TheWashCycle

National Capital Region gets less money for trail maintenance than other NPS regions

Not to drone on and on about the NPS paved trails study, but one interesting factoid in it is the claim that the National Capital Region (NCR) "is allocated a significantly lower amount of funding for trail-related cyclic maintenance and repair/rehabilitation than other NPS regions." When looking at almost every federal funding source (in bold) that other National Park regions rely on, NCR parks get less money for trails. 

Other NPS park regions allocate funds from park fee revenues and concessions fees for trail projects at levels far higher than the NCR. For example, the Recreation Fee fund is formed from a portion (20%) of the recreation fees collected by all NPS park units and then is distributed to NPS regions; this source accounted for 33.5% of funding for trail projects between 2000 and 2015 nationally but only 3.28% of funding for trail projects in the NCR for the same time period.

The NCR averages just under $200,000 in recreation fee-based funding for trails per year, but in the last three funding years (2013-2015) the NCR has received less than half the average each year. An important note for the Recreation Fee funding source is that the NPS park units included in this study do not collect entrance fees.

The Cyclic Maintenance program is designed to complete regular, scheduled maintenance of assets. Cyclical maintenance is typically not sufficient in and of itself to complete all maintenance needed for all assets. Nationally, NPS funding for trail related cyclic maintenance accounted for approximately 20.7% of total funding between 2000 and 2015. Cyclic maintenance only accounted for 1.5% of total funding for the NCR during the same period.

In the last five years, the NCR has received less than $10,000 in trail repair / rehabilitation funding across all park units. Other individually significant park units such as Acadia National Park (ACAD) have received over $586,000, while Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GRMP) in the Southeast Region has received more than $3.1 million in trail repair/rehabilitation funding in the last five years

So, trails within the NCR don't get a lot of support from NPS funding sources, not when compared to other parks. But it makes up for it with non-NPS funding. 

On a national level, NPS has received approximately 5.3% of funding for trail projects from Non-NPS sources. The NCR is a leader in obtaining funding under this category. Approximately 40% of the NCR funding for trails came from Non-NPS sources between 2000 and 2015. This equates to about 45% of the total amount of Non-NPS funding Service-wide.

Which seems good, except that the reason NPS has done so well comparably was because of the $10 million TIGER grant that DDOT secured for the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail. It "accounted for most of this funding."

Another funding source available for NPS trails is the Federal Lands Transportation Program (FLTP) – Category III – Alternative Transportation Program. 

The NCR receives a $1.2 million allocation for Category III projects each year. Prior to 2011, these funds were utilized on non-trail related projects. However, since then over $1.9 million has been provided for trail capital projects, including funding for this study.

So part of the reason why local NPS trails have so many needs is that not only is NPS insufficiently funded to provide the needed maintenance of its infrastructure, but even within NPS, the NCR trails seem to get considerably less federal funding than other parks and regions do.

Anticipation: The long wait for the Fort Circle Trail in one 1974 map

The recent NPS trails plan includes a crossing of Rock Creek Park at Military Road and a trail along the Fort Circle path that will connect the Metropolitan Branch Trail to the Anacostia Tributary Trails. It's nothing new. Here is the a map showing the same thing planned - from 1974. That was when Fort Lincoln was "National Training for Boys," Galludet was still a college and the Chesapeake Beach Railroad was still there.

From the Archives: 100 mile Alleycat & There's nothing new about trail squatting

Two from the historical record for this week. It's Bike to Work Week after all.

First, this is the oldest record I could find of a bike race in DC (though surely not the first bike race). It's from Feb 22, 1879.

Clearly Krauskopf was doping, no?

And then here's a 1994 article that is about a subject familiar to anyone following the Purple Line/Georgetown Branch Trail stories lately. "Arlington Seeks to Reclaim Land on Bicycle Trail; Encroachments Spark Disputes Over Extended Use of Property"

I haven't paid for highbeam membership, so all I have is the lead-in, and I have no idea how this was resolved. I assume it was done the Arlington Way, aka, sumo wrestling.

There are roses and stones and statues in Donna and Gerardo Rivero's Mediterranean villa-style garden in Arlington, and there is a garage.

And winding beside the garage there is a paved and wildflower-trimmed lane, part of Arlington County's 85-mile-and-growing bicycle and walking trail system. Some people think the garage shouldn't be there because a corner of it is on county property and they want it torn down. And the Riveros are angry about that.

