Bridge 12 Replacement and Realignment

/ Friends of Mount Vernon Trail

The George Washington Memorial Parkway is planning on replacing and realigning Bridge 12 on the Mount Vernon Trail. Bridge 12 is on the southern end of the trail. Readers will know this as the bridge crossing that has steep inclines and sharp turns before reaching the bridge.

Bridge 12 features sharp turns and steep grades upon the approaches. Note the sign indicates both the steep grade and that the bridge may be slippery.

Bridge 12 will be realigned to remove both the curves as well as provide a more gentle grade. This should make this portion of the trail both safer and more accessible particularly for younger bike riders. In the image below the hashed trail shows the current trail alignment. The solid black line indicates the planned realignment. The existing trail in the area below will also be repaved.

Image of the project boundaries. The solid line indicates the future trail and bridge alignment.

Construction is expected to occur in 2021 but NPS has not yet set an exact construction date. The work is funded through VDOT’s Six Year Improvement Plan. Given the geography of the bridge location, trail users can expect a significant detour once construction begins.

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