New Route 7 trail connection in Tysons
Back in October I wrote about the
new trails on each side of the Route 7 bridge over I-495. Wide sidepaths were added to each side of Route 7 on this bridge when it was rebuilt as part of the I-495 Express Lanes/HOT Lanes project. At that time if you were headed west into Tysons from the Pimmit Hills area, the trail on the north side of the bridge came to an abrupt end at the Beltway exit ramp. See the photo on the right.
Today on the way back from a meeting near Tysons I rode across the bridge to check out this section and much to my surprise a new trail has been built that connects the bridge trail to a service road parallel to Route 7. The photo on the left is what it looks like now. I'm checking to find out who built the trail so I can thank them. This is a much-needed connection that is used by many people to travel to and from Tysons.
Earlier in the day on my way to the meeting I used the trail on the south side and met two cyclists. One of them looked as if he needed bike lights so I gave him a set of front/rear lights, a FABB legband, and a card explaining why we are handing out the lights. The card has a few of the rules of the road printed on the back. He was very grateful.
A cyclist was killed in this area in 2008 while riding at night without lights, which is the main reason we started our light giveaway campaign.
Labels: 495 express lanes, beltway, bike lights, route 7
posted by Bruce Wright at 9:25 PM permalink
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