Hyattsville planning to close gap between NW branch Trail and RIA Trolley Trail

This month, the Hyattsville Planning Committee held a public meeting on the extension of the Rhode Island Avenue Trolley Trail. The Maryland State Highway Administration is planning to extend the trail from its current endpoint near Farragut Street to 41st Place and the Northwest Branch Trail. The RIA Trolley Trail project is one of five priority projects in the Commission’s Purple Line funding program.

At the meeting, representatives of the State Highway Administration said it will be accepting comments on a 30% design of the extension through November, according to Assistant City Administrator Jim Chandler. 

In addition to getting the design right, some land has to be acquired.

One issue is that additional right-of-way acquisition is required to create adequate stormwater management. The subject property is owned by CSX. SHA will coordinate the acquisition of parcels. The City and/or M-NCPPC will be required to secure any ROW necessary to complete the project. 

M-NCPPC Deputy Director for Administration & Development Darin Conforti has confirmed with the Director that M-NCPPC’s acquisition team is prepared to fund the acquisition of the parcels necessary to support stormwater management for the construction of the Rhode Island Avenue Trolley

The current plan is to build a 10' wide trail along the NB side of Route 1 from Charles Armentrout to Farragut, which will require a road diet on Route 1.  They'll also resurface Charles Armentrout Dr. to increase separation between vehicular traffic and the Nortwest Branch Trail. And in addition they'll build an ADA-compliant sidewalk on the SB side of Route 1 from the NW Branch Trail to Braxton Place.

 

 

The bus stop closest to the NW Branch Trail will be removed, but the two farther down will remain and a bus turnout carved out of the grass buffer

The project design is tentatively scheduled to be completed in mid-2019. Construction funding may be requested by the City of Hyattsville once design is complete, depending on the design timeline, the construction would be funded in either FY2020 or FY2021.

I'm not sure how you comment, but here's some contact info they gave.

 

US 1 from Chapman Avenue to Farragut Street Bicycle Retrofit
(Rhode Island Trolley Trail)
Kidus Debasu- MDOT SHA
Project Manager
Phone: 410-545-8824
Email: [email protected]

 

In other Trolley Trail news, it has new markers and wayfinding (since the summer).

 

Designed by D.C.-based sculptor Charles Bergen, the red-and-yellow markers prominently feature a circular design evocative of the trolley roundhouse which has also been used in inlaid designs on the nearly four-mile path.

 

The markers, which have been placed in Hyattsville, Riverdale Park and College Park, are accompanied by informational kiosks which include a large regional map as well as information on connecting trails and nearby shops and restaurants.

But wait, there's more. College Park recently got a $120,000 state grant to study replacing the current bike lanes with protected bike lanes on Rhode Island Avenue north of the trolley trail and extending the trail north by two blocks. 

The City initiated a project in order to make bike lanes on both sides of Rhode Island Ave from MD 193 to the Hollywood Shopping Center safer.

The preferred alternative would narrow the travel lanes by 2 feet, and use that to make buffers with "vertical separation" that looks like flexposts and curbstops. It would create 5' bike lanes with 2' buffers and 10' travel lanes. This would be from Blackfoot north to the Shopping Center. There would be paint at conflict zones, and no vertical separation around bus stops. 

 

And it would extend the trail as a sidepath along the west side of RI Avenue for two blocks. Those two blocks would also have bike lanes. On the blocks between University and Blackfoot, the plan calls for extending/improving the trolley trail and adding bike lanes.

 

 

The whole thing would cost a little more than a million dollars. 

 

 

 All of this should make it easier to bike on the corridor. 

 

Comments

[Aaron @ ATHA Inc.]

Plus Maryland Milestones/Anacostia Trails Heritage Area is working to implement a Recreation Trails grant to design and print a Trolley Trail brochure and map guide based on the signs. That should roll out next spring.

And the organization has new grant funds for trail support - such as parking, signage, water stations.

[Drew Carlisle]

This is absolutely amazing and appropriate. Now what do we need to do to get a HAWK over at the trail and Queens Chapel? That plus the "Connector Trail" to the MBT = a real game-changer.

I know, dream big right?

[Lissa Bell]

This is such excellent news! Especially for bikers coming from "afar" who have no safe way to get from the riverside bike trails to the "towns" trolley trail.

Thanks to everyone who has worked on this!

[washcycle]

September update on the PG County Connector Trail:

1. Completed Final Design of segment from Piney Branch Rd to Maryland Line
2. Working to coordinate construction with completion of PEPCO work in late Fall
2018.

So that seems soon.

Isn't there already a HAWK at Queen's Chappel?

[Purple Eagle]

RE PG County connector trail - I am confused. My understanding was that the connector would go from (roughly) West Hyattsville metro/Chillum Rd to the existing trail at Lasalle Rd. (and then of course DC need to finish their side of the connection). But Piney Branch Rd is not in the same area. Are you talking about a different connector?

[bikester]

RE: Queens Chapel crossing.

They held a meeting about a year ago to discuss and they mentioned that they will be installing a hawk signal with the reconstruction of the section from Hamilton to the DC line. Here is the flyer of the meeting I attended.

http://apps.roads.maryland.gov/Webprojectlifecycle/PG364_21/HTDOCS/Documents/Additional_Documents/PG364%20NEWSLETTER.pdf

It looks like design is at 99% completion and they should be updating the public soon based on the project page.
http://apps.roads.maryland.gov/webprojectlifecycle/ProjectSchedule.aspx?projectno=PG3642116

[bikester]

@washcycle

It currently has a flashing yellow when you push the button, but will turn to a HAWK that creates a red signal.

[washcycle]

Oh yeah, sorry, the Piney Branch part is the last section in DC, not the connector.

[John Stith]

I was told second-hand that the Prince George's Dept. of Parks and Recreation still sees these three steps to complete from Chillum Rd. to Russell Ave (near Lasalle): land purchase, meeting WMATA requirements for a trail being so near the tracks, and construction funding.
Given the decade+ of delays for that route, I wonder if we should be studying other corridors. We could look at major bike improvements for Rhode Island Ave, which is the #1 desire line for commuters. And we could seek a neighborhood rec trail connecting Kennedy St. in Chillum with Kennedy St. in DC.

[washcycle]

The DC section is also troubled. Basically NPS isn't going to let them build it on their property as was always the plan even though this was in NPS's 1990 paved trails plan. So it will be on road for most of the way.

[Beltsville]

NW Branch to MBT Connector Trail??? This is the first I've heard of such a thing..... tell me more!

[washcycle]

It's called the Prince George's County Connector. A piece of it exists in Avondale Neighborhood Park. Here's a marker:

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.9514713,-76.9777793,3a,75y,303.05h,48.16t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sTsbm77UbJuC-eWZF9BMvNg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!5m1!1e3