Columbia Pike bike boulevard plan update

[jhr]

TheWashCycle posted links to new maps showing the plans for the bike boulevard. If all the proposed bike connections are built it would be really great; it would be possible to go up through the golf course parallel to Columbia Pike all the way to Four Mile Run without actually having to get on Columbia Pike once.

The blue dotted lines are proposed bike connections:

[PotomacCyclist]

I'm still waiting to see if DOD/Arlington will get the land transfer done at Southgate Rd./former Navy Annex. Then Arlington or DOD could improve the terrible sidewalk along the eastern section of Columbia Pike, from Washington Blvd. to Joyce St.

Once the Washington Blvd. bridge is finished in a couple years, and the Washington Blvd. trail is paved next year (maybe), that part of the Pike will be more bike-friendly.

[bobco85]

Have they made any progress with the golf course connection? I thought the idea of building an escarpment for a trail was thoroughly rejected and opposed by the golf course membership, with some members even going so far as to threaten litigation.

[chris_s]

I'm still waiting to see if DOD/Arlington will get the land transfer done at Southgate Rd./former Navy Annex. Then Arlington or DOD could improve the terrible sidewalk along the eastern section of Columbia Pike, from Washington Blvd. to Joyce St.

My understanding is that negotiations are continuing and actually going fairly well. The County Board put the Pike East End realignment project into the queue for the new regional transportation money, so somebody out there is feeling at least somewhat confident about a deal being made.

The description as given in the board report:

Columbia Pike Multimodal – East End Realignment and Washington Boulevard
Interchange Modification - $10,000,000 requested

This project includes realignment of the east end of Columbia Pike from South Orme
Street through the intersection of South Joyce Street to the easternmost Washington
Boulevard interchange. The project will relocate and realign the roadway south of its
existing location, eliminating existing s-curves and enhancing existing pedestrian
facilities to improve safety and increase capacity.

The project also includes modification of the easternmost Washington Boulevard
interchange at Columbia Pike; to include construction of at least one signalized
intersection and elimination of two ramps, reducing the number of conflict points and
weaving movements on Washington Boulevard to improve safety and increase capacity.
All movements will be provided for with the interchange modifications.

The project is currently in the preliminary engineering phase. The proposed $10,000,000
will advance implementation of the planned improvements.

[jhr]

Have they made any progress with the golf course connection? I thought the idea of building an escarpment for a trail was thoroughly rejected and opposed by the golf course membership, with some members even going so far as to threaten litigation.

I believe some of the members did threaten to sue the club's management over it, but since the club had already given the county a right-of-way for the trail in exchange for being exempted from some zoning restrictions when they remodeled a building, it doesn't seem like this could have stopped the trail anyway. I don't know if the county waited on the trail because of this issue anyway or just decided to do it as part of the Pike improvements for funding reasons, but hopefully the fact that it's still on the map means that it's still part of the plan.

The bike boulevard page has a contact email address on the right, so I suppose someone could try to find out more.

[dasgeh]

I'm still waiting to see if DOD/Arlington will get the land transfer done at Southgate Rd./former Navy Annex.

I'm concerned about the loss of Southgate Road as a gentler alternative to the Pike, in terms of both traffic and hills. What exactly is the new plan? Will it force all bikes up the steep hill to the entrance to the AF Memorial?

While we're negotiating with DOD, are we discussing access to Fort Myer and ANC? If not, we're losing an opportunity to discuss an important connection in Arlington's bike network.

[PotomacCyclist]

The plans I've seen show a straighter Columbia Pike, from the former Navy Annex site to Joyce St. That could mean a steeper climb.

The County does plan to add wide sidepaths on both sides of the Pike, something like 13-ft wide on the north, 10-ft wide on the south. The land transfer has to happen first. I guess that other approvals will be necessary for the major road project too.

[chris_s]

Have they made any progress with the golf course connection? I thought the idea of building an escarpment for a trail was thoroughly rejected and opposed by the golf course membership, with some members even going so far as to threaten litigation.

The county has the easement and the project is still part of the Master Transportation Plan. The only hold-up is time and money (and given the grade change, it likely won't be a cheap project). There is also still some question as to whether this will be built just for bike-ped, or built big enough that it can be used for emergency access to the neighborhood.

The County will be updating their Capital Improvement Plan this Spring. I firmly believe that getting this project into the plan should be a top priority for Arlington Cyclists. We'll want allies who also want that connection. I don't suppose anybody here lives in the Arlington View Neighborhood? Any Arlington Paramedics or Firefighters by any chance?

Right now we haven't even done enough design work to know what it'll cost to build it.

[chris_s]

I'm concerned about the loss of Southgate Road as a gentler alternative to the Pike, in terms of both traffic and hills. What exactly is the new plan? Will it force all bikes up the steep hill to the entrance to the AF Memorial?

Southgate won't go away without a land swap taking place. The Pike Street Space standards call for a 10' trail on the north side of Columbia Pike and also bike lanes through there (which is not a crazy idea since the Streetcar will run in the median lanes in that stretch). Who knows whether Arlington will be able to extract enough right-of-way in the land deal to accommodate all of that width though. I also have no idea how steep the grade will end up on a realigned Columbia Pike. I doubt it will be steeper than the current Columbia Pike grade (streetcars can only handle so much) but I have no idea how much (if any) less steep it would be.

While we're negotiating with DOD, are we discussing access to Fort Myer and ANC? If not, we're losing an opportunity to discuss an important connection in Arlington's bike network.

I don't know, but I doubt it; there are already a ton of moving parts in that negotiation.