But she emphasized the likely impact of the closure as the route that runs through Rock Creek Park undergoes a full reconstruction over the next three years. The first phase of the project starts Thursday, and will close the busiest portion of the 6.5-mile-long road, from Tilden Street to Rock Creek Parkway. That will be the first of four closures along the route, with each lasting about six to eight months.

AD

AD

“Let me say this as clear as I can, if you normally use Beach Drive for your commute you should think of alternate ways to commute and avoid this area altogether,” Bowser said Monday at a news conference near the area where work is set to begin. “Commuters will face significant traffic backups and delays, especially during the first weeks of the project.”

“We know the condition of Beach Drive is bad. It is not good,” Bowser said.”When the work is done on Beach Drive and the adjoining trail this will be a safer area for travelers, bicyclists and pedestrians.”

But it’s going to take three years and officials are urging commuters to consider alternate routes and trying other modes of transportation such as Metro, the bus, and Capital Bikeshare and carpooling.

AD

The $32.9-million road rehabilitation, a project of the National Park Service, is likely to disrupt traffic patterns for thousands of commuters who use the route to get to downtown from Maryland and upper Northwest D.C. neighborhoods. During the closures, Beach Drive commuters will be rerouted to some of the city’s most congested north-to-south corridors such as Connecticut Avenue and 16th Street.

AD

City transportation officials said Monday that the current roadway system can handle the additional traffic flow– as many as 20,000 cars that use Beach Drive on weekdays. About 70 percent of Beach Drive users come from east of the park, and those motorists will have 16th Street, 14th Street and Georgia Avenue as alternatives, said Leif Dormsjo, director of the District Department of Transportation. The remaining 30 percent come from the west and can use Massachusetts, Wisconsin and Connecticut avenues.

Although many of those roads are already heavily congested, Dormsjo said they should be able to handle additional traffic.

AD

“We are talking about the distribution of about 20,000 vehicles on a daily basis,” he said. The extended rush-hour parking restrictions that were put in place to mitigate extra traffic stemming from Metro’s SafeTrack program, will help, he said. Parking restrictions were extended by 30 minutes –until 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.

AD

“We do think that with adjustments the roadway system can accommodate” the extra traffic, Dormsjo said. “People are going to have to plan ahead. They can’t just assume it is going to be business as usual.”

The project has been in the planning for more than a decade, according to Frank Young, deputy superintendent with the National Park Service. When the work is completed, Beach Drive and the adjoining trail will be safer for motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians, he said.

AD

The road will get a complete facelift. Crews will excavate the entire area and put in a new gravel base before laying new asphalt. All seven bridges will be rehabbed and parking areas rebuilt. New traffic safety features — such as guardrails and centerline rumble strips to keep drivers from drifting into oncoming traffic — will be added. Storm drainage will also be improved.

AD

The adjacent trail, used for commuting and recreation by hundreds of cyclists, joggers and pedestrians, will be widened to 10 feet in some areas. There will be new trail construction between Porter Street and Piney Branch Parkway and a new crosswalk on Beach Drive at Blagden Avenue.

The trail will remain open while the road is under construction and once the road construction is completed, crews will start working on the paved trail and one lane of Beach Drive will be open for pedestrian use so bicyclists and runners can continue to use the area during the entire length of the project.

AD

This will be the first complete reconstruction of Beach Drive in 26 years, Young said. He said commuters have complained about the deterioration, including gaps and cracks in the road, and a trail that has become rough, root-laden and uneven.

AD

Officials are urging drivers who choose to drive in the part of Beach Drive that will remain open to avoid driving all the way to Tilden Street, where the traffic will detour. They are also warning that traffic control officials and police will monitor commuting pattern to help reduce congestion and prevent speeding in neighborhoods.

“We also ask that you respect the people that live in the communities that surround Beach Drive and the project area,” Bowser said. “Please stay off neighborhood streets, drive safely and carefully and remember that we have speed limits in the District of Columbia.”

The National Park Service had planned to start work Monday, but it pushed the closure to Thursday.