Maryland announces next round of Rec Trails Grants

Last week, Maryland announced 42 projects statewide that will receive funding from the Maryland State Highway Administration’s (SHA) Recreational Trails Program (RTP). These are small grants ($5000 to $64000) so don't expect any big projects, but still, there are a couple local winners - though I'm not sure what they'll do with the money.

• The WB&A Trail's Lemons Bridge Spur got $64,640
• MNCPPC Montgomery County got $32,800 for boardwalks on the upper Rock Creek Trail

 

Comments

[Pseudoprime]

Can someone describe the Lemons Bridge Spur?

[SJE]

What qualifies? Is bike/ped immediately "recreational"?

[Joe]

Boardwalking for the Upper Rock Creek Trail?! That would be great!

[washcycle]

pseudoprime. On the PG County side of the Patuxent is a an old rail spur that leads to the existing rail line to the west. It's currently used as a mountain bike and ATV trail. I believe that is the Lemons Bridge Spur.

[antibozo]

I agree solving the drainage problems on the upper Rock Creek Trail would be great, but i detest boardwalks. They're noisy and slippery, and the ride is rough. I'd rather see the trail bed raised.

Either way, i don't imagine $32k is going to pay for much.

[Purple Eagle]

Would the "Lemons Bridge Spur" also connect to the alternate route that AA County wants to build on their side of the river? Bypassing the right of way?

[Pseudoprime]

Looking at Google Maps, I see Lemon Bridge Rd near the Bowie State MARC station, but I don't see a trail. I'd be grateful if someone could point it out to me in the satellite views. Connectivity to local streets is pretty lousy in this part of the WB&A, and I'm trying to figure out if this would help.

[Pseudoprime]

Is it what's called the "Race Track Spur" here: http://www.rundc.com/Doc/MD/PG/FranUhler.htm ?

[Dave]

Purple Eagle,

I assume that is the intent. Ironically, on the AA side of the river, the Two Rivers deal appears to be falling apart. If they don't develop the land, that leaves the WB&A trail crossing at square one again.

Also, the Meyers Station Nature Center is not cut in half by the WB&A trail because the Meyer's property ownership ends at the ROW (they do probably own the ROW itself).

Two Rivers would not be involved at all if this were not the case.

[JimT]

Most of the afforementioned commens about WB&A are correct. The spur at issue was originally a spur from the Penn (now Amtrak) line to Bowie Race Track.

MDOT intends to do a fair feasibility study and alternatives analysis for the WB&A extension accoss the Patuxent River. I'll probably have a quick blog post on that development sometime in December.

[Bowie Mike]

The WB&A map on the PG County web site has a good depiction of the alternate WB&A route to AA County (PG side only) as well as the trail that I think they're calling the Lemon Bridge Spur. I pasted the link below. Like Jim T. mentioned, part of the trail is on the path of a historic railway between the old Bowie Race Track and the present day Amtrak line, but the map also shows a section that parallels the Amtrak line and Lemons Bridge Rd to connect the MARC station at Bowie State College to the old rail line trail. I biked part of the section between the race track and Amtrak just last Friday. It's usually pretty muddy in spots. Someone must be maintaining sections of the trail with gravel (some fine, and some very large). The gravel made it tough to navigate in spots. We got a little spooked when we heard gunfire nearby, and we turned back after making it about half way.

http://www.pgparks.com/Assets/Parks+$!26+Recreation/PDF/Maps/WB$!26A+Trail+Map+2012.pdf

Purple Eagle mentioned that it would be nice to have a satellite view. Someone turned me onto this terrific web site called Historic Aerials (http://historicaerials.com ). If you go to the site, and type in the address "Lemons Bridge Rd, Bowie, MD", it will take you to an aerial view of where this old rail line intersects with the present day Amtrak line. The old rail line makes a "Y" as it approaches the present day Amtrak line. What's cool about the site is that you can position yourself at that location, and switch to aerial views from 1957, 1963, 1970 and 1980 where the old rail line is clearly visible, and then switch back to a 2006 view. You can also switch to historic topographical maps. It's very cool.