Maryland ready to start work on final phase of the Western Maryland Rail Trail, but it shouldn't end there

More than 20 years after the first segment of the Western Maryland Rail Trail (WMRT) was begun at Fort Frederick State Park, the state of Maryland has sought bids on the fourth and final planned phase of the trail, a 4.5 mile section from Pearre to Little Orleans. The fourth section has endured considerable delay since the the discovery that bats were living in the three tunnels that were to be used to complete the trail to Paw Paw. In the end, the state and the National Park Service decided that the tunnels would be better used as wildlife preserves (bat hiburnacula, if you must) than as a trail - a decision I have mournfully accepted as the right one. The decision led the state of West Virginia to drop out of the project and now the trail will end just past Little Orleans before the first bridge across the Potomac.

The drawing above pretty clearly shows what work will be done. The current trail will be continued from its current terminus and then across a rehabilitated Sideling Hill Creek Bridge to the mouth of the Indigo Tunnel. There it will crossover onto the C&O Canal towpath via an access ramp and will follow the towpath around the bend in the river and back to the other side of the tunnel. Another crossover and ramp will connect the RR ROW to the towpath again, and then the trail will follow the ROW through Little Orleans and all the way to the MD edge of the 1st Potomac River crossing.

The section through Little Orleans will include a parking lot, access point to High Germany Road, a new bridge over High Germany Road, a repaired bridge over Fifteen Mile Creek and the 105' long tunnel beneath Pleasant Plains Road SE. 

Pleasant Plains Road Tunnel

It does not appear the contract has been awarded yet, but DNR has said that they expect the work to take 1 year, so it could all be complete as early as 2018. 

But why stop there?

There's really no reason that the trail can't be continued. When NPS completed their Environmental Assessment they had identified several alternatives with one continuing the trail to Paw Paw, This alternative, which shows the trail going to Paw Paw through the Stickpile and Kessler tunnels or bypassing them is shown below (I can't find the EA anywhere online so if anyone else knows where it is, put that in the comments). 

NPS chose a different alternative, one that would extend the trail to the north side of the Stickpile tunnel and then end. There would also be a 0.9 mile section built from the west end, across Bevan Bend to bridge #5. But West Virginia decided that it wasn't interested in an incomplete trail and pulled out (which is ironic since the money being used to pay for the trail to Little Orleans was secured by Robert Bird)

Anyway, on the crappy image below I've shown, in Purple, another way the two tunnels could be bypassed.

The Stickpile bypass would be similar to the Indigo one, with the trail crossing over to the C&O Canal Towpath on both ends of the tunnel and going around Stickpile Hill instead of under it. Kessler is a little tougher, because the C&O Canal doesn't cross it over there, but luckily the B&O Railroad's low line does. That has been abandoned now as well and so on the south end (or on the north I guess) of Magnolia Bend the trail would cross over to the low line and follow that to Beven Bend where it could reconnect to the right-of-way via Vista River Road. Alternatively it could just continue along the low line into Paw Paw and cross over on the 51 Bridge. 

These means skipping the two tunnels and Potomac River crossings #4 and #5. Crossing #1 near Little Orleans is the most important because it creates the only Potomac River crossing between Paw Paw and Hancock (not counting the two railroad bridges near Magnolia). #6 is a good one two, because it creates a bike/ped crossing close to Paw Paw. But this would surely be much cheaper than the original trail and spend more time in West Virginia, passing through Magnolia instead of just near it. I hope West Virginia reconsiders once Phase IV is complete.

I should point out that NPS has said that bypassing Stickpile is relatively easy, but the topography around Kessler makes a bypass very difficult. I take that to mean expensive, because when I look at the photo below, it's easy to imagine how a ramp could be built from the bridge to the road (which is the old Low Line).

But, why stop there?

The WMR right-of-way doesn't end at Paw Paw. It continues on the north side of the C&O canal passing through the towns of Old Town and Spring Gap on the way to south Cumberland. While it could be considered redundant to the towpath, it has the advantage of passing through these towns. It's also higher up from the river giving the towpath NEEDED redundancy. One issue is that I don't know who owns the right of way west of Paw Paw.

Getting through south Cumberland is a bit cumbersome (see what I did there?) as a tiny piece of the railroad is still extant there, and there would be crossings of 51 and the C&O Canal towpath/Mexico Farm Road that would be needed. 

Then there's another Potomac River crossing into West Virginia and the issue of the Welton Tunnel which is currently underneath the Greater Cumberland Regional Airport. It may be easier to just build a trail around the perimeter similar to the BWI trail or the trail around College Park airport. Then there's the 8th Potomac crossing, of which only some of it remains.

8th Potomac Crossing with the Welton Tunnel far off

Then back to Cumberland and across it to the Carpendale Rail to Trail which is built along the WMR right of way from the last point where it touches the towpath to Ridgeley, WV.

But, why stop there?

From Maryland Junction in Ridgeley, the line continues south for a few miles to Pinto, MD with 3 more Potomac River crossings and then is next to existing railroad tracks all the way to Keyser, WV. 

But for now, it will just be good to see Phase IV completed. 

Comments

[Purple Eagle]

Wow, I did not realize there were Google "street view" photos available along some sections of the C&O Canal towpath! Cool.

[Dan Mills]

Columbia Gas (TransCanada) wants to run fracked gas pipe under the WMRT west of Hancock. Please ask Maryland Park Service to deny the easement to dig up the trail.
https://www.morganmessenger.com/news/2017-10-11/Front_Page/Environmental_assessment_on_tristate_gas_pipeline_.html

[Nigel Dardar]

I am on the Western Maryland Rail Trail 4-5 times every week. I seldom cycle it but I am walking and I constantly interact with others on The Trail that possibly welcome information about Hancock, Fort Frederick, our C & O Bike Trail and our Western Maryland Rail Trail. As you are probably aware there has been two primary pieces of literature in circulation for years describing The Western Maryland Rail Trail.One piece of literature is titled.."Help Extend Western Maryland Rail Trail ..through the Paw Paw Bends of West Virginia and Maryland....We Need Strong Citizen Suppprt". That literature shows the hoped for extension to go all the way to and past West Virginia Route 9/Maryland Route 51. Does your write up generally follow the same dream. Is it proper that I continue to pass out that piece of lit?

[Washcycle]

I'm not familiar with that write up. I basically came up with this by myself by trying to emulate the original plan, but while skipping the tunnels.

Sure, it's proper. I'm not sure how much traction it will get. Right now the issue is the West Virginia isn't interested. The trail is basically a tourism/recreation thing and I guess they don't think it will draw as many tourists without the tunnels. WV is sitting on about 1000 miles of abandoned railroad, much of it that would appeal to tourists, so maybe their thought is that they can get the same bang for the their buck (or better) elsewhere.

[Phil Bagley]

Did anyone consider building a tunnel within a tunnel. Think Paw Paw Tunnel with it's walkway tucked against the wall. They could have done the same thing in the tunnels in question but enclose it and extend several yards past each entrance. Bats, hikers and bikers all happy and WV wouldn't have pulled out and we'd have those great river bridge crossings.