NPS seriously considering clearing MVT in the future!

[Tim Kelley]

https://twitter.com/ManyModeCommute/status/694886344988884992/photo/1

[Mikey]

Three cheers for KWL who shoveled a path through the Hump Back Glacier last evening! It was nice talking with you last night. Great work!

[Emm]

Thanks Bike Arlington for reminding people to contact NPS and continue to put pressure on them to plow the trails I got this response to my email too and was really happy to see plowing the trail is at least being considered. Yay! Now if only we can get our local advocacy groups, governments, and partners to step up we may get this done.

I just hope there is no secret powerful cross country skier group lurking in the DC region to oppose this…

[PotomacCyclist]

Well, let’s see if anything actually happens. It will probably have to be a program in coordination with Arlington, Alexandria and Fairfax, because NPS won’t take this on themselves, for various reasons. It’s a good sign though.

[DrP]

I got the same response from NPS too. Sounds like all the e-mails are making a difference.

[Rootchopper]

The Park Service has just as much responsibility to clear snow as it does to clear downed trees and repair damaged bridges after flooding and severe non-winter storms. They do an excellent job of clearing the trail after non-winter storms. We should not settle for half a loaf here. They plow the Parkway. They need to do the same for the trail.

[mstone]

@Rootchopper 134231 wrote:

The Park Service has just as much responsibility to clear snow as it does to clear downed trees and repair damaged bridges after flooding and severe non-winter storms. They do an excellent job of clearing the trail after non-winter storms. We should not settle for half a loaf here. They plow the Parkway. They need to do the same for the trail.

NPS does what Congress gives it money to do. Honestly, I’d rather have snow on the MVT than see money get cut from NPS’s maintenance budget, which is way too small already.

[NickBull]

FYI, This issue has hit the WaPo “Dr Gridlock” section:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dr-gridlock/wp/2016/02/04/shouldnt-snow-cleanup-include-trails/

[S. Arlington Observer]

@NickBull 134240 wrote:

FYI, This issue has hit the WaPo “Dr Gridlock” section:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dr-gridlock/wp/2016/02/04/shouldnt-snow-cleanup-include-trails/

As one would expect the haters are out in the comment section. Might be a good idea to read the article and offer positive support for snow removal.

[huskerdont]

@NickBull 134240 wrote:

FYI, This issue has hit the WaPo “Dr Gridlock” section:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dr-gridlock/wp/2016/02/04/shouldnt-snow-cleanup-include-trails/

Thanks for the alert. Normally I’ll avoid a cycling article’s comments section at the Post like the plaque, but it seems important to throw out some support for clearing the trails and lanes.

[sjclaeys]

@mstone 134236 wrote:

NPS does what Congress gives it money to do. Honestly, I’d rather have snow on the MVT than see money get cut from NPS’s maintenance budget, which is way too small already.

Asking NPS to better allocate and use its funding is of course out of the question, because all problems would be solved if NPS had more money. Heck, the National Park Police would probably immediately be nicer to cyclists and stop wasting NPS resources with their stop sign sting operations at Hains Point.

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[mstone]

@sjclaeys 134257 wrote:

Asking NPS to better allocate and use its funding is of course out of the question, because all problems would be solved if NPS had more money. Heck, the National Park Police would probably immediately be nicer to cyclists and stop wasting NPS resources with their stop sign sting operations at Hains Point.

Nice rant, but misses the point. There are legal restrictions, practical restrictions, social issues, and political issues. NPS has some ability to reallocate resources, but not the freedom to spend money however it wants. If they stop plowing the parkway so they can plow the trail, they’ll get slapped down. There’s probably some middle ground where they plow a little less in one place and a little more in another place, but they’ve got to walk a fine line. It seems that they’re making some progress, even if some people aren’t happy about the pace, but they’re not going to suddenly discover that they have a mandate to treat roads & trails equally.

In no world do I think NPS is going to get more money for this (though they should, they’ve been underfunded to the extent of hundreds of millions, and pretending that they just aren’t smart enough to find that in the current budget is just plain silly). Side note: AFAIK, other local authorities which clear trails have been given specific budget allocations or direction from an elected official–nobody has just invented that out of executive action as NPS is being asked to do. So then it comes down to deciding what gets cut, and it’s easy to say that the thing you want is the thing that should be increased rather than cut. It’s a lot harder to decide what to cut if you’re the one dealing with the ramifications. (Including the potential ramification of getting an overall cut if you piss off the wrong staffer and/or turn into a casualty of the culture wars.)

[Tim Kelley]

@mstone 134260 wrote:

There’s probably some middle ground where they plow a little less in one place and a little more in another place, but they’ve got to walk a fine line.

Didn’t someone mention going a few more days between cutting the grass in the summer?

What about not clearing the parking lots at Gravelly Point and TR Island right until the trails that people would use if they parked there were clear?

[DismalScientist]

What sort of money are we talking about? Is Arlington Parks and Rec preparing a bid?

[sjclaeys]

@mstone 134260 wrote:

Nice rant, but misses the point. There are legal restrictions, practical restrictions, social issues, and political issues. NPS has some ability to reallocate resources, but not the freedom to spend money however it wants. If they stop plowing the parkway so they can plow the trail, they’ll get slapped down. There’s probably some middle ground where they plow a little less in one place and a little more in another place, but they’ve got to walk a fine line. It seems that they’re making some progress, even if some people aren’t happy about the pace, but they’re not going to suddenly discover that they have a mandate to treat roads & trails equally.

In no world do I think NPS is going to get more money for this (though they should, they’ve been underfunded to the extent of hundreds of millions, and pretending that they just aren’t smart enough to find that in the current budget is just plain silly). Side note: AFAIK, other local authorities which clear trails have been given specific budget allocations or direction from an elected official–nobody has just invented that out of executive action as NPS is being asked to do. So then it comes down to deciding what gets cut, and it’s easy to say that the thing you want is the thing that should be increased rather than cut. It’s a lot harder to decide what to cut if you’re the one dealing with the ramifications. (Including the potential ramification of getting an overall cut if you piss off the wrong staffer and/or turn into a casualty of the culture wars.)

Thanks for the complement! As to why NPS is not getting more funds for clearing trails, I’d look at the President’s budget for NPS for FY 2016 which essentially directed all increased funding to non-transportation activities. I realize that the President’s budget obviously was not passed, but even if it was, your funding concern would likely not be resolved.

[Author]

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