Silver Spring is three minutes closer

The new Metropolitan Branch Trail section had its official ribbon yesterday and while I missed the opening ceremony RTC did not. I did measure my time on it and it's a full three minutes faster from 2nd and L, NE to Bates and Fort Totten Road, NE than the on-road route (that's nearly a 10% savings for me). And it'll get better once I don't have to make that hard turn up the hill on Bates. 

Comments

[Kevin]

Why is AAA crushing WABA? Easy, WABA is invisible. I have seen little outreach from them, even when contacted to get story information about transportation. They seem non-existent.

[Purple Eagle]

Do you get on the MetBranch at L, climbing the stairs? M St seems like an easier entrance to me - no getting off the bike. Probably faster as a result but I have not timed it.

[Mike]

Purple Eagle, thanks for the recommendation of M Street. I came in this morning (lovely ribbon of asphalt!) and walking down those stairs with a loaded commuter bike just about did me in.

[Warrenbowman]

I am really excited about this trail. I am from out of town, staying in Calverton, and would like to try out this trail. Since I don't know the area, does anyone know where I can download a gpx file of the MBT, so I don't get lost?

[washcycle]

Purple Eagle, No I used the ramp at M. But when I bike the on-road route I go under the tracks at L and up on 1st. Using the trail, I went north on 2nd and under at M.

Warrenbowmna, Rails to Trails might have that. They have GPS info on a lot of trails (though I'm not sure where).

[ML]

O.k. I biked there yesterday (5:00PM) - hated those stairs, but other than that the actual path is very nice. Except for the kids hanging out along the bike path. One group asked me for money and one kid of the second group thought it would be fun blocking the path - so I'm going back onto the road until there are more people using that path... it's probably fine for groups, but I wouldn't go again by myself or when it gets dark

[Eric_W.]

Regarding ML's concern.

This could potentially develop into a dangerous situation. There should be some serious and dedicated police attention at the very beginning to make sure those kids get the message that this is not their turf.

[Purple Eagle]

I have not had an significant problems, but I think some of the locals will need to get clued in that this is a transportation corridor and not a sidewalk or playground. Today there was a couple walking on the left side of the path (relative to their direction of travel); there was also a group of kids skateboarding under Franklin St. Last week there were three (probably homeless) men sitting at the top of the wooden stairs at L (I was on foot that time so it was not hard to get around them). I would encourage people to get out their and use the trail - claim it as a transportation corridor! People are not likely to sit down in the middle of the trail if need to move out of the way for a bike every minute or two.

[washcycle]

I think that DDOT is trying to make this into a transportation corridor AND a sidewalk AND a park. They've been doing a lot of outreach to get people to use the trail for all kinds of activities. It sounds like it will take a while for trail etiquette to establish itself, but this isn't just for cyclists going to work.

[Purple Eagle]

Agreed . . I did not mean to make it sound like it's for exclusive use of commuters, or that locals are not legitimate users. And hopefully when the landscaping is complete, it will feel more park-like. With the "sidewalk" reference, I was thinking of this - it's usually not a problem if pedestrians stop to talk or look at a map or whatever while on a sidewalk. But on a trail, it can be dangerous - they often don't expect cyclists (or runners) coming at them. Grassy areas and benches, etc will help.