Rock Creek trail reconstruction takes a step forward

by Marlene Berlin

If pedestrian and bike paths are built on Broad Branch Road, they could connect us to an improved Rock Creek Park trail.

A ranger leads a family on a Rock Creek bike ride, September 1967. (photo provided by NPS)

This is the multi-use trail that runs from Broad Branch Road to P Street NW. The trail’s advocates have been pushing the National Park Service and DDOT to improve the trail for at least two decades.

The effort took a major step forward in 2011, when NPS and DDOT released a preliminary environmental assessment of the rehabilitation options, which include resurfacing the trail and widening it in some places. The public comment period closed in January 2012.

The next step was also a doozy. Its took nearly two and a-half years for DDOT to release the final environmental assessment, in June 2014. But it is a step in the right direction. Now NPS and DDOT can work out the final design, and construction can get under way.

The Washington Area Bicyclist Association says construction could begin on some sections as early as next year. WABA has also been documenting the deteriorating conditions on the trail.

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