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This winter, after the first snow someone in Shirlington ran a plow (I figure a Gator with a small plow) from Shirlington along the bike train next to Arlington Mill Rd - this is about .4 mile. The result was lovely - the asphalt can soak up any sun that appears much more quickly and that section of trail was clear faster than any other section. It demonstrated to me that simple plowing can be very helpful.

Meanwhile we have the new white concrete underpass under I-395 from Shirlington to Glebe. Because much of it is raised but also vibrant white concrete, it develops ice quickly and the ice dissipates far more slowly than the asphalt trails. This raises a number of thoughts ~

-- The problem often for bike commuters isn't the entire route, it is the worst section (or sections) of the whole thing that renders the exercise sufficiently unworkable that they opt to use mass transit (or whatever) until the "choke points" (bad spots) are better. I think a little attention spent identifying these points and focusing on them could result in a quicker return of people to commuting. Unfortunately they fall under many jurisdictions around here. The 14th St bridge pedestrian/bike path for example, must be 1/3 mile long and can be quite a problem and nothing is ever done to clear or treat it.

-- If Arlington is going to have this hazardous locations, such as the the I-395 underpass, at least they could post "bridge freezes before trail" as the Park Service does on the GW Parkway trail. In the last ten days that one small stretch has been quite slick when the rest of the miles of trails I have ridden have been fine. Better lighting would also be helpful. The lighting under I-395 is kind of a sad joke.

Last Tuesday morning, the miles of bike paths in Arlington I rode on were solid ice. Since i have these studded mtn bike tires I rode to work, but I wouldn't for a second imagine many people would do that (or should). The preceding Thursday, there were three raised white concrete areas on my commute and those were like skating rinks but I had skipped on the bike with studded tires and 9.9 miles were fine and .1 was terrible. With a little input I think the various jurisdictions could improve things a lot even if they only treat a small percentage of the trails.

by Michael N on Jan 25, 2011 9:20 pm • link • report