 

NPS Trails Study - National Capital Trail

In addition to all of the capital recommendations included in the Park Service's Trails Study, the also spend considerable time on the National Capital Trail concept. This is not a unique trail or even a single trail

The concept designates four distinct loops that each offer between 18 and 45 miles of diverse trail experiences, linking NPS parks and area destinations.

A similar idea was included in the 1990 plan, but other than the Arlington Loop and the Little Falls/Rock Creek Loop (also known as the Zoo Review), not much has been done to make these happen.

But this time, things are going to be different, or as NPS puts it "This plan proposes a refined and simplified loop concept, completing critical connections to establish the National Capital Trail." Here's the simplified plan

With four loops

• Central 10 Mile Loop – The Central Loop includes a connection from the National Mall south and east to Poplar Point and back across the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers to the Mount Vernon Trail and Arlington Memorial Bridge.
• Southern 18 Mile Loop – The Southern Loop includes the portion of the Mount Vernon Trail from the 14th Street Bridge to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, connecting to the Oxon Hill Trail and South Capitol Street Trail north to Poplar Point, then tying into the Central Loop.
• Northern 30 Mile Loop – The Northern Loop includes the Capital Crescent Trail connecting to the proposed Purple Line Trail, Sligo Creek Trail, and Northwest Branch Trail reaching south to the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail and tying into the Central Loop.
• Perimeter 45 Mile Loop – The Perimeter Loop includes the outer extent of the Northern, Central, and Southern Loops for a total of 45 miles.

NPS Trails Study - Rock Creek Park

The National Park Service's National Capitol Region (NCR) recently released a draft version of its "Paved Trails Study", which serves as a plan for how NCR sees the paved trail network, both within and outside of the parks, developing in the future and as an update to the 1990 plan. In addition to identifying several high priority capital projects, the NPS Paved Trails Study also identifies some lower priority capital projects which it groups by park.

Comments are open until May 19th.

Here are all the paved trail projects identified for Rock Creek Park

Immediate (0-2 years) - these are both high priority projects that were covered in this earlier post. 

1. (R5.1) Evaluate the feasibility of an on or off-road trail facility along Military Road NW from Glover Road NW to 16th Street NW
2. (R5.2) Evaluate the feasibility of an off road trail facility along Oregon Avenue NW from Military Road NW to the D.C./MD line with a connection to Beach Drive and the Rock Creek Park Multi-use Trail

Short term (0-2 Years)

1. (R1.1) Continue to coordinate with DDOT for closure of existing gap along Klingle Valley Parkway at Woodley Road to Piney Branch Parkway. {I'm not sure which gap they're referring to. Is this the trail that is currently underway? BTW, stream restoration along the creek was completed last month - see next post)
2. (R1.2) Develop full-time on-street bike lane/ facility along Glover / Ridge Road NW from Broad Branch Road NW to Military Road NW
3. (R1.3) Develop an off-road trail facility from 16th Street NW to Fort Stevens Park, Fort Slocum Park and to Fort Totten with connection to MBT.
4. (R1.5) Develop an off-road connection to MBT from Bates Road NE to Kansas Avenue NW via Fort Totten Park
5. (R1.6) Develop an off-road connector linking the Fort Circle Park Trail and the Northwest Branch Trail to proposed the New York Avenue Trail, by going from Gallatin Street NE and Eastern Avenue NE along Fort Circle Parks through Barnard Hill Park to the New York Avenue Trail
6. (R1.7) Construct an off-road trail adjacent to 16th Street NW between the Piney Branch Parkway Trail and Meridian Hill Park; connect it to 15th Street NW cycle track per Move DC plan
7. (R1.8) Coordinate for development of on-street facilities on Military Road from Oregon Avenue NW to Nebraska Avenue NW
8. (R4.2) Increase signage, lighting, and improve safety at all at-grade crossings in Rock Creek Park
9. (R4.4) Enhance crossing at Sherrill Drive entrance at 16th Street NW

 MId-Term (5-10 years)

