Saturday's Jones Point Excursion

[Dalton, George W.]

Dear BSCers;  Nancy, Suzanne and I showed up at the Jones Point thing on
Saturday.
Here's what I thought happened, Nancy and Suzanne should jump in and correct
me as needed.  I didn't take notes and I didn't hear everything that was
said.  

Bike Issues:
Sandra Whitmore ran the show.  She repeated several times that the path
through the woods closest to the homes was "only penciled in" and could be
removed easily.  She also said that the police requested it as a law
enforcement enhancement.  I tried to make the point that it was more than
just a route for police but that the presence of more eyes or more users
would reduce crime.  I'm not sure everyone heard me.  As we went around
Jones point someone pointed out that the city had not maintained the trail
near the fishing piers as it should have.  My only other contribution was to
ask some questions when we were looking at the trail where it
would border the soccer fields on the north side of the woods.  The
homeowners were trying to say that more of the area is wetland than shown on
the map and I asked if the trail would be a boardwalk over the wetlands.
(Yes)  I also asked if the Lee street connector would be improved and didn't
get a straight answer (Yes and No).?
At the end Del Pepper asked something about elevations on the map and I told
her that it was a good question to ask about the bike trails too. I pointed
out that the Lee street route would force cyclists to go over a hill while
most of the trail following the river would be relatively flat.  She seemed
to think putting cyclists on the street was unacceptable anyway.  She didn't
want to hear about experienced cyclists she wanted a safe route for
inexperienced cyclists.  Sandra also pointed out a second path near the
river promenade with a ship shaped green area between the promenade and the
bike path.  It looked like a prescription for collisions where the paths
join.  We never walked over to the part of the path with tree roots.

My Humble Opinion on Bike Issues:
Since the homeowners several times brought up the issue of criminals
entering their back yards, and Sandra says the police want the woods path to
help them chase crooks, I think we should be more forceful about pushing for
the woods path.  It looks like it can be built without cutting trees, and
from the map it would only have to bridge a narrow gap where two wetlands
come together in a point.  Bikers get a good route and homeowners get more
security.  Also, in the longer term we've heard before that neighbors claim
paths contribute to crime, if we can point to this as a crime prevention
measure right here in Alexandria it would help us in Del Ray and for the
Chambliss connector. 

Non-Bike Issues:

The extra soccer fields to the north of the bridge seem to be an issue.  I
don't think the woods should be cleared for them.  Doesn't Alexandria
already have more soccer fields in proportion to population than Fairfax and
Arlington?  Maybe and exercise trail and some small amenities like a tot lot
or some ecology viewing stations in the already cleared part of the
non-wetlands would be better.  

The neighbors were saying that the wetlands extended to a place where we
were standing.  The place was surrounded by big planetrees.  They said it
flooded there twice a month.  Those trees are classed as moderately flood
tolerant.  They occur on floodplains but as you bike along the Mount Vernon
Trail, you can see that they are only within two feet of the water in places
where the bank collapsed.  You can tell what happened because the trunks are
usually at an angle.  There is one place near those condos at the power
plant where the bank slid down without tilting but you can see that the bank
slid.  I think the people who drew the map are more right than the
neighbors.  Maybe the neighbors were seeing rain puddles. 

Sandra kept talking about removing invasive species.  If some of those big
plane trees are non-native London Planetrees she might want to think before
she chainsaws them.  The native planetree, American Sycamore is less
tolerant of air pollution than the London Planetree.  Since we have
committed to spewing air pollution over Jones point, it would be a shame to
cut the pollution tolerant tree just because it is invasive.  I don't know
which type is in Jones point, the London plane has its fruits in twos or
threes while the American Sycamore has it hanging singly. The London Plane
has a more olive colored inner bark. I couldn't tell which type is out
there.  It doesn't seem right to just go out and destroy plants without
understanding why they are there.  I know Sandra had a lot of ground to
cover, and I didn't quiz her on this but she didn't say which plants they'd
destroy just "invasive".   

Anyway I was surprised to find out how incoherent the Alexandria's plans
are.  The good news is the bike path seems to fit into any plans; historical
interpretation, ecology, soccer, crime prevention, transportation.
George