Request for Comments on WWB Bike/Ped Accomodations

[Allen J. Muchnick]

The messages below illustrate why the new VDOT Bicycle and Pedestrian
Policy must state a requirement for bicycle and pedestrian impact
statements as a standard component of the environmental documentation
process for all superhighway projects.

Compared to most other VDOT superhighway projects (and especially the
horrendous Springfield Mixing Bowl project), the Woodrow Wilson Bridge
replacement project, with extensive federal oversight and an extremely
long and broad public involvement phase, incorporates relatively generous
pedestrian and bicycling accommodations. Yet,  the proposed bicycle and
pedestrian facilities across and along the expanded Capital Beltway are
still seriously inadequate, and the project team--no doubt at VDOT's
instigation--is trying to curtail even these modest facilities.

At a minimum, the Woodrow Wilson Bridge project should include five *high
quality* bicycle and pedestrian crossings of the Capital Beltway in
Virginia: 1) for the Mount Vernon Trail, between the GWMP and the Potomac
River; 2) between the GWMP and US-1 (i.e., along the east side of the US-1
interchange); 3) somewhere between US-1 and Telegraph Rd; 4) immediately
west of Telegraph Rd; and 5) upgrades of the Eisenhower Connector crossing
from Clermont Dr to Clermont Ave.  This five crossings would provide
non-motorized access across the Beltway Barrier only every kilometer or
so. The bicycle and pedestrian programs of  VDOT, the City of Alexandria,
and Fairfax County should actively collaborate to ensure that these five
high-quality crossings are indeed built as important priorities. 

One important issue missing from Bruce Dwyer's memo below is the
substandard width for the upcoming reconstruction of the Mt Vernon Trail,
as a sidepath along the GWMP, just south of the Beltway to Hunting Creek,
as part of the WWB project.  Rather than use the AASHTO *minimum* width of
a 10-ft asphalt surface with two 2-ft or wider shoulders, the WWB project
is designing only a 9-ft wide path (to so-called "NPS standards") with a
1.5-ft shoulder beside a retaining wall. This design, deficient in
ordinary circumstances, is unconscionable for a major regional and
interstate bikeway that is a component of a $2.5 Billion project and also
provides a critical non-motorized crossing of the Capital Beltway. Besides
being one of the few major bicycle/pedestrian corridors in the entire
Washington Region, this trail is also the route of three interstate
bikeways: Interstate Bike Route 1 (supposedly overseen by VDOT), the East
Coast Greenway, and the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail. 

Why aren't the VDOT bicycle program and FHWA insisting on at least the
AASHTO *minimum* design guidance for the reconstruction of this key trail
link?

Allen Muchnick
Arlington VA
muchnick at capaccess.org
703-271-0895
	
-----Original Message-----
From: gary.jean at us.army.mil
Subject: Re: Request for Comments on WWB Bike/Ped Accomodations
To: Bruce&Linda Dwyer <ouibike at worldnet.att.net>
Cc: BSC <bsc at bicycle.alexandria.va.us>
jenny pate <jpate0 at co.fairfax.va.us>
Joan Clark <joan.clark at co.fairfax.va.us>
walter brodtman <walter.brodtman at verizon.net>
dick hartman <RS.Hartman at verizon.net>
reed winslow <reed.winslow at ci.alexandria.va.us>
norine walker <walkern at wwbgec.com>
Monday, January 05, 2004 8:56:58 PM

Thank you for the opportunity to comment.  As a one year resident of the
Fairfax County Huntington community, I have to say that I have never lived
in an area that so poorly serves any non-motorized attempts at
transportation.

The most urbanized areas of western Europe are positively bicycle and
pedestrian friendly as compared with the DC metro area.

I have to say that I do not understand the the Telegraph Rd issues.  I
only understand that the Beltway is as fearsome a physical barrier to
freedom of movement as any prison fence.

We must have ways to move across this barrier.  In Europe the answer would
be obvious.  There would be multiple tunnels and/or flyovers independent
of any major traffic arteries.  It is inconceivable that highways would
block pedestrians and cyclists.  

I don't understand why piercing the Beltway barrier is tied to the already
impossible traffic situations of Telegraph Road and Rt 1.  The Beltway
tunnel at Clermont works well.  Unfortunately, it is not convenient for
all but a few people.

I hate to sound pessimistic, but it seems clear that serious planning for
any form of transportation other than 4 wheel motorized is non-existent in
this area.  Lip-service is paid to recreational cyclists.  Meanwhile, you
have to get in your car to go a half-mile to a store, because feet and
pedaling are far too risky.

Gary Jean
Isolated near Huntington Avenue
Alexandria


----- Original Message -----
From: Bruce&Linda Dwyer <ouibike at worldnet.att.net>
Date: Monday, January 5, 2004 6:59 pm
Subject: Request for Comments on WWB Bike/Ped Accomodations

> 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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