NPS plans one block connector trail near Fort Totten Metro

The National Park Service recently released an EA for the "Fort Totten-North Michigan Park Pedestrian Access Improvement Project" with comments due by February 19, 2015. The project covers a very small rectangle of NPS land located between Galloway, Gallatin, South Dakota Avenue and a continued line from Farragut Street; and it deals with the fact that, because the land sits between the Metro Station and the people who want to use it, over the years several social trails have developed on the land. So NPS wants to best address the two, somewhat conflicting goals, of improving pedestrian access and protecting park resources.

In addition to a No Build alternative, they have proposed three other alternatives. In Alternative 2, NPS would fence off the entire area and built an improved sidewalk around the perimeter. In Alternative 3, NPS would built a single trail, similar to the path of the westernmost social trail (but with better sight lines, location TBD), and "close" the others.

In Alternative 4, they would build a formal trail network that models the existing network (but with better sight lines) of social trails, with a paved trail similar to the one in 3 and then smaller trails surfaced with pervious materials like wood chips or rubber mulch.

Alternative 3 is NPS's prefererre alternative, but I think they should probably go with Alternative 4. First of all, it provides better connectivity with minimal impact on what is really just a wooded strip of land. Second, closing the other trails won't work, unless they fence the area off. Third, fences won't work either. The heart wants what it wants. 

Under Alternative 3 and 4, the main trail would be 10 feet wide, built to AASHTO standards for multipurpose trails, probably "paved with an impervious recycled concrete aggregate, similar to and consistent with the width and surface to be used for the adjacent Metropolitan Branch Trail" and would include options to light the trails with "fully shielded low impact pole lighting, including the use of LED fixtures and solar cells [similar to those on the Metropolitan Branch Trail]." Alternative 4 could also include benches and picnic tables, which would further make this "park" more useful (and likely reduce crimes, which is one of the repeated concerns).

Alternative 4 was rejected because "this alternative would restore less vegetated habitat than the preferred alternative." So it really depends on how one views this park. Clearly NPS sees it as both a place for people to visit and as a preserve of historically and environmentally noteworthy land. They just value the latter more than I do. I would even consider a playground here if it were me. But, for cyclists at least, there is no difference between 3 and 4 (unless you prefer to ride on rubber mulch). 

Of note to cyclists is that along the north side of the project area, DDOT plans to build what the project calls the Fort Totten Metro Access Trail, which is a sidepath from 4th to South Dakota Avenue, that will also serve as part of the Prince George's County Connector Trail - a trail to connect the Metropolitan Branch Trail to the Anacostia Tributary Trails System. PG County has already built their part of the trail and DDOT likely will once the MBT is finished in this area. So this trail (or trails) would tie into that trail. 

Comments on the Environmental Assessment may be submitted on-line - the National Park Service's preferred method - here. Comments can also be mailed directly to:

Rock Creek Park
Attn: Fort Totten-North Michigan Park Pedestrian Access Improvements EA
3545 Williamsburg Lane, NW
Washington, D.C. 20008

Comments

[Local Pedestrian & Taxpayer]

Alternative 4 is overkill. We don't need 3 separate access points from Gallatin to the same access point on Galloway. Alternative 3 can handle all the people who want to go to the neighborhood... with *maybe* a side path leading to the intersection of South Dakota/Gallatin. The midblock path though benefits almost nobody (except the few houses actually fronting Gallatin) and will inflate the cost of doing anything at all. NPS doesn't have unlimited funds to spend here, I'm sure... and any unnecessary costs might push this whole project over its budget (and endanger anything from being done at all).

[washcycle]

I think the way to think of it is as one connection from 6th Place, one from Gallatin and S. Dakota and one from the alley between them. So at least one is needed, and maybe the second one. Basically you're arguing that an additional 20 feet long, wood chip path is "overkill." I doubt that is going to bankrupt the project. It's the smallest piece and might add 3% to the total - less if DC uses it's high school student workforce to do it.

If the midblock path benefited nobody, then it wouldn't exist.

[derp]

3 only serves the area that otherwise has to walk all the way down galloway only to turn right back on to gallatin.

The path that runs furthest, to the corner of SD ave and Gallatin is a shortcut to SD ave, granted not much of one but non the less. If option 3 were taken people would still want that path for the shortcut. Crossing option 3 into gallatin you end up walking the same distance as if you would have just stayed on galloway

[Shalom]

Is the Fort Totten Metro Access Trail still an active project? I haven't seen anything since you last posted about it (in 2010!), and Google comes up empty. Would really be great to connect MBT and some piece of the Anacostia trails -- we have so few east-west connections.