2008 CWL #2 Cabin John Trolley

In 2006 I wrote:

At one point in time the DC area had a streetcar system with over 200 mile of tracks (Metro rail has just over a 100). Parts of the system, completely abandoned, have been used to create the College Park Trolley Trail and the North Bethesda Trail. Small pieces exist here and there throughout the region, including almost one entire line from Georgetown to Cabin John.

The Washington and Great Falls railway, aka the Cabin John Trolley or the Glen Echo Trolley, was opened in 1895 and shut down in 1960, but its narrow width (making it unsuitable for roads or metro rail) and precarious location  - shoehorned in between parks and aqueducts on the side of a ridge - have left it largely untouched. The right of way basically exists in two pieces, one in Maryland and one in DC.

at that point I put the WMATA owned DC section of this former trolley line on my wish list. This year I'm calling for the whole thing.

The WMATA owned section is probably not in play yet. WMATA is eager to sell it (by law, the revenue must go toward buses) but only Georgetown seems interested in buying. DC would take it for free, or would be interested in building a trail on it, but no one in the know will discuss a trail until the land is sold.

Between Foxhall Road and Norton St. NW the land is owned by DC. It already exists as a set of social trails (called the High Trail in the Lavarock neighborhood for example), but DC has put no effort into it. I'm hoping to meet with the Palisades Citizen's Association and other groups to discuss what kind of improvements, if any, they'd like to see - specifically on the section south of Galena Place.

The ROW runs through the water treatment facility and the park land around the Long Branch. Though you can see some pieces of the old abutments from where the trolley crossed the stream, getting a trail through there would be difficult financially, environmentally and politically.

The trolley then ran down the median of Broad Street. At the north end of Broad Street there is a real opportunity to begin another trail. originally this was part of the MacArthur Boulevard Bicycle Improvement Plan but was dropped. The idea should be picked back up.

The Maryland portion would run from the Brookmont neighborhood along the west side of MacArthur Avenue to just south of the Cabin John Bridge. Along the way it would pass Sycamore Island, Glen Echo Park and Glen Echo. Most of the land belongs, again, to WMATA who is, again, eager to get rid of it. A little over a yeat ago they swapped land with NPS and NPS ended up with the section that runs through the Glen Echo Park property (from Clara Barton Parkway to Oberlin Avenue). The Trolley Bridge over Minnehaha Creek, now owned by WMATA is suppose to be part of the new MacArthur Avenue Trail under the Bikeway plan.

Despite adding wide shoulders to MacArthur Avenue and widening the sidepath to 8 feet, the trail would still be a good addition. For starters, it could be 12-15 feet wide and thus a safer trail. It would be farther from the road for a nicer, more park-like trail. It could serve as a better option for slower users who won't feel comfortable on the road. In fact, the real question is, on this part of MacArthur, why are they building the sidepath instead of a trail on the ROW? From Cabin John to Maryland Avenue there should be a 12 foot MUP on the ROW and wide shoulders on MacArthur Avenue (take out the 8 foot sidepath and 3 foot shoulders and make 6 foot shoulders instead.)

So this ROW should make two separate trails

1. A MUP (or smaller MUPs) on the DC ROW from Galena Place to Georgetown University
2. A MUP on the Maryland ROW from Cabin John Bridge to Maryland Avenue.

Update: Map

Photo by smata

Comments

[John Curran]

How do you propose we cross Clark Place, where it meets Canal Road? A bridge? An at-grade grossing with a 40% grade incline on either side (I don't think so.)? It will have to be a bridge, and that sounds expensive.
Is it feasible to seek stimulus funds for the project?

Don't get me wrong, I want to see this Palisades/MacArthur Blvd/Glen Echo Trolley Trail built. It's my neighborhood. I bicycle the trail every day with my dog, bumps and weeds and all. But the bridge at Clark Place and the crossing at Reservoir Road (which is preceded by a precipitiously dropping gorge with a river running through it) are two areas that need planning and money.

I agree, though, that the trail has utility even if its segments are divided in the short-term at Clark Place and Reservoir Road.

[Washcycle]

First of all, when making the CWL I usually don't consider cost too seriously (it is after all wishing).

As you point out crossing Clark Place is a real challenge. A bridge would be best and though pricey, not prohibitively so. It's about 100 foot gap. For scale, the Rhode Island Avenue Metro bridge is 150 feet long and must go from low to high and over a major rail line (that can not be shut down). So it would cost much less than that.

Alternatively. A ramp could take users heading north down to Clark Place, where signs could lead them to Q Street and then rejoin at the end of Q Street.

It's way too late for stimulus money (they needed to be shovel ready 6 months ago), but there are other sources of money for things like this.

Reservoir Road is an even smaller gap - and I'd hardly call that swale a river - than Clark and not as near to homes (which is another issue with Clark). That gap can probably be crossed with a COTS bridge and would not be too expensive.

But, like you said, even with these gaps an improved trail would have greater utility - even if it is only for hikers.