When the first diamond frame bicycles became popular in the 1890s they were often called "wheels" - the national cycling association was called the "League of American Wheelmen." We have moved from "wheels" to "bikes," but the bicycles have remained remarkably the same over more than 100 years - elegant in their efficiency and simplicity. And many of the issues that we think are new? They were around then too.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Small Change Where 14th St Bridge Meets GW Trail
National Park Service had a bit of asphalt added to make this better
This is where the "off ramp" from the outbound 14th St Bridge trail/path meets the north-south GW Parkway trail. The NPS apparently realized that for cyclists the narrow "T" intersection was not working particularly well (which it wasn't) and added some asphalt to ease things.
By the way, in the above photo, it isn't that the cyclist (heading left-to-right) is incredibly fast so much as the camera is incredibly slow.
Looking south - extent of added asphalt more visible
It isn't clear if they are done adding turf or if there was some particular reason to add turf right next to the path, perhaps to make things safer/better for bikes that run off the trail?
I suppose they will put it back up, but I liked seeing the "dismount" sign this way
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"Dismount before Crossing" is engineering speak for "We screwed up the design".
ReplyDeleteI think the Park Service has learned a lot about trail design from the humpback bridge project. Too bad the folks doing work near the trail underpass at the Wilson Bridge aren't paying attention.