Thursday, June 14, 2007
Planned closing of Clermont Drive at I-495, Summer 2008
As part of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge project, the bridge over the Eisenhower Ave Connector will be reconstructed. Due to the nature of the construction material, that work can only be done in the summer months. During construction, planned for the summer of 2008, the outside through lanes of I-95/I-495, the Beltway, will be routed onto the off/on ramps. This means that the existing bike route along Clermont Drive leading to Eisenhower Ave that crosses the planned route for the through lanes, will be closed. See the Alexandria Bike Map.FABB recently met with staff from Fairfax County, Alexandria, and the bridge project team to discuss options for cyclists.
A detour has been proposed by the project team. Much of the detour on the south side follows low traffic neighborhood roads. However, a major section of the proposed detour follows the narrow, overgrown sidewalk along Franconia Road, an unsafe, inadequate bike facility. Experienced cyclists will ride on-road, but as we understand the route, there will be no signs for the on-road cyclists.A major possible benefit of the project is redevelopment of the bike route along the Eisenhower Ave Connector under the Beltway. This section is in poor condition and could be rebuilt with bike lanes and a trail.
We will work with the above parties to ensure that cyclists have a safe, reasonable alternative route once the closure occurs. If you are familiar with the area, we would like your feedback as we discuss this issue with the bridge project team. Contact us at fabb@waba.org.
It was a long but pleasant ride to the meeting in Alexandria from Reston. Most of the route was along the W&OD, Custis, and Mt. Vernon trails. We noticed the sharrows used on the Mt. Vernon trail through Alexandria, and we followed the old Alexandria Bike Map to find a mostly on-road route from the trail to the meeting site. At the meeting we met Yon Lambert, the Alexandria Bike Coordinator, who handed out copies of the new Alexandria Bikeways map, which was just published in May 2007.
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