The National Park Service is, through mid-week, accepting comments on a proposed scope for an Environmental Assessment of potential improvements to the Mount Vernon Trail between Roosevelt Island and Mount Vernon (except in the City of Alexandria) and the George Washington Parkway between Alexandria and Mount Vernon. (Yes, this is an opportunity to comment on the scale of a study that might someday propose changes—or, at any rate, constrain the range of possible changes—that might, at some even-later date, get built….) You can find more details from the Friends of the MVT.

My comments, should you like to adapt them for your own submittal:

Thank you for this opportunity to comment on the potential improvements to the Mount Vernon Trail. (I have never driven on the GW Parkway, and have only once been on the trail south of Alexandria, so I will largely limit my comments to the section of the Trail through Arlington County.)

First, I strongly urge NPS not to limit the expansion of the MVT north of Alexandria, particularly north of National Airport, to a mere 11 feet. As your scoping meeting presentation notes, the current trail already averages 9 feet wide — an additional 2 feet, especially in the heavily crowded area between the 14th St Bridge and National Airport, will barely even be noticeable, and in a few years the Trail will likely be back to the same level of congestion again. Where possible, the trail should be widened to at least 14 feet to allow for the next 50 years of growth in volume. Additionally, the trail should add a crushed-stone shoulder on either side for runners and to prevent trailside grass and other vegetation from taking over the trail.

Crowding is particularly acute near Gravelly Point, where commuters, recreational riders of all speeds, and joggers frequently interact with park users and plane watchers. NPS planning documents have long included creating a trail Bypass that would allow through-riders and -runners to avoid the congested area at the end of the runway. Please include it in the EA Scope. Please also scope creating a paved viewing area so that planespotters can step off the trail safely.

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in cars being parked on the grassy area immediately north across the trail from the Gravelly Point parking area, despite the numerous ‘no parking on the grass’ signs; I have even encountered people parked along and even on the trail where it cuts between the parking lot and Parkway. Please either remove the signs and formalize this additional parking area, and add further protections for trail users from drivers, or add stronger barriers and protections to prevent people parking on the grass and trail. Please also scope finding a permanent spot for the food truck operators who now frequent this area, so that they don’t block visibility for trail users crossing the parking lot driveway, and including electrical connections so that they don’t need to run generators.

Crowding is significant and visible to anyone who uses the Trail, but we don’t actually know how many people are doing so — a recent study by Virginia Tech planning students found that trail counters along the MVT south of National Airport were not functional, and that south of Alexandria trail counters don’t exist at all. Please repair or replace the broken counters, and add additional counters south of the City. Please consider including at least a few large counters with digital displays showing how many people are using the Trail, as seen locally on the Custis Trail at North Lynn St near Key Bridge and on the Maine Ave cycletrack at 7th St SW.

I was deeply disappointed to see that the Bicycle/Pedestrian Safety & Access slide of the scoping meeting presentation declare that crosswalks would not be provided at several crossings of the southern Parkway because they are “not warranted at these intersections”. We don’t not build bridges because not enough people are swimming across the river; we shouldn’t not mark crosswalks—literally the least we could do to make an intersection safe for people on foot or bikes—just because there aren’t enough people currently risking their lives to cross there. (Perhaps if there were functional counters at these locations, we’d know just how many walkers, runners, cyclists, and others in fact do access the Trail at these locations.)

Please consider improving and adding additional connections between bridges to the District and the Trail. For example, the connection from the Roosevelt Bridge involves a long downhill and a narrow, hairpin right turn on a wooden surface that is often extremely slippery when wet. However, there is a second, unused sidewalk on the south side of the Roosevelt that simply peters out after crossing the Parkway—adding a new ramp here at some point in the future could allow southbound riders a safer connection from DC to the trail.

The places where the trail connecting the MVT to Memorial Bridge and the Route 27 Trail crosses the Parkway and associated ramps has gotten significantly safer in the last several years, but could be better yet. Please consider leaving room in the EA Scope for additional improvements, such as further lane reductions, raised crosswalks, stop signs for drivers rather than for trail users, and other means for making vulnerable trail users the priority at these crossings. Similarly, please remove the antiquated and never-obeyed ‘trail users dismount’ signage at the National Airport exit ramp crossing and wherever else they appear and replace with raised crossings and signage and pavement markings for drivers notifying them of the crossing.

The new wider underpass that was recently cut through the Roosevelt Bridge on the DC side is tremendous and resolves a significant bottleneck in the Rock Creek Trail. I strongly urge NPS to scope resolving similar bottlenecks on the Mount Vernon Trail at the Memorial Bridge and on the Crystal City Connector.

I note that my friends at Friends of the MVT suggest that the Parkway needs vegetative screens or other barriers to prevent drivers headlights blinding Trail users, and that the Trail needs lighting and reflective pavement markings to better allow use after sunset. I have two stories that illustrate these needs:

• When I started attending Virginia Tech’s Masters in Urban and Regional Planning program in Winter 2019 at its former site in Old Town, I attempted to bike to classes in the evenings. However, the Trail is so dark, and northbound cars’ headlights so bright, I nearly ran off the Trail multiple times, and arrived to class with a pounding headache from the glare. I went back to Metro until the time change meant I could ride to evening classes in daylight.
• Recently, I returned a rental car at National Airport and attempted to ride bikeshare back home to DC. The connection from the airport Bikeshare station to the MVT is well-signed and well-lit, but the Trail proper is so dark I nearly rode straight off the pavement as soon as I reached it. After nearly riding off the trail a couple more times, nearly riding into the Parkway at least once, I gave up, walked the bike to Gravelly Point, and walked the rest of the way to the 14th St Bridge. I needed my phone’s camera light as a flashlight even to be able to navigate the trail on foot, but once I reached the DC side of the bridge I was able to get a new bike at the Jefferson Memorial bikeshare station and ride the rest of the way home.

Please, light and screen the Trail and make it possible to ride at night without being blinded or riding into traffic.

Thank you again for this opportunity to comment on the proposed plan and environmental assessment to improve the Mount Vernon Trail and the southern portion of the George Washington Memorial Parkway.