Filling in the gaps in the WB&A Trail

Progress, slow but steady progress, is being made on the WB&A Trail, last June's RTC Trail of the Month. A study by WABA from last September says that a trail along MD-704, the MLK Highway, from DC to the south terminal of the existing WB&A trail is feasible; and next week Anne Arundel County’s Department of Public Works (DPW) and the Department of Recreation & Parks will host a public meeting to discuss the WB&A Trail Bridge at Patuxent River Capital Project

  

DC to south trailhead

 

 

The feasibility study looked at placing an off-road, two-way, shared use path along the north side of MD 704 from Eastern Avenue to MD 450.  The path would start at Eastern and MD-704, just NW of the District's east corner and end at Annapolis Road about 1 block away from the southern end of the current WB&A trail. There are some challenging areas where a bridge, interchange or gas station makes the addition of a trail difficult but most of the trail is designated modestly challenging. They identify 13 spots that are "Most Challenging" of which I'm showing one example below. 

 

This is where MLK Highway goes beneath US-50. "The overpass bridge abutments are located just behind the curb line and 2:1
concrete cut slopes begin just behind the piers. "

 

I've bike the MLK Highway a couple of times. It was better when I did it in 2017 then when I did it back in 2009, but it still has a long way to go. This is the kind of project that could take a decade or more to do, but each place they improve it will bring its own benefits. 

 

The whole project should be made a priority by PG County as it has the potential to build a trail entirely across the county and really create a backbone for connecting more of the county to the regional trail network.

 

PG County to AA County

 

The bridge across the Patuxent that will connect the PG County Section of the WB&A to Anne Arundel's county is one of those things that they've been talking about for decades. But now that they've moved it (Boo) farther upstream it looks like the land ownership problems are out of the way.  At the meeting next week "The Department of Recreation and Parks and DPW officials will discuss the proposed modifications to the Anne Arundel County regulatory provisions required for this project."

Comments

[Bill]

These gaps are glaring and filling them will be huge. I took a pretty circuitous DC -> Annapolis route last fall, this will (eventually) make it much easier.

[Purple Eagle]

I contacted someone from AA county to ask about the status of the bridge a few weeks ago. She told me about the meeting but was not willing to commit to a start time for construction.

I agree with Bill about the gaps along 704. It's a wide road with plenty of ROW along most of the route - even over-built and designed like a highway. But spots like the one shown in the picture will be a challenge. There are also cloverleaf highway-style interchanges at 202 and at 50.