The Ward 4 MBT Coalition has created a petition to show support for completion of the Metropolitan Branch Trail beyond Riggs Road NE into Takoma (Ward 4 route). DC’s Department of Transportation released a design-construction request for proposals for the Brookland to Fort Totten extension. DDOT has not selected a contractor for that portion just yet, but a selection could be made soon. The extension beyond Riggs Road though has been the subject of lots of meetings and compromise. ANC 4B’s Public Works and Infrastructure Committee held a public meeting on the proposed Ward 4 route on September 5, 2017. Details of that meeting are available here and here.

We wrote about the proposed Ward 4 route in this post. It will essentially be an enlarged sidewalk along Riggs Road, sharrows along 1st Street NE and contraflow bike lane on McDonald Place NE (compromise design), and then an enlarged sidewalk on Blair Road NW into Takoma. There is some disagreement about which street to branch off Blair into Takoma, but that is the gist of the route. ANC 4B Commissioner Tanya Topolewski (4B02) raised the possibility of having the route run along 3rd Street NW to provide access to the Takoma Recreation Center, but it is not clear at this point how many people support that option.

The National Park Service has shown new willingness to have the route run parallel to the metro tracks past Riggs Road. Therefore, some commissioners want to be sure that any resolution in support of the Ward 4 extension will have an assurance from DDOT that the agency will diligently pursue the option of having an off-road trail parallel to the tracks, since that is the option that mostly everyone believes is best. It is not clear when ANC 4B will take up a resolution on the extension, but if you are interested in showing support for the MBT’s completion before then, here’s a petition.