1. (R1.4) Develop an off-road trail from Fort Totten/ MBT via Fort Circle Park to Avondale Park and the Anacostia Trail system
2. (R3.1) Enhance existing trailhead in Montgomery County into a local trailhead standard
3. (R3.2) Develop a local trailhead facility in Fort Totten with connections to Fort Circle Park Trail and Met. Branch Trail. Increase lighting and security measures in park.
4. (R4.3) Implement multi-use EA recommendations on Calvert Street NW between Beach Drive NW and Klingle Road NW

 

Many of the 1990 Trails plan elements are underway or will be very soon, but a few are left out or modified. For example the "northern section" of the Rock Creek Park trail (see below) is still in the 2016 plan, but now along Glover/ Ridge Road, Oregon Avenue and potentially Daniel Road. The dropped ideas include

1. Connect Massachusetts Avenue to the Rock Creek Park Trail by signing and paving "Lovers Lane" and building a new bridge across Rock Creek. Create another paved connector from W Street and 44th to Rock Creek via the Whitehaven Parkway and Dumbarton Oaks Park
2. Encourage the Smithsonian to re-design its security so that the stream side trail through the Zoo can be used 24 hours a day, all year round (and bypass the tunnel). 
3. Build a trail along Broad Branch Road. DDOT did work on a plan three years ago that would have, controversially, added a climbing lane and sidewalk, but I've heard nothing about that since August 2014, when the decision was 60-90 days away. It is in the obligation plan for FY 2019 though. Perhaps the trail is still in play if Broad Branch is closed to automobile traffic Klingle Road-style in the "Save Nature Alternative"
4. Coordinate a DC proposed, on-street bicycle route along Whitehaven Parkway to Wisconsin Avenue. Not sure how useful a "route" is, 

Here again, I'd like to see some thought about Capital Bikeshare in the park. And bike parking. My experience is that when going to any destination in the park, there is basically no bike parking. Maybe that has already changed?

One last thing I might add is a trail along Fenwick Branch, the stream that connects from Rock Creek to the north corner of DC. Fenwick used to be a train station on the Met Branch line, it was located a little north of the Silver Spring station where Fenwick Lane would meet the Met Branch (if it extended that far), and Fenwick Branch ran right up to it. Most of the stream in Maryland has been buried, but a small trail connection from where Fenwick Branch leaves DC to the future Capital Crescent Trail could have some real utility and lay down a marker for a linear park/trail in a redeveloped Summit Hills. It appears that NPS was hinting at it in 1990 (see below)

NPS Trails Study - George Washington Parkway

The National Park Service's National Capitol Region (NCR) recently released a draft version of its "Paved Trails Study", which serves as a plan for how NCR sees the paved trail network, both within and outside of the parks, developing in the future and as an update to the 1990 plan. In addition to identifying several high priority capital projects, the NPS Paved Trails Study also identifies some lower priority capital projects which it groups by park.

Comments are open until May 19th.

Here are all the paved trail projects identified for the George Washington Parkway, which with 33 projects, has the most of any park. There are some good ideas here, but many of the best ideas from the 1990 plan - like widening the trail - have neither been completed, nor carried forward to this plan.

Immediate (0-2 years) - all of these projects are high priority projects that were covered in this earlier post. 

1. (G1.7) Conduct alternatives analysis to provide off-road trail connection from the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge to Arlington Ridge Park
2. (G2.2) Improve access on Airport Access Road overpass to Reagan National Airport/ Aviation Circle; connect with steps; expand sidewalks
3. (G2.3) Connect 14th Street Bridge to proposed off-road facility on Boundary Channel Drive along Lagoon; create on-street trail facility on Boundary Channel Drive that connects under I-395 to Long Bridge Drive
4. (G2.4) Develop connection from Mount Vernon Trail to the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge on south side of bridge
5. (G2.5) Improve safety and access at intersection of Mount Vernon Trail and Custis Trail at Lee Highway/North Lynn Street approach to Key Bridge Coordinate with NPS regarding access drive to future boathouse
6. (G4.7) At the intersection of Mount Vernon Trail and Four Mile Run Trail at Reagan National Airport, provide safety and sightline improvements and explore the potential for new roundabout

Short Term (2-5 years)

