In April of 2011, the culvert for Soapstone Creek collapsed, closing Broad Branch Road. DDOT (District Department of Transportation) worked on a temporary bridge, which opened in June to one lane traffic. Hope percolated with the possibility that Broad Branch Road could be rebuilt to accommodate walkers and cyclists, as well as cars.
DDOT had scoping meetings, which laid out possible options for all three modes of transportation and got input from the community that summer. Then the culvert was repaired, two lanes of traffic again became the norm, and we all wondered if that was the end of the possibilities. Silence prevailed until last week.
I was walking on Soapstone trail, one of my regular routes through the neighborhood, and saw a fellow in a DDOT work vest coming toward me. I stopped to chat, and he told me that he was surveying the trail for a rehabilitation project. He further informed me that DDOT is hosting a community meeting about Broad Branch Road on November 8th, 6:30-8:30 p.m., at the Methodist Home. DDOT has been working on an environmental assessment of Broad Branch Road, and wants to report to the community on their progress.
The meeting notice is below. Click the image to see a larger version.
