles of trail overcoming a jumble of barriers like highways, railroads, streams and such and it's amazing and you've wanted it for a long time, but now you're bored. I mean Monday was last month. What has happened lately? Well don't worry, there are lots of other new trails that you can longingly gaze at over the shoulder of the Anacostia River Trail while it drones on and on about that thing Nancy from accounting said that was just so unbelievable. 

Here is a list that is likely both incomplete and inaccurate (the old Washcycle doubleshot). 

The Klingle Valley Trail - DDOT is currently building a 0.7 mile long trail on an abandoned section of road in the Klingle Valley (War on Cars!)

Rock Creek Park Trail - The trail is, right now, undergoing the first part of a long desired rehabilitation which will also add a mile of trail along Piney Branch Parkway

Needwood Road Path - Phase 1 of the this trail extending from the ICC trail is under construction. 

Bowie Heritage Trail - work was underway in April

Rhode Island Avenue Trolley Trail - A gap south of Albion is currently under construction and someday the trail will be connected to the Northwest Branch Trail and extended north to Quimby.

Four Mile Run Trail - Work begins next week on the restoration of the lower section of Four Mile Run stream. "As part of the construction, the Arlington trail will be completely rebuilt to current standards, including a new sub-base and asphalt surface.  Improved trail railings and a new observation platform will also be installed."

Metropolitan Branch Trail - DDOT could begin work on the northern DC section of this trail next year. Maryland will start work on its remaining pieces in 2017 too.

Washington Boulevard Trail - Work could begin in 2017

Capital Crescent Trail - This popular trail will be extended from Bethesda to Silver Spring if/when the Purple Line gets built

Oxon Run Trail - This was issued permits over a year ago. So that's something, right? Also there is an unfunded section in PG County from Southern to Naylor that remains on that county's priority list

South Capitol Street Trail - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The Old Cameron Run Trail - Design could begin in 2017

Northwest Branch Trail extension - from Wheaton Regional Park to Matthew Henson Trail, this is Montgomery County's top hard surface trail priority. Other trails include the Wheaton Regional Park Through Trail, Muddy Branch Trail, Magruder Branch Trail extension, and the Rock Creek Trail - Millennium Trail Link

I-66 Trail -  More likely than not?

U.S. Route 110 Trail - Still in phase 2 of 5 planning phases. Same as in January 2013.

Shepherd Branch Trail - Soon to be acquired!

The New York Avenue Trail - A concept

Arlington Boulevard Trail - An existing trail that could be improved

Palisades Trolley Trail - A thing

Other PG County Trails, including a list of high priority, but unfunded trails that has been mostly unchanged over the last 5 years (the Bowie Heritage Trail is off the list and the Seat Pleasant section of the Chesapeake Rail Trail and the north extension of the Rhode Island Avenue Trail are on). This includes the WB&A Trail to Anne Arundel County, Piscataway Creek Trail, Henson Creek Trail Extension, Little Paint Branch Trail Extension, Prince George's Connector Trail and the Folly Branch Trail.

Repurposing the Shepherd Branch

Back in June, DC hosted its 2nd meeting on the District of Columbia State Rail Plan. The material from that meeting includes a draft list of rail infrastructure projects, which is interesting on its own, but a few projects are especially so for cyclists. Most notabe are the Long Bridge Replacement, which has been discussed here several times, and the abandonment and repurposing of the Shepherd Branch railroad line in SE. 

The Shepherd Branch is an East of the River rail spur that runs from Greenway just south of East Capitol Street all the way to Blue Plains. It was shut down following 9/11, because its once-a-week delivery of chlorine gas to the Blue Plains sewage treatment plant was deemed a security threat. For some time after that, DDOT planned to acquire it and use for the streetcar, but that fell through.

Now it appears that DDOT is in negotiation to gain use of the spur (at least what remains of it, some parts have been built on) for the purpose of a trail. In the rail plan this shows up as two projects. 

• Study potential to convert Shepherd Branch from inactive to abandoned; Study what uses would be permitted in the corridor post-abandonment in light of the current uses from prior conveyances. (No action has been taken on this and it is unfunded).
• Study potential to convert Shepherd Branch to other transportation uses, compatible with its other uses

The second project is listed as "Under Discussion". Funding would come from DDOT but agreements would be needed with both Pepco and the U.S. Department of Defense. 

It's unlikely that a Shepherd Branch Trail would go onto Bolling, NRL or DC Water property; but it would probably connect the South Capitol Street Trail to the Anacostia Metro, Anacostia and other SE neighborhoods east of DC-295. One would expect several crossovers to the parallel Anacostia Riverwalk Trail too.

There are a couple other rail plan items of interest to cyclists too

• Explore potential to expand or build additional overpasses or underpasses for cars and pedestrians at locations separated by rail yards and rail lines
• Study inactive rail spurs such as into the former PEPCO site, or near NY Avenue, for potential repurposing

DDOT calls the Shepherd Branch rail line "soon to be acquired"

In early January, DDOT sent a request to the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments that the FY 2015-2020 Transportation Improvement Plan be updated. It turns out that there is a lot of information in there about new bicycle projects, especially trails, that DDOT is planning once the projects they've been slowly pushing through (MBT, South Capital Street Trail, ART, etc...) but one of the more interesting tidbits is that they included a feasibility study for a Shepherd Branch Trail on what they called "the soon to be acquired CSXT RR ROW." The feasibility study would determine alignment, probability of needing an Environmental Assessment (EA), likely permits needed, and potential construction costs for a trail on the RR ROW. If it is really "soon to be acquired" that may mean that movement is possible on the streetcar through there too.

