Lights out! in the Shirlington connector tunnel - who to contact?

[JustinW]

Ok, I just spoke with the person who deals with this stuff (in Alexandria, as that part of the trail is in Alexandria) and he says the lights were repaired last week. Must've been after Wednesday evening, as they were still out then. Has anyone been through there since to verify? I can check later today....

[Tim Kelley]

I went through on Friday and they were not fixed. Must be talking about a different section of trail.

[JustinW]

Well poop. I have left a message to that effect, asking that the lights be fixed soon, and asking for an ETA. Will post if anything comes out of this....

[Overtone]

Went under 395 this morning on the four mile run trail (just being specific to make sure we're talking about the same place). It was pitch black.

[Tim Kelley]

After Arlington County staff connected with VDOT on this topic, we were informed that this actually falls under the jurisdiction of Alexandria. I'm still looking into details on who to contact regarding this and will let you know.

The drama continues--the latest is that it isn't Alexandria who maintains this section...

I continue to pass along details as I find out more. This was a topic at the BAC meeting last night.

[JustinW]

Spoke again with Alexandria's Facilities person who must be new to the area. He needed help locating the area of concern, but having now done so says he'll get out and inspect the lighting situation "within a few days," and he thinks that fixes should be doable. I've asked him to update me if anything should change. We'll see what happens....

[Tim Kelley]

While Arlington, VDOT and Alexandria are trying to figure out who is responsible for what along this section of trail, the Arlington County Bridge Engineering Program Coordinator has asked his team to fix these lights ASAP as it is a public safety issue.

I'm not sure what the timing will be, but please let me know if ride through there any things seem better. Thanks!

[Arlingtonrider]

Thanks so much! Will keep you posted. There are a lot of people besides those of us on the forum (joggers, etc.) who will greatly appreciate this. Please thank the Coordinator for us. Arlington is awesome for getting this done.

[Tim Kelley]

I had recently gotten word from a few regulars that the lights here hadn't gotten fixed yet. I did some poking around and found that the Arlington maintenance team has looked into it.

Here's the report: "The existing wall pack installed cannot be repaired and require replacement. These wall packs are no longer available and needs to be replaced with a different type. New mounting brackets need to be installed which means core drilling into the bridge structure. We need VDOT permission before we proceed with this work."

They are currently seeking permission from VDOT and hopefully we'll be back on track soon.

[JustinW]

The good news: the issue of the lights being out is recognized.

The bad news: the "who got it" nature of this fix....urghh.

Thanks Tim for keeping the fires stoked regarding this issue. For the time being can we duct tape some BikeArlington blinkies to the walks to provide some semblance of light in that underpass?