This week we learned that the Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA) with the Alexandria Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee’s (BPAC) assistance is conducting a crowdfunding exercise to raise $50,000 to demolish two concrete barriers at the “unused parking lot” at Jones Point Park. As of the circulated email, this will occur if they can reach $35,000, which leaves open the question of who or what entity provides the remaining 20? The stated goal is to build a “bicycle campus.”

There are several ways to verify what is going on with this strange and rather bizarre call to “demolish” a structure at Jones Point Park. The best is just to reach out to the National Park Service (NPS) and to the City of Alexandria. The facts are the NPS is in the process of evaluating and designing a new park landscape but that a final design, one that will trigger implementation (including the WABA/BPAC proposed demolition) is still in draft stage. It was only a couple of months ago that primarily local residents, who regularly use the parking lot and park for many diverse activities were asked to comment on the draft proposal. We are no where near “demolishing” anything. We are a very early stage of consensual development.

Furthermore, the NPS has confirmed that their draft plan indicates the possibility of a “traffic garden,” which would consist of lines drawn on the parking lot surface. This does not imply a bicycle campus, which if you lookup the word refers to dedicated buildings for largely educational purposes. In its zeal to advance cycling, are WABA/BPAC deliberately misleading the public?

The City of Alexandria’s letter to NPS states that its long held desire is to restore parking access under the Wilson Bridge in order to serve the park and historic sites. It goes on to state that changing the current usage would require both the Virginia and Maryland Departments of Transportation to make a recommendation to the Federal Highway Administration. In addition, the city states that it would like restoration of two playing fields and slowing bicyclists at entrances to the park. No where is a “bicycle campus” mentioned or even alluded to.

Based on what we know and how the process must unfold to make it happen, the WABA/BPAC invitation to all to come help demolish the concrete barriers at Jones Point Park in order to establish the first in the region “bicycle campus” is not only seemingly ignorant but the kind of misleading messaging that we have just so painfully experienced.

This WABA exercise that attempts to sidestep the well-honed and responsible process the NPS uses to ensure the “public,” especially locally impacted people, is equitably served may someday help to demolish concrete, but right now it mostly serves to destroy trust in their intent and ability to take others into consideration when pursuing a narrow interest in a widely enjoyed public space.

Kathryn Papp

Alexandria