Other interesting tidbits:

• They added $800,000 to resurface the DC portion of the Capital Crescent Trail in 2016
• They've budgeted $200,000 for a rehabilitation design of the Suitland Parkway Trail
• Construction of the South Capital Street Trail has been pushed back to 2019
• Start of work on the conversion of the former I-695 freeway into Southeast Boulevard, which would "improve pedestrian and bicycle access to the Sousa Bridge and along proposed Southeast Boulevard to the 11th Street Bridges" as well as improve pedestrian and bicycle safety at a reconfigured Pennsylvania Ave/Potomac Avenue intersection, slipped to 2017.

Update: According to the appendices to the FEIS, CSXT agreed to grant DDOT an option to acquire the Shepherd Branch ROW as part of the Virginia Avenue Tunnel project. So that project may have a bigger bike element than previously reported. 

DDOT also used the VAT process to get the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail bridge over CSX tracks and the Rhode Island Avenue bike/ped bridge built. As part of the 2010 negotiations CSX agreed to

Negotiate with DDOT for permanent easements associated with two different CSXT properties so that DDOT could ultimately build pedestrian and bicycle trails that spanned over CSXT rail lines. [These included the following major projects: (1) The Anacostia Pedestrian Walkway/Trail (Id. Art. VI (C)). This easement was key to complete a 1,185 foot pedestrian and bicycle bridge that was a part of the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail. See DDOT press release, Exhibit 6; And (2) The Rhode Island Avenue Pedestrian/Bicycle Bridge (Exhibit 3, Art. VI (D)). The easement was key to the pedestrian access project, slated to take 18 months to build, which will link the Metropolitan Branch Trail and its connecting neighborhoods to the Rhode Island Avenue Metro Station and adjacent communities.]

Then in 2012 a letter

established when CSXT would grant the District easements over the Parkside Pedestrian Bridge and Anacostia Pedestrian Bridge. [The Parkside Pedestrian Bridge, which was not addressed in the August 23, 2010 MOA, was $22 million pedestrian bridge that spanned CSXT tracks north of the DC 295 and Benning Road interchanges and connect to the Minnesota Avenue Metrorail and Bus transfer stations]

According to the letter, CSXT would only be required to work with the District to seek authority to abandon Shepherds Branch and enter into a Trails Use Agreement after the Virginia Avenue Tunnel construction project was completed.

The Shepherds Branch ROW encompassed two segments of the now inactive stretch of rail, including over 55 acres of land and extending 5.38 miles. See Exhibit 16, Permit attached to October 29, 2013 agreement. Shepherds Branch is key to the District’s plans to construct a 2400- foot, multi-use trail connecting the South Capitol Street Trail with the Anacostia Metrorail Station. Shepherds Branch is also one of the preferred routes for the District’s streetcar program

A Supplemental EIS prepared for South Capitol Street states “the Shepherds Branch right-of-way … is being acquired in Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 by DDOT from CSXT."

There will be closures II: The closening

In addition to a long-term full an partial closure of the Memorial Bridge planned by NPS, road users in the near future can also look forward to many months of partial closures of the East Capital Street Bridge.

The slides are not online yet, or at least not where this obsessive blogger can find them, so here's my second hand telling of what is going on with the East Capital Street Bridge Rehabilitation Project.

First of all, Whitney Young is getting the shaft. They named the bridge after the guy and no one can bother to call it that? 

In addition though, it seems the bridge is in desperate need of repairs. The undersides - I believe they mentioned something about pins and rollers(?) are in bad shape. They showed a photo of how one is being supplemented and supported by stacks of wood, bubble gum and at least a half dozen of those sugar packets you get from a restaurant caddy. They'd like to resurface it too.

So the plan is to close the north/inbound span of the bridge for four months, fix it and then repeat with the south/outbound span. During the closure all traffic will be re-routed onto the open span with one lane in each direction and one variable lane in the rush hour direction. You can see what that might look like in the images below.

Anyway...what about bikes.

The good news is that the Young Bridge doesn't get a lot of bike/ped traffic because it isn't particularly useful. OK, so that's not really good news. As I noted back in 2007, DC-295 and the railroad tracks create a barrier that can't be crossed on foot or bike anywhere between Benning Road and Pennsylvania Avenue, so the Young Bridge only gives access to the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail and the River Terrace neighborhood. Still, it does get some traffic.

One of the lessor problems with the Young Bridge is that the south side bike/ped facility is useless. As I mentioned back in 2007, "The east side of the downstream lane dumps riders off at a dead end with woods on one side and 295 on the other. A connection to the future ART is needed here." The actual good news here is that this could finally get addressed.

During Phase I, the bike facility on the north side will probably be closed (though only if necessary). If it is closed, they'll either route it onto the south bridge separated from car traffic and with a connection to River Terrace's East Capitol Street NE; or they will build the needed connection mentioned above. Someone suggested that it might be a temporary connection, which would be silly - the bad silly, not the good silly. Such a connection will require NPS to sign off on it since that is NPS land - something to include in any comments on NPS's paved trails study!

Even if they don't need the south side connection for the north side closure, creating such a connection is something they have been looking into as part of this project. That would solve at least one issue with the bridge.

There doesn't appear to be any plan to create another bike/ped connection to the east side, connect the trail to Kingman Island, improve the connection to E. Capital Street, NE, widen the bike/ped facilities, or improve lighting or signage. Once a method for commenting on this is made public, I'll share it on the blog. 

I'll point out that the best place to connect this to the east is probably not at East Capitol Street - at least not as part of this bridge. The "easiest" way would be to build a bridge from C Street and 33rd SE that goes over the RR tracks, and then to contiueing the path under DC-295 where the road is elevated and an underpass already exist. Then it is a few feet to the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail. The nice thing about C and 33rd SE is that it is also where the no-longer-in-use Shepherd Branch terminates.