Petition to rehabilitate Rock Creek Park Trail

[DCAKen]

WABA is sponsoring a petition calling on the Park Service to begin rebuilding the main trail in Rock Creek Park. Add your signature to add pressure to get the trail fixed!

[DCAKen]

From a story this morning on WAMU, work on the trail may not start until next year.

[jrenaut]

Pretty much par for the course.

[dasgeh]

I heard that. I was wondering if a daily mass commute on Beach Drive / RCP might speed things along. E.g. cyclists meet at X location at 7:00am, and ride in a big bunch on street. Kinda like critical mass, but commuter style.

[jrenaut]

@dasgeh 76878 wrote:

I heard that. I was wondering if a daily mass commute on Beach Drive / RCP might speed things along. E.g. cyclists meet at X location at 7:00am, and ride in a big bunch on street. Kinda like critical mass, but commuter style.

Isn’t it illegal to ride on the parkway?

[cyclingfool]

[HTML][/HTML] @jrenaut 76883 wrote:

Isn’t it illegal to ride on the parkway?

Don’t think so:

Bicycling:
All roads and paved trails in Rock Creek Park are open to bicyclists. A popular paved path begins just north of Peirce Mill and follows the creek all the way to the Lincoln Memorial. On weekends, much of Beach Drive between Broad Branch Road and the Maryland boundary is closed to vehicular traffic.

Source: NPS

[DCAKen]

DCist has an article on the latest on the lack of progress on the rehabilitation of the Rock Creek Park trail.

“Construction could begin on the project as early as Fiscal Year 2015,” the letter states.

But I won’t be holding my breath.

[PotomacCyclist]

From WABA: http://www.waba.org/blog/2015/04/at-last-rock-creek-park-trail-reconstruction-starts-this-fall/

AT LAST: ROCK CREEK PARK TRAIL RECONSTRUCTION STARTS THIS FALL

“Construction is coming to the Rock Creek Park Trail this fall. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) will rebuild the trail along Beach Drive. The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) will finish the trail work in late 2016/early 2017. For a community that has been waiting for over a decade, construction on the trail will be a welcomed sight.

The Environmental Assessment plans for 3.7 miles of trail rehabilitation from P St. NW to Broad Branch Road. FHWA will construct roughly two miles of trails from the Rock Creek Park Trail to Broad Branch Road. FHWA will also modify the road within the zoo tunnel to accommodate a narrow trail. Construction crews will build a new trail bridge over Rock Creek near the tunnel. Where possible, the trail will be widened. The trail surface will be completely repaved.

FHWA will issue bids this summer and plans to begin construction this fall. The trail will be reconstructed in conjunction with a complete rebuild of Beach Drive from the Rock Creek Parkway to the Maryland border. The smooth pavement will be a great improvement to weekend rides.

Project managers combined the trail and road project. They seek to limit construction impacts and speed up implementation of both projects. The Beach Drive project will happen in five phases—the trail reconstruction will occur during first two phases. Trail construction in this section should be complete by summer 2016.

Construction will close the trail temporarily.

During construction, FHWA will close both Beach Drive and the Rock Creek Park Trail. This is not ideal, but keeping access open during construction is not feasible. Drivers and trail users will be detoured. We are working to ensure that the trail detour is a reasonable one that minimizes busy roads and the steep climbs out of the park. During construction, trail users should plan alternate routes. We hope the complete trail closure will speed up construction.

The full 3.7 mile trail rehabilitation will not be complete when FHWA finishes their work next summer. DDOT is responsible for all trail sections across the creek from Beach Drive and along Rock Creek Parkway (south from Beach Drive), along with the new spur trail along Piney Branch Parkway. DDOT intends to complete design phase for their trail sections by August 2016 and begin construction in the fall of 2016. The agency plans to finish the entire trail reconstruction in 2017.

Last year, WABA lead a petition effort to push the trail rehabilitation project forward. Over 2500 residents signed the petition asking the National Park Service and District Department of Transportation rebuild the trail. After a yearlong delay. DDOT finalized the EA last summer, allowing final design and construction to begin.

