A tad off-topic, but: Marylanders Plant Trees

[ny biker]

I'm gonna link this to cycling via the affect it could have on the quality of our rides. Yeah, that's the ticket

Trees definitely affect ride quality. The WOD is the perfect example. Sections with no tree cover are horribly hot in the summer. Some sections of the trail in Fairfax County have become noticeably windier in recent years as development near the trail has resulted in vegetation being cut down. But once you get to the shady parts out in Loudoun County, it's beautiful.

[Kalidurga]

That's why the only section of the W&OD I ride is the stretch between Leesburg and Purcellville. Which I'm planning to do tomorrow, as a matter of fact.

You Virginia folks need to get on the stick and make your governor adopt a similar program (so says the Va-born Md convert ).

[ny biker]

We're too busy trying to keep Dominion from cutting down all the trees from Leesburg to Purcellville.

VDOT has started the preliminary work for the HOT lanes on the beltway, and they're cutting down lots of trees. It makes me sad.

[Zen]

If someone will dig the holes I'd take two

[Kalidurga]

Ugh. I've been seeing the signs about Dominion along the trail for a few years now, I hope that gets settled soon. Freaking power line rights-of-way. Let them run through the darned fields of McMansions that've sprouted up out there instead (which'll never happen, of course).

And more lanes on the Virginia beltway, yippee!!

[ny biker]

My car has an external thermometer, so I can see the outside temperature when I'm driving. I did a bike ride one day last summer in Loudoun County, and I parked the car in Middleburg. Driving back home after the ride in mid-afternoon, the temp was 95 for the entire drive along route 50 east, and stayed at 95 on I66. When I got to 395, which has something like 9 or 10 lanes including the HOV, the temperature went up to 105.

This is what happens when you cut down the trees and put down more asphalt.

Now they're in the planning stages for HOT lanes on 395, and they're talking about possibly putting up sound walls on the edges of my neighborhood. I think we're also requesting that they plant trees, and I hope they do.

[Selkie]

The section of the W&OD that transverses Arlington County is fairly well shaded. Because the power line runs right along side the trail, Dominion trims the trees.

Apparently, the power company is upgrading the power lines. The project started last fall, around Columbia Pike. There's been heavy equipment along/on the trail and a lot of mud/muck on the trail from the effort. They are as far as the junction w/the Custis Trail and probably will make it to Falls Church by June.

IIRC, Arlington County has an active "restore the canopy" campaign and will pay folks to plant trees. Not sure of the details but I'm sure there's something about it in the County website. Our yard, unfortunately, has no more room for trees, as we live in an older, established neighborhood with lots of big old oaks.

[ny biker]

Yes I think the hottest parts are in Fairfax County.

I noticed the Dominion equipment a couple weeks ago. I was riding after work, so I picked up the WOD from the Custis trail. I guess I'll be seeing a lot of them in the next few months.

I am glad that Arlington is such a pro-environment kind of place.