TheWashCycle

Seat Pleasant could become a trail crossroads

Seat Pleasant, located right next to Washington, DC's eastern corner, updated their Master Plan in 2018 and while it doesn't contain many specifics, it does in general plan for a more bike-friendly city, envisioning a future with more bike lanes connecting to regional bike infrastructure and taking advantage of the planned Central Avenue Trail.

Looking at the open space plan above, it becomes clear that what Seat Pleasant might lack in current facilities, it more than makes up for in potential. Along the east side runs Cabin Branch, a green corridor which Prince George's County has identified as trail corridor in their 2040 plan. On the south side is Central Avenue, a priority corridor which should be hitting 100% design some time soon. On the east is the only piece of remaining railroad ROW from the old Chesapeake Beach railroad. And running near the north end is MLK, Jr. Avenue, a priority trail corridor and one that WABA wants to be see built sooner rather than later. There are also two metro stations just beyond the south side of town, and an Orange line station that would be only 1.5 miles away on a Cabin Branch Trail that extended to it. That's a pretty nice starting point.

A Cabin Branch Trail, which the Master Plan mentions once, isn't even really a twinkle in the county's eye, but could become a trail from Cheverly to Capitol Heights where it starts about 1200 feet from Watts Branch. The plan seems to show it only from MLK to Drylog Street, which would be a mistake, but I guess it depends on who owns the land along it between Drylog and Central.  

The plan shows the current "Chesapeake Beach Rail Trail" extended north from Crown Street to MLK and then rebranded as "Maker's Alley" - a connector along which quiet maker spaces can exist with access to nature. Unfortunately for the trail, the whole CB railroad ROW has been built on within DC, but in MD the ROW picks up again to the east where the Blue line goes under ground again.  The addition of a boundary stone park at the NE Corner with DC is a nice touch. This would create an opportunity to connect to the Marvin Gaye Park Trail, which ends only 3 blocks away, if they can coordinate it with DC. 

MLK Jr. is also built on a former railroad ROW - the WB&A, which becomes a legit bike trail farther north. It currently has some unappealing bike lanes on it, but it's a good location for a protected bikeway. And here again, coordination with DC could continue it along Dix to the Marvin Gaye Park Trail.

The rendering above shows the bikeway on Central, but nothing on Addison. That's unfortunate, because a bikeway along Addison Road (north-south) and another on Drylog Street, with its extension through "Innovation Village" to the west, would complete the network and leave everyone within a few blocks of the bike network. 

Seat Pleasant has enviable opportunities to build a bikeable and walkable town, with the chance to serve as a connecting point for the Marvin Gaye Park, Anancostia Tributary, WB&A and Cheseapeake Beach Railroad trails, but the follow through will be critical. 

Calvert County is gearing up to build the Baltimore and Drum Point Rail Trail

Calvert County is in the process of acquiring very small parts of the abandoned (and never completed) Baltimore and Drum Point railroad ROW for the construction of a trail. Because the ROW was never completed, and ownership has been transferred to so many others, it would be unreasonable to expect a trail to run the whole length of the planned railroad, but there may be another way.

The Baltimore and Drum Point was authorized in 1867 and envisioned as a way to provide access to Drum Point - a deep-water port that would not freeze-over in the winter -  and to open up Calvert County to development. The final design involved a railroad that ran from Drum Point, at the southern tip of Calvert County, through the towns of Port Republic, Prince Frederick, Huntington and Sunderland before connecting to the Cheseapeake Beach RR at Owings and the Annapolis and Elk Ridge near Millersville, and finally on to Baltimore.  Despite the promise of such a line, work didn't begin until 1873, but stopped the next year and wasn't restarted until 1888. It was stopped again in 1891, following the withdrawal of support from the state and Anne Arundel County.

by 1890, a twenty-foot-wide swath cut through Calvert County. Additionally, workers had constructed trestles over St. Leonard's and Hunting Creeks and had assembled telegraph poles throughout the railroad's right-of-way.   

