Four Mile Run getting new pedestrian and bike bridge

Bicycling

Four Mile Run getting new pedestrian and bike bridge

by Steve Offutt • January 17, 2012 3:39 pm

Arlington County is replacing the footbridge across Four Mile Run that connects the W&OD and Custis trails east of Sycamore Street with the East Falls Church Metro station. Replacing the is necessary to improve safety.

Existing footbridge. Photo by the author.

The current footbridge is very narrow, very old, and has become obsolete. The new bridge will meet ADA standards, will be wider, and is in a better location for reducing confusion among trail users.

Input from the Arlington County pedestrian and bicycle advisory committees was helpful in determining the location of the replacement bridge in order to reduce confusion and improve utility. Unfortunately, signage is not included in the current project budget.

This map shows the locations of both the original bridge and the new bridge, which is planned for a mid-March completion, as well as the estimated placement of the new trail connector.

The old bridge is at the yellow marker, the new bridge at the pink marker. Image from Google Maps. Click for interactive version.

A significant area of asphalt will be removed and replaced with landscaping. The total amount of permeable surface is likely to be increased even though the new bridge and trail connector will be wider than the original.

The new bridge has an estimated lifespan of 75 years and will be 50 feet long and 14 feet wide with a concrete deck (the existing bridge has a wooden deck). Half of the $240,000 cost is covered by Arlington's bridge replacement funding, while the other half comes from the pedestrian improvements budget.

16 comments

Tags: Arlington, bicycling, bike trails, Custis Trail, East Falls Church, pedestrians, Virginia, W&OD trail

New Carlin Springs Bridge design better serves non-motorists (Dec 12, 2011)
Trail signs should work like street signs (Jun 18, 2009)
Arlington County installs new bike signal on Custis Trail (May 21, 2011)
Redesign could improve dangerous Rosslyn intersection (Oct 4, 2011)
Cyclists, officials inspect dangerous Rosslyn intersection (Sep 13, 2011)

Steve Offutt has been working at the confluence of business and environment for almost 20 years, with experience in climate change solutions, green building, business-government partnerships, transportation demand management, and more. He lives in Arlington with his wife and two children and is a cyclist, pedestrian, transit rider and driver.

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That price tag seems very high for approximately 500' of new asphalt walk and a new (all be it ADA compliant) footbridge. That would put the project at $480 per linear foot. I assume they covered half of the cost for the footbridge as this was the line item cost for the bridge (120K) which would still leave the sidewalk at $240 per linear foot of sidewalk, compared to $120 per linear foot for typical 10' trail installation. Any idea why this project is running so high? Its hard to believe that they could be incurring $60,000 in landscaping cost in a place that relies significantly on natural riparian and forested plantings.

I agree this project is necessary, but the money saved by possibly reducing cost on this project could have paid for other areas where bike trails are necessary also. I have done and continue to do plenty of cost estimating in this region and $100,000 should buy you a lot more trail.

by Tysons Engineer on Jan 17, 2012 6:47 pm

What did you use for highlighting the map and drop pins? I would like to use something like this to report issues on the trail.

by TGEOA on Jan 17, 2012 7:05 pm

^ Google Maps is your friend.

by Steve S. on Jan 17, 2012 9:02 pm

GM on my browser doesn't have the highlight option.

by TGEOA on Jan 17, 2012 9:44 pm

TGEOA, you want to select the option to add a line and then trace the line over the area you want.

by David C on Jan 17, 2012 11:09 pm

@DC

Thx!

by TGEOA on Jan 17, 2012 11:30 pm

How many people use this bridge?

Any word on the proposed W&OD realignment?

by americancyclo on Jan 18, 2012 8:46 am

@americancyclo
The bridge is extensively used by pedestrians in the neighborhood east of the Metro to access the Metro station. That's really the utility of this bridge--providing a route to the Metro. I haven't done a count, but I would guess that the ped traffic is a lot more than the bike traffic.

by Steve O on Jan 18, 2012 9:39 am

@Steve O:

Right, while the signage directs west-bound W&OD traffic to turn right at this bridge, I doubt more than 1 in 10 cyclists does so. The overwhelming number of cyclists I've seen continue on to North Van Buren Street.

by oboe on Jan 18, 2012 9:46 am

I don't bike across that bridge, it is freaky as hell.. specially when you get some wannabe douche de france coming at you full speed.

by HayCaramba on Jan 18, 2012 9:57 am

@oboe & @HayCaramba
I think you are thinking about the wrong bridge.
The bridge you are talking about is next to Benjamin Banneker Park, west of Sycamore. This bridge is by East Falls Church park east of Sycamore by the basketball court.

by Steve O on Jan 18, 2012 10:19 am

@Steve O:

Ah, right you are. Never even knew there was a bridge there...

by oboe on Jan 18, 2012 10:40 am

Is the adjacent empty field going to remain the same? A shame a spot across the street from Metro goes completely unused (it's not even a baseball field or anything). How many people would kill for an apartment in a spot like that (me!)?

by Miles Grant on Jan 18, 2012 10:59 am

Why do they need to remove the old bridge when the new one goes in? Is it falling down?

The path via the old bridge is a bit shorter than the one with the new bridge, so there's an advantage to keeping the old bridge until it needs further maintenance.

by Falls Church on Jan 18, 2012 11:04 am

I'm told that the old bridge is nearing the end of its service life and will require more and more maintenance. It has not yet become unsafe, but it's only a matter of time.

It's true that leaving it there will maintain a shorter trip for some users, but it won't help resolve the confusion problem.

@Miles I have seen the field used a little for the occasional pick up soccer game, but it does seem mostly unused. Not sure what its best use might be. If it's not going to be used for recreation, perhaps it could be turned back into forest?

by Steve O on Jan 23, 2012 6:18 pm

A couple of insights from someone who walks across the existing bridge everyday and found this article when looking for more information (thanks for posting!):

-the wood on the existing bridge was replaced very recently (last fall?) when at one panel broke and four or five others were loose enough that someone flagged them as a hazard.

-@ Tysons Engineer, my guess on the cost is what looks like a new drainage field under the new bridge. Without being able to get too close, it looks like they have replaced some stormwater drainage pipes and put in some pretty big aggregate to reduce erosion of the bank under the future bridge.

by Tom on Jan 30, 2012 12:34 pm