W24 GWMP, North Parkway Rehabilitation
Project Order # 24-007
Pursuant to 36 CFR Section 1.5, the National Park Service is imposing a temporary partial closure of a portion of the Potomac Heritage National Trail crossing underneath Glebe Road Bridge during construction activities. This work is a subset of the rehabilitation of the northern section of the George Washington Memorial Parkway.
Due to necessity of containments and platforms needed to be erected underneath the bridge for its painting operations, head clearance between the underside of the bridge and the pedestrian trail will be lowered, further reducing such clearance on this section of the trail. A temporary partial closure during the duration of this construction activity will be required for the safety of trail users. Less restrictive measures will not suffice to provide for visitor safety during this construction. The duration of the trail closure shall be in place through January 31, 2025.
Signage will be placed at trail entrance and exit points to inform users of the sections that will be closed during construction activities. No trail detour is available for this section of trail during the period of the closure. Notice of this closure will also be posted on the park’s website. Violation is prohibited.
Location of signage & text shall read as follows:
1. On the south End of the Trail, near Gulf Branch Trail, "TRAIL CLOSED - CONSTRUCTION ACCESS ONLY"
2. On the North end of the Trail, Just North of Glebe Road, "TRAIL CLOSED - CONSTRUCTION ACCESS ONLY"
Placing these signs at these locations make trail users aware of construction activities and avoid the construction zone while work is being performed.
This temporary and partial closure of a small portion of the Potomac Heritage National Trail is not of a nature, magnitude, and duration that will result in a “significant alteration to the public use pattern” of the affected area, nor will it adversely affect the park’s natural, aesthetic, scenic, or cultural values, and it is not of a highly controversial nature. Rather, this closure only affects park areas that are already impacted by ongoing construction work, and the majority of the park’s trail system is unaffected. Therefore, this closure does not require any long-term or significant modification to the park’s resource-management objectives. Additionally, this closure is necessary to provide for visitor safety during construction work that will preserve park resources and protect important viewsheds.
Accordingly, the National Park Service determines publication as rulemaking in the Federal Register is unwarranted under 36 C.F.R. § 1.5(b). This is consistent with hundreds of earlier partial and temporary park closures, the legal opinion of the Office of the Solicitor, and judicial adjudications. Mahoney v. Norton, No. 02-1715 (D.D.C. August 29, 2002), pl.’s emergency mot. for inj. pending app. denied, No. 02-5275 (D.C. Cir. September 9, 2002) (per curiam); Picciotto v. United States, No. 99-2113 (D.D.C.); Picciotto v. United States, No. 94-1935 (D.D.C.); Picciotto v. Lujan, No. 90-1261 (D.D.C.); Picciotto v. Hodel, No. 87-3290 (D.D.C.); Spiegel v. Babbitt, 855 F. Supp. 402 (D.D.C. 1994), aff’d in part w/o op., 56 F.3d 1531 (D.C. Cir. 1995).
This order is effective immediately and will remain in effect until January 31, 2025. Pursuant to 36 CFR Section 1.7, notice of this temporary trail closure will be made through media advisories, fencing, and posting of signs at conspicuous locations in the affected park area. Finally, pursuant to 36 CFR Section 1.5(c), this determination is available to the public upon request.
Approval: Christine Smith, Acting Superintendent
Date: December 6, 2024