In 1891, with locally cut railroad ties in place, and 8,000 tons of steel rails on its way from Pittsburgh, Anne Arundel County residents opposed to the project sued and won, thereby denying the railroad $200,000 and forcing it into bankruptcy.

residents fought the bond sale and won on a technicality: the bond issue referendum was advertised for only 59 days rather than the requisite 60 days

There were several times afterward that investors considered restarting the project but none of them ever got off the ground. About 25 of the 34 planned miles were graded and small segments still remain. 

Calvert County claims that much of the right-of-way is still visible, but they only own 0.6 acres of the 210 they figure they'll need, or about 525 linear feet. That section, in King Memorial Park in Prince Frederick, Maryland is likely to become the first section of the trail.  In recent years a few sections have been made eligible for the Maryland Historic Trust.  

A seven-acre site in the center of Prince Frederick Town Center was donated to the County by Mr. Boyd King in July, 1993. The property is located directly adjacent to the Courthouse and includes a portion of the former Baltimore & Drum Point railroad right-of-way that is proposed as an in-town trail.

In recent years, small sections of the right-of-way, including the one in King Park, have received historic designation. There's a section in Anne Arundel County in the Severn Run Environment Area just west of I-97; another farther south section near Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant; and then a final section in Cove Point. 

 

In recent Project Open Space project descriptions, Calvert County Staff write:

The path of the Baltimore & Drum Point Railroad runs the entire length of Calvert County, from Owings to Drum Point. Most of the railroad’s 34 miles is still visible. The challenge is that the company went defunct over a century ago and the right-of-way is not owned by a single entity. This project is to acquire portions of the Baltimore & Drum Point Railroad, with a special focus on the portion that runs through Prince Frederick, and develop it as a pedestrian/bicycle trail. Portions of the B&DPRR Trail could be used for the Star-Spangled Banner Trail

The County government owns the portion of the Baltimore & Drum Point Railroad that crosses King Memorial Park in Prince Frederick (approximately 525 linear feet). As other portions of the railroad bed in Prince Frederick are acquired, develop these as a pedestrian/bicycle trail from north of Calvert Memorial Hospital, behind the Fox Run Shopping Center, through the woods along Armory Road, across Main Street, to King Memorial Park.

Putting together the entire RR Row will be extremely difficult, but perhaps another option exists. Thanks to the Nuclear Power Plant, there is a wide power line ROW running north. Since the land is relatively flat, it could be used to build a trail from Baltimore to the south end of Calvert County, but permission would be a separate issue. Getting all the way to Baltimore (or as I've drawn it here, the Pataspco Light Rail staton) could be tricky as some big bridges would be needed, but the power lines meet up with the B&A trail at Marley Station and so it could stop there and provide much the same function. It would also connect with the future South Shore and Chesapeake Beach Rail Trails. 

Speaking of the Chesapeake Beach Rail Trail, here's what Calvert County wrote about that in the POS planning.

Under acquisitions

The Chesapeake Beach Railroad ran from Washington D.C. to Chesapeake Beach until the line was abandoned in 1935. Today the corridor has the potential of becoming a pedestrian/bicycle/horseback riding trail that would provide recreation to area residents and promote tourism related industries in Chesapeake Beach, North Beach and Owings. The total length of the corridor is approximately 7.7 miles of which 4.3 miles are located within the MD 260 corridor. The off-road portion of the right-of-way (approximately 3.4 miles) involves 18 separate parcels. In May, 1998, the County acquired a 104-acre tract that includes a portion of the right-of-way. Funding for the project included $100,000 in Bay Access funds, $100,000 in Critical Area mitigation funds and $6,200 in local side POS funds. The Town of Chesapeake Beach has completed the first segment of the Chesapeake Beach Railway Trail and is working with the Maryland Department of the Environment and the Critical Area Commission to extend it further along the old railway right-of-way to include a nature trail to the back of Richfield Station creating a walking loop. The nature trail will be left relatively undisturbed and unimproved. The County would be responsible for land acquisition and development outside the Chesapeake Beach town boundary.