It won’t be completed until about 2030, but a pedestrian/bicyclist bridge over the Potomac River could bring more people to the Long Bridge Aquatics & Fitness Center in Crystal City.
“It’s going to be a huge boost,” predicted Hamilton Humes of the Arlington Sports Commission, speaking at the body’s Dec. 18 meeting.
The 92,000-square-foot aquatics and fitness facility opened in mid-2021. At the Sports Commission meeting, members discussed what could be done to improve its usage, particularly related to aquatics.
Joseph Dunn, a commission member, said he hoped the county government would promote more special events there, encouraging greater activity.
“It’s such a beautiful facility that utilizing it and showcasing it would be really helpful,” Dunn said.
When completed, the planned half-mile long pedestrian bridge would connect East Potomac and West Potomac parks in D.C. to the Long Bridge sports complex and to the nearby Mount Vernon Trail.
It is part of the billion-dollar Virginia Passenger Rail Authority plan to construct new rail lines across the Potomac River adjacent to the existing Long Bridge.
The pedestrian-bicycle bridge will be located between the new rail bridge and the bridge used by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority for Yellow Line service.
Work on the project began this summer. Unfortunately for those seeking a pedestrian connector sooner, the timetable calls for it to be constructed after the bridge for rail service is completed.
The reason, according to state officials: “The space where the pedestrian-bicycle bridge will be located is needed for equipment and access during the rail bridge construction.”
The current timetable calls for all work on the project to be wrapped up at the end of the decade.
The planned pedestrian-bicycle bridge will be 16 feet across, twice as wide as the pedestrian/bicyclist lane on the 14th Street Bridge to the north.
“This width allows for two cyclists to ride abreast while safely and comfortably passing a pedestrian or anyone stopped on the bridge,” state officials say.
The bridge design offers “wide and gradual turns at the endpoints, which maximize sight distances and accommodate users of all abilities and bicycles of all types,” state officials say.
At the Dec. 18 Sports Commission meeting, Humes said Long Bridge Aquatics & Fitness Center is among a number of county recreation facilities that could benefit from increased visibility in the community.
“We want people to use them,” he said.
At the request of County Board member Susan Cunningham, who serves as liaison to the commission, Humes will dig into user data for recreation facilities to see what he unearths.
“I’ll try to look at some of that data, throw it in a spreadsheet and share it,” he said.
