On November 30, 2021, the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) presented the full design of the Fort Totten to Takoma segment of the Metropolitan Branch Trail (MBT). View the meeting materials on the project website at https://metbranchtrail.com/met-branch-trail-fort-totten-to-takoma. It is worth taking a look at the presentation if you care about the trail at all.

DDOT is accepting comments on the design of this trail segment until December 14, 2021. Submit comments to metbranchtrail@dc.gov.

Status of other segments of MBT & Other Nearby Trails

DDOT representatives briefly covered the status of other parts of the trail during the meeting. The Brookland to Fort Totten segment is on track to be completed by the end of this year (!). The project website for that segment is https://www.metbranchtrail-forttotten.com. The site includes lots of photos and information regarding that part of the trail.

DDOT will hold a virtual workshop presenting draft concept designs for the segment of the trail that will run from Blair Road to Piney Branch Road on December 7, 2021.

Construction of the trail segment along Eastern Avenue between Piney Branch Road and Baltimore Avenue was completed in June 2021.

In response to a question regarding a trail from Fort Totten to Avondale (this is the trail that is supposed to run along Gallatin Street NE to connect to the MBT), DDOT stated they do not have a status update about planning for that trail.

Interim measures for Fort Totten to Takoma Extension

A full traffic signal at 1st Street NE and Riggs Road NE is technically part of the Fort Totten to Takoma phase of the project. Recall though that DDOT expedited the installation of an interim traffic signal at that intersection. That work is currently underway, and DDOT expects the light to be operational by the end of this year. The interim signal will not include a bike signal. That will be added later.

There are still plans to conduct an environmental assessment of a potential realignment of the planned on-street portion of the trail in Manor Park along 1st Street NE and along McDonald Place NE offstreet closer to the tracks along National Park Service (NPS) land.

Fort Totten to Takoma Extension

A few residents aired grievances about overarching issues that DDOT is not going to change at this point of the project. DDOT rejected alternative locations of this trail segment along North Dakota Avenue NW and along 3rd Street NW. So despite grumblings from a couple of folks that Blair Road NW is not an optimal location for the trail given the amount of traffic and the amount of curb cuts along Blair, this part of the trail will run along Blair and DDOT is taking a number of steps to minimize conflicts as much as possible. See the design roll showing a number of proposed marked crossings and other features here.

A couple of residents chimed in to repeat concerns about the planned on-street portions of the trail, especially on 1st Street NE. One resident noted that DC Bilingual is currently undergoing plans to expand enrollment at the school. The resident thinks that there will be a lot more traffic along 1st Street that will not necessarily be mitigated by expedited installation of a traffic signal at 1st Street and Riggs Road.

Other than that, there was a lot of detail presented about the key intersections along Blair Road, including on impacts to parking. Northbound Blair Road will be reduced to one travel lane north of Peabody Street NW, which will be interesting. Also, DDOT stated more than once that they cannot close curb cuts as part of this project. To minimize conflicts, DDOT will install signage and markings along the trail. The median on Blair just north of Kansas will be extended so that drivers cannot turn left out of the 7-Eleven onto Blair. In response to a question about the bike lanes on Kansas Avenue approaching this portion of the planned trail from the east and west, DDOT stated they will look at filling in the gap.

Check out the presentation for details about each focus area of the trail.

Timeline

DDOT anticipates that construction on the Fort Totten to Takoma segment will start in summer/fall 2022 and will be completed in fall 2024.