It's not too late for the Monroe Street Tunnel

When you ride the Metropolitan Branch Trail into Brookland, it merges with 8th Street NE until it hits Monroe Street, where cyclist have to line up in traffic and wait to use the crosswalk. While DDOT once decided against building a tunnel under Monroe that would keep bikes and cars separate, the idea could come back to life.

 

The current configuration of the MBT when it hits Monroe Street. Base image from Google Maps.

DDOT's 2005 Metropolitan Branch Trail Concept Plan included two possible options for crossing Monroe Street, both of which proposed a path that ran along the railroad tracks between Monroe Street and Michigan Avenue.

The first, Option A1, would take the path through a tunnel under Monroe and then on a path across a wooded lot to the south, which would lead to a mid-block crossing at 8th Street.

 

A rendering of the potential Monroe Street tunnel from the 2005 Concept Plan. Image from DDOT.

The second, Option A2, would have the path follow Monroe west to its intersection with 8th Street and send riders across at grade rather than using a tunnel. DDOT settled on this option.

 

Trail options from the Metropolitan Branch Trail Concept Plan. Image from DDOT

There's a new opportunity for the tunnel

In the ten years since the MBT plan came out, the path between Michigan and Monroe went in as part of the Arts Walk and Monroe Street Market and the wooded lot south of Monroe has become the Edgewood Arts Center.

DDOT has announced plans to replace/rehabilitate the Monroe Street Bridge in FY2020, which represents a chance to build a tunnel (which would make for a better trail).

While DDOT staff is concerned that there isn't room for the trail anymore because of the Arts Center, I believe there is.

The trail could reach the railroad tracks by going east off of 8th Street through the gravel parking lot that runs along the Arts Center's retaining wall.

 

The Arts Center, from 8th Street. The railroad tracks are just beyond the trees.

There's a "green" strip of trees, about 27 feet wide, that sits between the Arts Center and the railroad track fence. That space could be used to have trail run like this:

Property ownership, and the resistance of owners, might very well be an issue (though the land adjacent to the tracks is owned by WMATA north of Monroe and CSX south of Monroe. Neither can build on the land due to required setbacks, so they may be willing to allow an easement for the trail - in fact WMATA already gave their permission for it in the past); but space should not be.

This is a once-a-generation chance to improve the trail at Monroe Street, and it would be a shame to throw it away without at least looking at it. 

Comments

[Zack Rules]

Thanks for highlighting this, I saw they plan to redo the bridge as well.

One option which they don't consider is merely extending the bridge length 15-20' to the west to allow enough additional space for the trail, negating the need for a tunnel.

[Caroline Petti]

8th and Monroe is a dangerous intersection for both cyclists and pedestrians. That's a north-south MBT crossing for cyclists & a major crossing to the MSM Arts Walk for pedestrians. Likewise, Monroe Street is a busy east-west thoroughfare and the curvature of the Monroe Street Bridge obscures the line-of-sight for westward traveling cars. A tunnel under Monroe Street would be the ideal solution there but, in the interim, there ought to be a hawk signal or some such other traffic calming.

[Roo_Beav]

This intersection is really close to the Metro entrance, so this is a logical crossing from the Edgewood neighborhood. The sight lines are poor over the bridge. I don't trust people to stop for me in the crosswalk. If DDOT wants to go cheap, why not just install a stop sign here?

[Jim Werner]

THANKS for an excellent articulation and illustration of the situation, and options for improvements. Now that the Fort Totten MBT section appears to be on track for loooong delayed funding and construction (Blair Road seems less certain) now is the time to advocate with your District CouncilMembers (e.g., Brandon Todd) about the need to connect he existing MBT all the way along the tracks behind the buildings to connect to this new tunnel in 2020.