You Are Here : Home / Government/ Departments & Offices / Public Safety Communications & Emergency Management / Prepare for an Emergency or Disaster / Weather Emergencies / Snow and Ice / Clearing Snow on Trails and Bike Lanes

Clearing Snow on Trails and Bike Lanes

The Department of Parks and Recreation will treat and clear up to 10 miles of high-volume, multi-use County trails this snow season. The goal is to give the most heavily used County trails the same priority and response time as primary arterial streets. The actual response time and trail conditions will vary as the ease of snow removal can greatly differ from one event to the next. Targeted trails:

5.2 miles of the Custis Trail from Lynn Street to W&OD Trail (Washington & Old Dominion)
1.25 miles of the Bluemont Junction Trail from Fairfax Drive to W&OD Trail
2.25 miles of Four Mile Run Trail from National Airport to Shirlington Road
0.4 miles of Route 110 Trail between Iwo Jima Memorial and Arlington Cemetery

(JPG, 93KB)

Trail clearing information will be posted through regular County snow communication channels as well as on the BikeArlington Forum.

Please note that the Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) and Mount Vernon trails are not owned or managed by Arlington County.

Protected Bike Lanes

During a winter event, snow will be cleared by the Department of Environmental Services from the County’s protected bike lanes (also known as cycle tracks):

Snow removal operations will take place primarily during the day.
Lanes will be pre-treated with a salt-brine solution and plowed using specialized equipment.
The response time may vary depending on weather conditions.

Cyclists should continue to exercise extra caution in wintry conditions.

Unprotected bike lanes are not handled separately from roadways.

Initial response efforts may leave primary roadways only passable with one vehicle lane in each direction and bare pavement may not yet be visible. Residential roadways may be passable with only a single vehicle lane and also no bare pavement yet visible.

People on bikes encountering snow in bike lanes are legally permitted to ride in the standard travel lanes, though riders may experience more traffic stress than their normal ride.