Yesterday the new W&OD Trail bridge over the Beltway that was built as part of the HOT lanes project was officially opened. There was a brief ribbon-cutting ceremony on the bridge and later in the day trail traffic was diverted from the old bridge onto the new one. The final layer of asphalt hasn't been applied and the the retaining fence on the north side hasn't been installed.
Since this bridge was built next to the old bridge, the trail alignment has changed. Cyclists must now make turns entering and exiting the bridge. It would have been much better for cyclists had the trail been realigned enough to reduce the angle of these turns. We rode across the bridge later in the day to see what it felt like to ride through the turns at speed. We were traveling about 15-17 mph and didn't have to slow when entering or exiting the bridge. To see what it looks like we took a short video clip.
