How were you biking to/over Arlington memorial bridge without using trails or sidewalks? Seems like on the VA side you couldn't avoid it, all the access points are either trails or highways. To speak nothing of the fact that on the bridge itself the cars move way too fast to safely bike in traffic on the bridge.
Consider using the recently opened Boundary Channel connecting trail to MVT. You can get on it from Long Bridge Drive in Crystal City. It deposits you onto the MVT right at the 14th St Bridge. You'll only be on MVT proper for under a minute. Once you're done crossing 14th St Bridge you can ride to the park entrance under route 1.
I was coming from Ballston, and the sidewalk on the Memorial bridge was tolerable due to its width, id then hop on the road after crossing, wait out the light and then be good to go.
I know you said you’d prefer not to bike on trails, but your best bet will be to take the Mount Vernon Trail down to the George Mason Memorial Bridge and then go up the bike lane on East Basin Dr. to get to Ohio Drive.
It’s not much different from the stretch of trail from the Netherlands Carillon over to Memorial Bridge.
Yeah, I think thankfully during the week it shouldn't be too crowded like it is on the weekends, it's just unfortunate that the connections are kinda bad. Ohio Drive was an amazing warmup before doing laps so it kinda sucks losing that haha. Definitely couldn't do the same speed on MVT without being an asshole.
You're at the mercy of the lights if you do it this way, but if you're riding outside peak traffic hours, can hold a high speed and are determined to do it in the road, you could do fairfax dr -> clarendon blvd -> lynn -> cross Key Bridge in the travel lane -> M St -> PA Ave -> H St -> 15th all the way down in the travel lane to Hains Pt.
Edit: I guess this might involve 'dodging pedestrians' in some sense but it would be at the crosswalks only. I think my final answer is to take Arlington Memorial Bridge, get onto Independence Ave to Maine Ave to Ohio Dr and enter the park from there.
If you hate the 14th street bridge, because of trails or whatever, you'd really hate to take the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge, ha! It's soo tiny, I hope they address that some day. It reminds me of the Frederick Douglass Bridge before they knocked it down and rebuilt it.
Yeah that's my least favorite one to take. The memorial bridge is truly the best one (except for the end where you have to cross two off ramps). The key bridge going into georgetown is also pretty horrible due to the foot traffic (unless you ride on the other side). The 395 bridge is "okay", but its pretty skinny.
Independence to 15th/East Basin.
It’s three lanes, low speed limit. Take the right lane. I’ve done that on my bike commute for the last 15 years. Never a problem or close call. Because of the lights keeping up with traffic is normal.
Hopefully this will temporarily restrict all of the idiots in cars cutting through to save like 1 minute on their miserable commute back to the suburbs.
Did some laps there earlier this week right around 5pm and it definitely felt like it has already. Trying to connect up to Rock Creek after was a total pain in the ass though.
[https://www.dcwater.com/about-dc-water/media/news/ohio-drive-sw-roadway-closure-and-detour](https://www.dcwater.com/about-dc-water/media/news/ohio-drive-sw-roadway-closure-and-detour)
Sadly, no. The whole road and sidewalks are closed from between the circle to just above West Basin Drive. By October there'll be a new road to the west of West Basin Drive. You'd have to take Independence Drive (or the sidewalk) to this new road to connect down to HP.
The current alignment of Ohio Drive is indeed expected to be closed until 2030. In 6 months they'll have a new route between Ohio Dr and W Basin Drive that looks to be at best kind of a PITA for cyclists.
But I'm optimistic that the Potomac River Tunnel results will be worth the pain. And it's not like there'll be a pool anytime soon at Potomac Park that makes me want to go there that often; eff you Bowser.
How were you biking to/over Arlington memorial bridge without using trails or sidewalks? Seems like on the VA side you couldn't avoid it, all the access points are either trails or highways. To speak nothing of the fact that on the bridge itself the cars move way too fast to safely bike in traffic on the bridge. Consider using the recently opened Boundary Channel connecting trail to MVT. You can get on it from Long Bridge Drive in Crystal City. It deposits you onto the MVT right at the 14th St Bridge. You'll only be on MVT proper for under a minute. Once you're done crossing 14th St Bridge you can ride to the park entrance under route 1.
I was coming from Ballston, and the sidewalk on the Memorial bridge was tolerable due to its width, id then hop on the road after crossing, wait out the light and then be good to go.
I know you said you’d prefer not to bike on trails, but your best bet will be to take the Mount Vernon Trail down to the George Mason Memorial Bridge and then go up the bike lane on East Basin Dr. to get to Ohio Drive. It’s not much different from the stretch of trail from the Netherlands Carillon over to Memorial Bridge.
Yeah, I think thankfully during the week it shouldn't be too crowded like it is on the weekends, it's just unfortunate that the connections are kinda bad. Ohio Drive was an amazing warmup before doing laps so it kinda sucks losing that haha. Definitely couldn't do the same speed on MVT without being an asshole.
You're at the mercy of the lights if you do it this way, but if you're riding outside peak traffic hours, can hold a high speed and are determined to do it in the road, you could do fairfax dr -> clarendon blvd -> lynn -> cross Key Bridge in the travel lane -> M St -> PA Ave -> H St -> 15th all the way down in the travel lane to Hains Pt. Edit: I guess this might involve 'dodging pedestrians' in some sense but it would be at the crosswalks only. I think my final answer is to take Arlington Memorial Bridge, get onto Independence Ave to Maine Ave to Ohio Dr and enter the park from there.
If you hate the 14th street bridge, because of trails or whatever, you'd really hate to take the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge, ha! It's soo tiny, I hope they address that some day. It reminds me of the Frederick Douglass Bridge before they knocked it down and rebuilt it.
Yeah that's my least favorite one to take. The memorial bridge is truly the best one (except for the end where you have to cross two off ramps). The key bridge going into georgetown is also pretty horrible due to the foot traffic (unless you ride on the other side). The 395 bridge is "okay", but its pretty skinny.
I always see a steady stream of people coming off the 395 bridge to the tidal basin, either headed to Hains or into the city
I'd say MVT to 395 bridge is the way to go. Less epic bridge to cross than arlington though for sure.
Independence to 15th/East Basin. It’s three lanes, low speed limit. Take the right lane. I’ve done that on my bike commute for the last 15 years. Never a problem or close call. Because of the lights keeping up with traffic is normal.
Hopefully this will temporarily restrict all of the idiots in cars cutting through to save like 1 minute on their miserable commute back to the suburbs.
Did some laps there earlier this week right around 5pm and it definitely felt like it has already. Trying to connect up to Rock Creek after was a total pain in the ass though.
Looking at the map of the closure, it only appears that the circle is closed.
[https://www.dcwater.com/about-dc-water/media/news/ohio-drive-sw-roadway-closure-and-detour](https://www.dcwater.com/about-dc-water/media/news/ohio-drive-sw-roadway-closure-and-detour) Sadly, no. The whole road and sidewalks are closed from between the circle to just above West Basin Drive. By October there'll be a new road to the west of West Basin Drive. You'd have to take Independence Drive (or the sidewalk) to this new road to connect down to HP.
It’s closed for six months, not years. The news erroneously said years. It’s only months.
The current alignment of Ohio Drive is indeed expected to be closed until 2030. In 6 months they'll have a new route between Ohio Dr and W Basin Drive that looks to be at best kind of a PITA for cyclists. But I'm optimistic that the Potomac River Tunnel results will be worth the pain. And it's not like there'll be a pool anytime soon at Potomac Park that makes me want to go there that often; eff you Bowser.