(Photo courtesy of WABA)

While the sun has graced us with its presence again, the damage from the past week’s rains remains.

A portion of the popular Rock Creek Trail, which is on National Zoo property, has deteriorated to the point that officials have closed off the bike and pedestrian path.

Or, as the Washington Area Bicycle Association put it on Twitter, “You know that section where you always think, ‘it looks like this trail is going to fall into the creek?’ Turns out it’s about to fall into the creek.”

Photos tweeted by Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh show the extent of the damage:

Attention cyclists, walkers, & runners: the Rock Creek Park path adjacent to the @NationalZoo is closed due to extreme deterioration from the recent flooding. @WABADC has put together the map below to show the closure and an alternate route. More info here:https://t.co/CsdM0Pakhq pic.twitter.com/VXmz4KU0tD

— Mary M. Cheh (@marycheh) July 25, 2018

Zoo officials alerted WABA that they had decided to close the path, saying that there is significant risk that the pavement would crumble into the creek.

It may stay closed for an extended period of time. WABA doesn’t have a bike counter on the path, but the organization’s communications director, Colin Browne, says the trail can get quite busy, particularly on the weekend.

The District Department of Transportation was slated to rebuild the path as part of its Beach Drive rehabilitation project, but that work isn’t scheduled to start until after repaving is finished next year.

A spokesman for the transit agency says it is looking into if will be possible to expedite the work.

“The nice thing is there has been a plan to rebuild this and it’s on track, but basically the creek is eroding the ground under the path faster than we thought,” Browne says.

In the interim, cyclists will need to travel via Beach Drive through a narrow tunnel.

“It’s a really tight squeeze,” Browne says. “It’s not an ideal place to be biking.”