Lower Beaverdam Creek (LBC) is a 5 mile long stream that flows from just inside the Beltway near the New Carrollton Metro/MARC station then parallel to the Penn Line to the Anacostia River just inside the District. It has several tributaries including the 4 mile long Cabin Branch and the 3.5 mile long Cattail Branch. It flows through an odd assortment of greenspace along the streams and industrial land that cropped up along the rail line, passing through New Carrollton, Landover Hills and Cheverly and it's tributaries reach into Seat Pleasant and Capitol Heights.
A trail along LBC would have obvious transportation benefits as it would tie the Anacostia Trail into three Metro stations and a Marc Station. And in places at least, users would find a trail that sits in some green space - even if the rail and highway infrastructure nearby won't exactly leave it quiet. If the area along the rail line should ever convert from industrial to other uses, that creates an opportunity to widen the green space and improve the trail. But there is enough land there for a trail now.
If built as far as Cabin Branch, the pink line above, it would allow for a north-south trail between the Cheverly Metro and the Addison-Road Seat Pleasant Metro and then on south to Walker Mill Road and the District Heights area. Other streams with trails - Watts Branch, Oxon Run and Henson Creek all start in this same area, as does Ritchie Branch, meaning that District Heights could be, like nearby Seat Pleasant, a trail hub.
Cattail Branch, the green line above, takes an unusual route. It starts on the other side of the Beltway near the Lanham Costco, then flows north along and under the Beltway before flowing west and then south through Glenarden. It then goes west and northwest to meet LBC near Landover Road. On the west end it passes through a park with a small existing path, past neighborhoods and shopping centers, a community center and a library, and it could make a great trail for Glenarden. A Custis-style trail along the outside of the Beltway in this area makes sense and would run along Cattail Branch for some way, but crossing the Beltway where it flows under would be very expensive. Trails along Cattail and Cabin Branch would also intersect with an expanded WB&A Trail and the planned Central Avenue Connector Trail.
Other tributaries of LBC or it's tributaries reach north into Cheverly and south into the hills along Sheriff Road. Any or all of them would make good paths for trails, most notably the stream along Cheverly's east side - though it would have a half-dozen significant barriers to overcome.
Encouragingly, trails along these streams are included in many County Plans. The 2010 Subregion plan for the area shows a trail along LBC from the Anacostia to Cattail Branch and then along that stream to the Beltway. It also has a trail along the full length of Cabin Branch and a sidepath along Pennsy Drive on the east end that would largely parallel LBC. (highlighted in dark green below). Such trails have been in County plans for YEARS.
The more recent Greater Cheverly Sector Plan echoes this and shows it in greater detail with a trail along LBC from the Anacostia to the Cheverly Metro station and then continuing to the east as well as south along Cabin Branch.
The 2019 Cheverly Metro Non-Motorized Access Study went into more detail about what such a trail would look like. It also includes other bike and trail connections to the nearby areas.
The Landover Plan shows that the trail going north of Cattail would be both along Pennsy and LBC. It suggests a bike trail along the abandoned rail spur along the creek corridor parallel to Pennsy Drive with access to the Metro station. But it does not mention Cattail Branch, which is on the edge of the area. The greenway is highlighted in red.
Just building trail along the three main streams would add 15 miles of bike trail and connect thousands of people to each other, the Anacostia and it's trail network and four separate transit stations. It's such a no-brainer that it's a surprise it hasn't started happening yet.
Some good ideas here. A crossing of 295 and the RR tracks to connect the river to Cheverly and areas east would be a big deal. It's possible that construction would need to deal with legacy toxic pollution in lower Beaverdam Creek, but the pollution might be mostly confined to the water and sediments in the riverbed.
In the Glenarden area, planners have been intentional about separating residential and industrial uses. So it's hard to travel on foot or bike from, for example, Glenarden Woods elementary school to the New Carrollton metro. A trail could make these missing connections easier.
(I think the Costco you reference is in Largo, not Lanham) (it's easy to get Largo, Lanham, and Landover confused!)
Posted by: Purple Eagle | December 26, 2020 at 10:41 AM