Maryland Milestones is hosting a special bike tour of the Heritage Area. Ride leaves from the Maryland Milestones Heritage Center, 4318 Gallatin Street, Hyattsville, MD. This ride does not include food and will require waivers of liability. Ride cost is a suggested $10 donation to defray costs.
10am – 12:30pm, July 22nd, 2017
Clang, Clang, Goes the Streetcar Trail Bike Tour
Ride with our historian on the Trolley Trail and Northeast Branch to see where the rivers, roads, and rails have all played a major part in the history of the Heritage Area.
Speaking of the PG County Trolley Trail, advocates want Hyattsville to push Maryland to close the half-mile gap between its southern end and the NW Branch Trail. Though this has been supported for a long time, no progress has been made - and now it appears SHA wants to restart the design process. It's at least 2 years away, which is ridiculous for what is basically a sidewalk without any driveway crossings.
On June 22, Hyattsville newly formed formed Health, Wellness and Recreation Advisory Committee (HWRAC) met with two local residents and representatives of WABA, Karmel James and Alison Mendoza-Walters, who suggested that the completion of the trail project is up to the community now. According to the city’s website, HWRAC “makes recommendations to City Council, develops public awareness campaigns and coordinates community engagement initiatives to encourage healthy lifestyles.” The HWAC agreed to share the petition link, but no further action was decided upon.
The City of Hyattsville is in full support of finishing the Trolley Trail. However, the trail project is in the hands of the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (SHA) since bridging the gap would be along Rhode Island Avenue...
The Maryland-National Capital Parks Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) developed designs to bridge this gap about seven years ago,
SHA project engineer Luis Gonzalez said that in 2015 the City of Hyattsville requested that the SHA take on the trail project. Despite M-NCPPC developing designs to complete the trail, Gonzalez said the SHA is taking on all responsibility for this project, from design to construction, and has a different process than M-NCPPC. Therefore, M-NCPPC’s designs will not be used, according to Gonzalez.
Gonzalez was not able to provide an estimated completion date for the trail project. However, Gonzalez said that it typically takes two years to attain all environmental permits necessary in order to start construction. The SHA is starting to engineer the project — conducting measurements in order to develop a design.
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