Request for Comments on WWB Bike/Ped Accomodations

[Bruce&Linda Dwyer]

As Chair of the Alexandria Bicycle Committee and a member of the WWB stakeholder panel, I have tried to keep up to date on most things happening to the bicycle/pedestrian accommodations on the WWB project and share the information with the list serve.  Over the last couple of months several of us have met with the WWB Project staff and others.  As to be expected, a number if things are happening to the Wilson Bridge Project Plan that impact bike/ped accommodation.  Below are summarized the current play and proposed recommendations for your comment.  Let us know your thoughts.  We can discuss them at the next meeting of the Alex Bike Committee (Jan.  21) and I will pass them on to the city and the WWB staff.  We are particularly interested in the views of the Fairfax County folks.  We have proposed that the WWB staff then have a meeting focusing on just the bicycle/pedestrian issues with representatives (both citizens and government staff) from other jurisdictions as well as Alexandria.  So here it goes in brief: 
Telegraph Road:
For 2 years now the WWB staff have argued that proposed off-road path under the beltway connecting Telegraph Road south to Eisenhower Ave West is no longer viable for a number of reasons, including, costly right-of-way acquisition, obstruction by a new stormwater management facility, maintenance cost, flood plan location,  path user security in an isolated fenced off area, and, terrorist threat potential.  These points are all well laid out in a 3-page paper prepared by the WWB staff.  In a recent meeting with the WWB staff, we brain stormed to see what alternatives might be possible to achieve the original objective of this off road path to allow safe access for kids and novice cyclists to Alexandria and the recreational facilities in the Eisenhower Valley.  The following alternatives are proposed:
-Improve the Eisenhower Connector bike/ped route.  The problems here include the bike/ped crossing of ramps on both the northbound and southbound sides of the Connector, bike left turns from and right turns onto Eisenhower Avenue, a long way around for pedestrians going to the Hensley Field or NVRPA facilities.  Proposed solution:  Construct a shared path from the ramp at the bottom of the sound wall to connect to the funded (not completed) path that will go under Eisenhower Avenue at Holmes Run.  From the south, keep the path on the east side of the connector with a barrier separation on the Connector under the beltway  (this is narrow and may require compromises on both road and path width guidelines); install a ped/bike activated signal to cross the off-ramp from the beltway; construct a path up the hill to run along the property line between Metro and the City Hensley Park; construct a sidepath along Eisenhower from Hensley to the bridge over Holmes Run (the bridge has a  sidepath).  Two way bike/ped traffic requires that the whole route be on the east side of the Connector.  There are some challenges, but they seem less formidable that the route under the beltway at Telegraph.  This gets bikes and peds to the west from the Telegraph Road area of Fairfax County.
-To get bikes and peds to the east, the current plan calls for an ADA compliant separated sidepath going from the east side of Telegraph south of the beltway on the new vehicular ramp to Stovall and Eisenhower.  The problem is to get bikes and peds across Telegraph for those coming from the west.  Telegraph is very wide here and there are intersections and on-and-off ramps galore.  This problem applies to all classes of self powered users( foot commuters are likely to significantly outnumber path users), so I believe it is incumbent upon the WWB project staff to consider getting outside pedestrian design consultants to analyze this area.
I believe these solutions work to the benefit of the Alexandria users, however, we do not want to presume to speak for the Fairfax County users so their input is very important.
Sanitation Plant Path Restoration
Jerry King and I from the Bike Committee, Amiee Vosper and Judy Lo from the Rec. Department, and Norine Walker from the WWB Project met with the Sanitation Authority staff to discuss restoration of the path that went around the sanitation plant prior to its closure during the expansion of the plant.  The good news is that sufficient space will be available between the expanded sanitation plant and the widened beltway for a path and the WWB project has included funding to rebuild the path along this southern boundary.  The bad news is that the expanded plant will not allow the path to return to its previous alignment along the west boundary of the plant.  The Alex Bike Plan anticipated this situation in 1998, and proposed a crossing of Hooffs Run close to the beltway to connect to a proposed path alone the Old Mill Race, a path that is included in the current East Eisenhower plan (which unfortunately overlook this necessary connection over Hooffs Run).  More good news is that the WWB project staff is optimistic about including funding for a "wide or cantilever arrangement" on the culvert being built to carry Hooffs Run under the beltway (thanks Jerry for this creative solution) and the Sanitation Authority is willing to work with everybody.  Still to get on board are the other city staffs necessary to make this happen. We believe the East Eisenhower Plan should be modified to include this crossing because it will provide the most direct access to the Lee Recreation Center, south Old Town, Jones Point,  the WWB path, the Mt. Vernon Path and the bike/ped route across the beltway in the Washington Street/Route 1 corridors.
Mount Vernon Trail Alignment
I have received many comments recommending that the temporary alignment of the Mt. Vernon Trail along the river behind Hunting Towers should be improved and  made the permanent alignment. This is the alignment recommended in the Alexandria Bike Plan and proposed by the Bike Committee in August 2000 comments on this entire area.   I believe the current WWB plan calls for the trail alignment to revert back to previous location closer to the beltway to then run along the GW Parkway.  In looking at the construction widening the GW Parkway it appears that this may not be a very good location.  The previous sidepath was horrible, being narrow, right on the street edge with utility poles obstructing the trail.  We do not want a replication of that configuration.   My sense is that planning for the trail alignment in this area has been problematic and could be revisited. 
The following three items are outside the scope of the WWB project, but need to be coordinated in order to assure shared path/bike route continuity:
East Eisenhower Plan
The Bike Committee met twice with city staff on shared use path and bike routes in the East Eisenhower Plan, which is available on-line at http://ci.alexandria.va.us/city/planning_zoning/upwhomeeisenhower.html . Bicycle issues begin on page 5-14. Cross sections of Eisenhower Ave. illustrating bike/ped. corridors are found in the Urban Design chapter.  Generally our comments were incorporated with several corrections.  However, the plan needs to incorporate the path link over Hooffs Run (see above) and the link to the WWB sidepath coming into Eisenhower at the Stovall ramp from the beltway.
Bike/Ped Access to Duke Street at Telegraph Road
Neither the WWB project nor the East Eisenhower plan incorporated bicycle and pedestrian access between Duke Street and Eisenhower Valley.  This need is in the 1998 Alexandria Bike Plan and was discussed extensively during the WWB stakeholder panel on Telegraph Road.  It is outside the scope of the WWB project and not included in the East Eisenhower Plan for unknown reasons.  It needs to stay on the table for VDOT and/or the city.
Huntington Area Path
The residents of the Huntington neighborhood have proposed a stream side path running from the US Route 1 to Telegraph Road.  Again, this concept was proposed during the WWB Project stakeholder panels, but it was rejected as being outside the scope of the Project. And again, it is important to keep it on the table for big picture bicycle pedestrian accommodation in this area.  My understanding is that Fairfax County may be addressing it.  

Please provide comments on these items to the BSC  and cc's on this email message. 
Thanks
Bruce Dwyer
Chair, Alexandria Bicycle Committee
703-549-3263
ouibike at att.net

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