Little Paint Branch Trail extension goes for final approval

Design of the Little Paint Branch Trail extension that began in 2012 is complete. This project, part of the Intercounty Connector environmental Stewardship program, will extend the Little Paint Branch Trail - part of the Anacostia Tributary Trail System - by 2.2 miles from it's current terminus at Cherry Hill Road just inside the Beltway, to the Littel Paint Branch Trail north of BARC. 

The trail will become a sidepath along the south and east sides of Cherry Hill Road to Sellman Road, crossing over the beltway in the process. It will then cross Cherry Hill Road at grade at the controlled intersection and continue along the north side of Sellman. 

The Department of Agriculture recently submitted it final site development plans to the NCPC for approval.

The proposed facility, known as the Little Paint Branch Trail Extension, will be a 10-foot wide asphalt trail for shared-use by bicyclists and pedestrians. The trail will be physically separated from the roadways (rather than extensions of the roadway shoulders), affecting a total area of 1.69 acres on federal property, requiring the relocation of BARC’s perimeter security fence along the west-side of Cherry Hill Road.

Overall, the project will remove 45 existing trees on federal property and replace these with 57 ornamental trees and 10 shade trees on federal property (+67 trees total), mostly along Sellman Road. The trail will be constructed and maintained by the Maryland-National Capital Parks and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC), requiring a temporary construction easement (approximately 3.0 acres in area along the trail alignment) to allow County access to the project area.

This is a good sign and should mean work is close to starting. 

Comments

[Greenbelt]

This will improve access from inside the beltway to the mountain bike trails at Fairland. Plus it creates another nice beltway crossing point, in addition to Cherrywood Lane and Rhode Island Ave. The beltway is a pretty big barrier to commuting to UMD and DC for some people out Beltsville way who don't want to cross or ride on Route 1.

[Robert B Smith]

This is definitely better than I expected. There are no sidewalks (just a wide shoulder debris-filled shoulder..you couldn't pay me to traverse it) on Cherry Hill Road just after the shopping center - so this will do a lot of safety improvement for those who live in the apartment community that's a stone's throw away, but totally isolated for those without a car. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping for a delivery before 2040.

[washcycle]

Greenbelt, I always see the Blue Line bridge over the Beltway and thing of it as a huge missed opportunity. I'd like to think that now such a facility would always come with a bike/ped connection.

[Greenbelt]

@washcycle -- in Prince George's county you could "like to think" that such a facility would be thought of when building things like bridges over highways, but out here, you can't assume that. The public gets its totally, but the politicians are still mostly in the 1990s. And the engineers are mostly in the 1950s I think.