1. (G1.2) Develop off-road trail facility along Vernon View Drive from the MVT to Fort Hunt Road
2. (G1.3) Develop off-road trail facility along Fort Hunt Road from Fort Hunt Park to Belle Haven Road
3. (G1.4) Develop off-road connector along Belle Haven Road from Fort Hunt Road to Mount Vernon Trail
4. (G1.5) Develop off-road connector along Belle View Boulevard from Fort Hunt Road to Mount Vernon Trail
5. (G1.6) Realign trail within Gravelly Point Park to separate through-traffic
6. (G3.1) Develop a regional trailhead with bike share at Mount Vernon Estate
7. (G3.5) Develop a regional trailhead at Jones Point Park
8. (G3.6) Develop a regional trailhead at Long Bridge Park
9. (G3.7) Develop a regional trailhead at Gravelly Point Park
10. (G4.2) Provide traffic calming measures to facilitate crossing of GWMP at Vernon View Drive
11. (G4.3) Provide traffic calming measures to facilitate crossing of GWMP at Collingwood Road
12. (G4.4) Provide traffic calming measures to facilitate crossing of GWMP at Morningside Lane
13. (G4.5) Provide traffic calming measures to facilitate crossing of GWMP at Belle View Boulevard
14. (G4.6) Provide traffic calming measures to facilitate crossing of GWMP at Belle Haven Road
15. (G4.8) Provide at-grade crossing improvements per ongoing EA recommendations at Arlington Memorial Bridge
16. (G4.9) Provide at-grade crossing improvements per ongoing EA recommendations at Washington Boulevard

Mid Term (5-10 years)

1. (G1.1) Realign trail at bridge near Little Hunting Creek at Mount Vernon Estates
2. (G2.1) Replace existing 300-foot-long bridge through wetlands near Dangerfield Island
3. (G3.2) Enhance existing Local/NPS trailhead with improved signage and amenities at Riverdale Park
4. (G3.3) Develop a local/NPS trailhead at Fort Hunt Park
5. (G3.4) Develop a local/NPS trailhead at Belle Haven Road
6. (G3.8) Develop a viewshed compliant local/NPS trailhead with bikeshare at Arlington National Cemetery
7. (G3.9) Enhance the existing bikeshare station on North Meade Street adjacent to the U.S. Marine Corps Memorial with signage, shelter, bike repair station, etc.
8. (G3.10) Develop a local/NPS trailhead at the Theodore Roosevelt Island parking lot
9. (G4.1) Provide improvements to at-grade Highway crossing at Mount Vernon Estate and Garden
10. (G5.1) Implement edge of pavement striping on trail within close proximity of roadway along National airport perimeter
11. (G5.2) Coordinate with the City of Alexandria to promote, through enhanced signage, the Potomac Yard Trail as an alternate to the Mount Vernon Trail and as a commuter route

 

 Some really good proposals were in the 1990 Plan that don't show up in this one. Among them are

1. Widening the trail to at least 8 feet, 10 feet where possible and 12 feet near the city center and bridges
2. Relocate the trail at the Gravelly Point parking lot to eliminate conflicts between drivers and cyclists (maybe this has been "done" and things use to be worse than they are now, but conflict has not been eliminated)
3. Provide an attractive barrier between the trail and the parkway north of the airport where the two are very close together. This would protect cyclists from on-coming headlights and from vehicles crossing from the trail to the road or the road to the trail.
4. Construct a shoreline loop trail on Dangerfield Island
5. Develop safe access under the Boundary Channel Bridge (Despite the fact that to everyone else the Boundary Channel Bridge isthe bridge from Arlington Memorial Circle to Arlington Cemetery, on second review NPS is clearly talking about the "Humpback Bridge" (based on the map on page 61 of the 1990 plan). They also use the two to mean the same thing here. So this has actually been done).
6. Build both an east-west and north-south trail near the Pentagon (maybe this was done. There aren't enough details to know what this entailed).
7. Re-establish federal ownership of the Glen Echo Trolley Right-of-way and develop parts of it for trail use. 
8. Extending the Mount Vernon Trail to Scott's Run Park in Fairfax County. 

Trailheads are nice, but the 1990 plan was significantly more ambitious than the one proposed now is, at least when it comes to the Mt. Vernon Trail. 

Arlington Needs Trails!

As part of the process of updating the its Public Spaces Master Plan, Arlington has performed a needs assessment survey, and one thing it appears Arlington residents need is trails. In fact paved, multi-use trails (MUT) - like the Custis and W&OD - finished comfortably in first.

