Update: Since publishing this it has been pointed out to me that this is actually in Brentwood/North Brentwood. I've updated it and I apologize.
I recently had an opportunity to ride the Levee Trail in Mt. Rainier, Brentwood, MD and while it would be the most popular trail in a lot of towns, Mt. Rainier Brentwood has other options. Still, there are some simple steps that could be taken to make it better.
The trail follows a levee along the south side of the Northwest Branch of the Anacostia River between Rte 1/Rhode Island Avenue and Webster Street about a mile away.
Google maps shows the trail as unpaved, but that's inaccurate.
The first thing the trail needs is to be finished. It makes it ALMOST to Rhode Island Avenue, but not quite. It ends about 30-60 feet short of Rhode Island Ave. If it were extended to the sidewalk there, and thus connected to the Northwest Branch Trail, it would become a more more useful facility.
In the above photo you can see the sidewalk in the foreground, the barrier that would need to be dealt with and the billy-goat trail that leads to the paved trail.
The paved trail just picks up suddenly.
On the west end, when the levee and trail begin to bend away from the river at 37th Street, a spur off the trail could continue along the drainage ditch to Chillum Road and into Mt. Rainier. There it could connect to an existing trail on the other side of the ditch (stream?) between Chillum and 31st (this trail doesn't show up on Google maps). Then it could go farther along the ditch through Prush Park and the Mt Rainier Community Garden all the way to Arundell Road.
This would be an excellent projection in conjunction with the Crosstown Improvements DC is looking into: those improvements already funnel bikes towards Varnum St/Arundel Rd. Considering the ditch is already present, it seems there wouldn't be a big fight to obtain the rights to create a trail. It seems like this could be a big win-win for folks both in MD as well as DC, connecting Anacostia Trails over to Brookland and places/trails west.
And as a commuter who uses Arundel Rd, it'd be great to ride on some fresh pavement in that part of town.
Posted by: Drew | July 29, 2016 at 10:05 AM
Yeah, there's room on Arundel and Varnum for a pair of protected bike lanes too.
Posted by: washcycle | July 29, 2016 at 10:32 AM
I presume the trail ends before reaching route 1 because connecting it would require trying to persuade SHA to remove a guardrail, and guardrails are sacred.
Posted by: Greenbelt | July 29, 2016 at 11:51 AM
To me, it seems kind of silly to connect it because it ends at a 4 lane highway with no bike lanes or crossing, relegating a northbound cyclist to the sidewalk until a safe crossing can be found. Meanwhile, there's a very good connecting trail (NW Branch Trail) just across the creek, and easily accessed by 38th street about 1/4 west of the end of the levee trail. BTW, it would require cutting or removing a guardrail.
Posted by: Kurt | July 30, 2016 at 10:59 AM
relegating a northbound cyclist to the sidewalk until a safe crossing can be found.
Right, but that's not so bad. I ride on sidewalks all the time, and it's only 200 feet north to the NW Branch trail. 38th isn't that much better than the sidewalk on Rhode Island. There's a billy-goat path there, proving that such a route has utility. Maybe more for pedestrians than cyclists, but so what? That's still a good reason to do it.
BTW, it would require cutting or removing a guardrail.
Yes. I thought that was obvious from the photo. I pretty sure machines exist that can do this.
Posted by: washcycle | July 31, 2016 at 10:58 PM