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Sally, this hikke/bike path will require even more maintenance as the plan for a permeable surface (not yet used in DC) will require vaccuming every two weeks to get the leaves from the trees off the surface for it to remain permeable and drain the water. The EA says it will cost about $5840 per year to maintain the trail. It would be quite surprising if the cost of maintaining a 10-foot wide trail primarily used by walkers, runnners and cyclists was highter than maintaining a two-lane road primarily used by cars. Do you have a cost estimate for maintaining the road? If we pull forward the Net Present Value of the road and trail by counting the maintenance, I don't think it's going to help your case.

A permeable surface requires constant cleaning and is very high maintenance, is not suitable for this steep slope and area. DDOT, after extensive study, sees it otherwise. As they do with your claim that the trail needs 6 times as many cleanings as they plan. It's possible they're wrong, but you should either site a source or let me know how it is that you've become an expert in permeable surface trail maintenance. You're accusing DDOT of either willfully understating the costs or incompetently doing so. Either way, that kind of claim needs a little bit more than the word of an anonymous poster on a weblog.

A road does not require this constant cleaning and maintenance. Maybe not constant. But roads do require maintenance. This is an irrelevant distinction to make. And since DC doesn't clear the snow off of all bike trails, it seems the cost of clearing snow is a cost associated with just the road - for example.

by David C on Jan 16, 2011 11:29 pm • link • report