Hiking trails also scored well. coming in 3rd. Bike parks, on the other hand, finished near the bottom, which is OK since I'm not exactly sure what those are. That doesn't necessarily mean that there is a shortage of trails, in fact, paved MUTs finish also finish at the top of those that have at least some of the need met.

It might appear that Arlingtonians need trails, but they don't necessarily need many more of them (not when compared to other facilities at least). But the above chart is as a percentage, in raw numbers, trails again finish at or near the top because there are so many people who want to use them.

MUTs do even better when priority is taken into consideration.

[Aside: One major use of this survey is to determine how much residents are interested in partnering with Alexandria to build an Aquatics, Health and Fitness Facility at Long Bridge Park. Alexandria performed a similar survey of its residents. This is only relevant to cycling in that Long Bridge Park will become a bicycle crossroads and so such a facility would be easily accessible by bike. Respondents were 4x more supportive than not supportive. In Alexandria they were a little less supportive, but still more supportive than not (last slide). The major bike elements of Long Bridge Park are the extension of the Esplanade across the GW Parkway, redesign of the intersection of Boundary Channel Drive, Long Bridge Drive and I-395 to improve safety, rationalize ramps and accommodate bicycle lanes and links, and the improvement of pedestrian/bicycle facilities crossing the Potomac River; and those are all dependent "on planning, design and funding decisions by other parties such as VDOT, the National Park Service, the Federal Highway Administration, and CSX."]

Stormwater management and trails

Someone sent me these photos of runoff flowing from the property of businesses adjacent to the Georgetown Branch Trail. In one case a business was intentionally dumping water (though it could very well be more than water) onto the trail. Admittedly, the GBT's days are numbered with it soon to be replaced by the Purple Line/Capital Crescent Trail, but it's something the County should plan for along it's trails. The County should help adjacent landowners to manage their storm water better with rain gardens and rain barrels, and create penalties - especially for businesses - that intentionally route waste water onto county trails. Such policies should find their way into the County's new Bicycle Master Plan.

Also, Metro is shut down today (in case you didn't know) what have you noticed?

Arlington trails to get some TLC this month

Arlington County Parks recently announced that they would be doing some "asphalt work" on some of its trails this month. Work will occur on the Custis Spur, from 18th Street to McKinley Street; near Madison Manor, from the Four Mile Run Trail connection at W&OD to 12th Street; and in Bluemont Park, from the Ballfield to the Restroom.  The work will involve some trail closures as seen on the image below.

CSX donates land in Pennsylvania for 9/11 National Memorial Trail

The September 11th National Memorial Trail is a 1,300-mile commemorative trail linking the National September 11th Memorial at the World Trade Center site in New York City, the Pentagon Memorial in Arlington County, VA and the Flight 93 National Memorial in Somerset County, PA. and it just got some good news from CSX railroad last week when they agreed to donate 130 acres of undeveloped land, including miles of railroad ROW, in Pennsylvania to the project.

The properties CSX is contributing to the 9/11 trail traverse approximately 5.6 miles of undeveloped land between Garrett and Berlin, Penn., and four miles of undeveloped land between Berlin and Shanksville, Penn. The properties were previously used as a right-of-way for railroad operations. CSX has owned many of the properties for 145 years or more, since the 1870s.

It is envisioned as a multi-use corridor for hiking and bicycling and features an accompanying quiet, back-road motor route for driving, motorcycling and public and tour transportation. The Trail also has been designed to link historic points of interest along the route where the resiliency and courage inherent in American character have shone throughout our history.

Here's more about how it will connect to DC and the site includes a map of the Pentagon Memorial Trail Circuit in and around DC. 

The southern leg of the trail begins at the Pentagon Memorial extending northwest along the 184-mile Chesapeake & Ohio National Historical Park (www.nps.gov/CHOH) then connecting the 150-mile Great Allegheny Passage (www.GAPtrail.org) completed to Pittsburgh. It is planned to proceed north for approximately 25 miles from the Great Allegheny Passage near Rockwood to the Flight 93 National Memorial in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.

The 337-mile eastern leg from New York City’s National September 11 Memorial & Museum to the Pentagon Memorial would align with the East Coast Greenway. 

The Great Allegheny Passage is in Garrett, by the way - so this land will make up almost all of the new right-of-way needed to connect the Pentagon to Shanksville.