If everything goes according to plan, residents and visitors will be enjoying newly rebuilt trail sections next year and a fully rebuilt trail by 2017. Thank you to the National Park Service, DDOT, FHWA and everyone else involved in bring this project to completion.”

[BrettVA]

It is now the fall of 2015. I see no information that they are starting the threatened work to repair rock creek trail. Is this more empty threats from the park service?

[PotomacCyclist]

Maybe. They spoke about renovating the trail between the George Mason Bridge (14th St) and the Jefferson Memorial a while ago. But there have been no updates on that project either.

[Crickey7]

I was planning on riding it tomorrow am. I will report back.

[Crickey7]

Check performed. NPS has erected cones around the most treacherous portion of the trail. That is all.

[PotomacCyclist]

There are still a couple months to go in the fall. So there is still time for them to meet their latest schedule of Fall 2015.

Astronomical fall began on Sept. 23 and lasts until Dec. 21. Meteorological fall began on Sept. 1 and ends on Nov. 30.

[chris_s]

http://www.nps.gov/rocr/learn/news/beach-drive-public-meeting.htm

Public invited to learn about Beach Drive and multi-use trail reconstruction

Date: November 13, 2015
Contact: Wayne Campbell, 202-619-7186
WASHINGTON– Beginning next spring, the National Park Service and Federal Highway Administration will begin a multi-year project to reconstruct Beach Drive and the multi-use trail through Rock Creek Park. The National Park Service, Councilmember Brianne Nadeau (Ward 1), Councilmember Mary M. Cheh (Ward 3) and Councilmember Brandon T. Todd (Ward 4), invite the public to learn more at a meeting on Tuesday, November 17, 6:30-9:30 p.m. at the Rock Creek Park Nature Center, 5200 Glover Rd NW, Washington, D.C.

“Rock Creek Park is a retreat within the city, and thousands of people travel through it on their way to work, school or play every day,” Tara Morrison, superintendent of Rock Creek Park said. “Undertaking a project of this magnitude comes with enormous benefits, but it will inevitably cause inconvenience. The National Park Service wants to minimize the hassle by providing as much information and planning time to people as possible.”

Other public meetings will be held closer to the start of construction. The meeting will cover the project timeline, detours and the work to the road and trail.

[BrettVA]

@chris_s 128038 wrote:

http://www.nps.gov/rocr/learn/news/beach-drive-public-meeting.htm

Public invited to learn about Beach Drive and multi-use trail reconstruction

Date: November 13, 2015
Contact: Wayne Campbell, 202-619-7186
WASHINGTON– Beginning next spring, the National Park Service and Federal Highway Administration will begin a multi-year project to reconstruct Beach Drive and the multi-use trail through Rock Creek Park. The National Park Service, Councilmember Brianne Nadeau (Ward 1), Councilmember Mary M. Cheh (Ward 3) and Councilmember Brandon T. Todd (Ward 4), invite the public to learn more at a meeting on Tuesday, November 17, 6:30-9:30 p.m. at the Rock Creek Park Nature Center, 5200 Glover Rd NW, Washington, D.C.

“Rock Creek Park is a retreat within the city, and thousands of people travel through it on their way to work, school or play every day,” Tara Morrison, superintendent of Rock Creek Park said. “Undertaking a project of this magnitude comes with enormous benefits, but it will inevitably cause inconvenience. The National Park Service wants to minimize the hassle by providing as much information and planning time to people as possible.”

Other public meetings will be held closer to the start of construction. The meeting will cover the project timeline, detours and the work to the road and trail.

Is there any posted information on what was covered in the above mentioned meeting? I have been commuting to work on this wretched trail since 1988. I suspect I will retire before this gets fixed. In the nearly 30 years I have been biking in DC the only two crashes I have had have been on this trail. The trail is too narrow and the surface is poorly maintained not to mention the total lack of maintenance after winter snows and creek flooding. Get a bobcat with a rotating brush attachment and you could clean up in a jiffy. The zoo uses one. Why can’t the rest of the park?

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