A few weeks ago, I wrote about the Maryland side of the Wilson Bridge Project. Today I want to look at the Virginia side. This side is a bit more complex. Since this is the side where the Mt. Vernon Trail runs, this is where the construction has impacted cyclists the most with frequent realignments.
After coming across the Wilson Bridge on the north side it will connect to the Washington Avenue street deck. This structure will be similar to the Rosalie Island deckover - except that it will carry a road through the middle and pedestrians on the sides (see picture at left). From the Washington Avenue deck one can enter the street grid or go south over the Beltway and connect to the Mt. Vernon Trail. I can't tell if you'll be able to go along the north side of the bridge to the Mt. Vernon Trail from the street deck.
The north-bound Mt. Vernon Trail will run along the south side of the bridge and then under it and will connect to Jones Point Park.
The new Mt. Vernon trail will open in December 2006. At that time, the temporary trail around the perimeter of the Hunting Point on the Potomac towers property will be abandoned. The new trail will connect to Jones Point Park, ultimately to cross the bridge on the north side and to US Route 1.
The south-bound Mt. Vernon Trail will go along Washington Avenue in front of the Potomac Terrace apartments and Porto Vecchio - just as it used to.
In addition, cyclists can cross Washington Street and connect to Route 1 and the Fort Hunt Trail (see picture).
The trail on the west side of Washington Street will parallel a ramp from US Route 1. This two-way shared pedestrian/bicycle path will end at northbound US Route 1 in the vicinity of the Hampton Inn. The foundations and supports for the sound wall have been placed and the sound wall panels will be placed in December 2006.
And the project will add a pedestrian/bikeway from Huntington Avenue over the Beltway to Eisenhower Avenue and the metro station there as part of the Telegraph Road 
interchange (again, see picture).
That's all really good. You can bike right into Old Town, catch the Mt. Vernon trail going north and south and even push over to another trail. Still, there's room for improvement (isn't there always).
There were, at one time, plans to build a pedestrian crossing at the intersection of Route 1 and Fort Hunt Road, but sometime before February of this year that was removed. The whole thing is chronicled at this site and this is VDOT's latest word on it:
According to Mr. Nick Nicholson, WWB Project Manager, the project engineers and the WWB Consultants will be revisiting the design of this intersection to identify any possible improvements that can be done for safe pedestrian/bicyclist crossing of Rte. 1 at Ft. Hunt Road.
That connection is needed for the proposed Huntington Stream Valley Trail which would connect Route 1 to Telegraph Road. But that's the only thing I can say is needed to make this project complete from a cycling standpoint. Cool stuff.
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