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The Indian Creek Trail extension north of Branchville has been an important improvement for biking in Greenbelt. It allows one to bypass the intersection of Cherrywood and Greenbelt Rd where the usual route involves riding through parking lots and using a short unofficial dirt trail to complete the connection.

There has been a long saga regarding the extension of the trail from the new housing development to the Greenbelt metro station. It's caught up in the decision not to move the FBI. Long story short - the city (of Greenbelt) and the developer both very much want the trail to happen, but WMATA has been reluctant to sign off on details because of the uncertainty of future development plans for the area around the station. They are requiring high-cost features (traffic light for crossing the station entrance drive, bridges that can handle maintenance vehicles, electric power for lights) that are in turn slowing down the process. There are lots of details in the archives of the Greenbelt News Review.

I can confirm that the Cherry Hill Rd connection on the Paint Branch trail is now open and complete, turning at the northern end onto Sellman Rd. and then into Little Paint Branch Park, completely off-road the whole way (though also near-road the whole way).

You can also then head farther north on Old Gunpowder (where the "off-road" trail is more of a wide sidewalk), and connect to the other Little Paint Branch Park and Fairfield Park. Another nice piece of network connectivity, long overdue but good to have in place.

The Indian Creek Trail northern extension also went through some controversies that have since been resolved - I was reminded when I saw your photo. After the trail was built, initially it was not connected to the street. (not sure who is in charge but "they") did not want to create the curb cut because they thought it was a dangerous location, too close to where Branchville curves to meet Greenbelt Rd. Eventually they were convinced to make the curb cut, but it was off-set from the trail by a few feet so you had to make an awkward maneuver. Last fall that stretch of Branchville got sidewalks and new curbs, and the fixed the alignment so now the intersection of the trail and the road function correctly.

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