By Robert Oliver (Guest Contributor)

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton will visit our community during her “Norton in Your Neighborhood” tour of Washington, DC. She will visit the Lamond-Riggs Library on Tuesday, September 24, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. to hear from the community. Her meeting provides us with a chance to advocate for commencing work on a pedestrian path linking Galloway Street NE and Gallatin Street NE across National Park Service (NPS) land east of the Fort Totten metro station. 

Since the opening of the Fort Totten metro station in February 1978, informal pedestrian trails have appeared. These trails arose due to the lack of infrastructure promoting foot traffic. The trails have been trod for over 40 years. Over time, a paved trail was constructed west of the metro station. That trail is now being integrated into the Metropolitan Branch Trail (MBT). However, a safe, lit, paved path for North Michigan Park and for those communities east of the Metro Station has not materialized. 

Beginning in 2014, the NPS and others have been working to address our pedestrian path concerns. A timeline of their activities follows:

• March 7, 2014 – NPS issued a scoping notice for an environmental assessment of the social trails and adjacent parkland east of the metro station.
• March 19, 2014 – NPS hosted a community meeting at the UDC-CC Backus Campus. At that meeting, NPS explained the objectives of the scoping notice and offered the community four options to consider.
• January 2015 – NPS issued its Fort Totten – North Michigan Park Pedestrian Access Improvement Project Environmental Assessment report in which no environmental issues were found.
• February 2, 2015 – NPS hosted a community meeting at the Lamond-Riggs Library to brief the community on the environmental assessment report. 
• October 28, 2015 – NPS received approval of its Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) report in compliance with the Department of Interior’s National Historic Preservation Act (NEPA) guidelines. 
• July 12, 2018 – the National Capital Planning Commission approved the NPS proposed trail specifications that include “a permeable 10-foot wide trail to replace the existing 320 foot-long informal dirt trail from Galloway Street NE to Gallatin Street NE.” The trail will be composed of asphalt, feature two-foot wide, soil and aggregate shoulders, and feature six lights for illumination. The executive director of the NCPC approved the trail specifications on July 5, 2018.
• February 12, 2019 – Congresswoman Norton announced, “The District of Columbia and National Park Service (NPS) have the authority to enter into cooperative agreements (CMAs) to maintain and operate NPS properties in the District.”

There is more good news. Donald Kirk, NPS Facilities Manager, Rock Creek Park, reports that the path design is complete, funded, and will move forward into contracting by October. Therefore, construction may begin soon.

Despite all of the work accomplished, there is more to do. Other milestones include building a stormwater management system and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant ramps across the street from the path.

This is where Congresswoman Norton can be most helpful. She can initiate a cooperative agreement with NPS to ensure this project stays on track. So please come on September 24 and help advocate for the completion of a paved, pedestrian path east of the Fort Totten Metro Station that links Galloway Street NE and Gallatin Street NE. You may also email your concerns to Congresswoman Norton if you cannot make the meeting via this link: www.norton.house.gov/contact/email.