Metropolitan Branch Trail, Washington, DC

 One of the last projects I was involved with in DC was building consensus within the neighborhood to create an extension of the Metropolitan Branch Trail between Fort Totten Metrorail Station and Takoma, in part by using the right of way on Blair Road, but also removing a lane of road.  

A bicyclist on a Lime Electric Bicycle, Metropolitan Branch Trail/Blair Road, Washington, DC

This was very controversial.  The road was too wide relative to its traffic capacity, which was constrained a few blocks up, by going from four lanes to three lanes to two lanes.  The amount of throughput is "regulated" by the queuing capacity of the two lane sections and traffic signals.

The trail incorporates hash green crossings where the roadway intersects with the trail 

It's also along the elevated Metropolitan Branch railroad tracks, which contain both the Red Line east leg Metrorail and on either sides, tracks of the Chessie System railroad (formerly Baltimore and Ohio), which are also used some by Amtrak for service to Pittsburgh.

Person walking dog, bicycle sharing station

The elevated section made the roadway like a race track and cars drove much faster than the posted speed limit, this was abetted by one side being industrial, but the other residential.

We positioned this as a road safety issue.  There were a bunch of crashes but not too many accidents--but a few--resulting in death.  One such crash resulted in a couple deaths after the process of getting neighborhood approval but before the safety and trail improvements were implemented.

Interstitial spaces are used to park electric bicycles and scooters

It was pretty amazing to be able to walk this trail and recognize how much work I and others put into making it happen--our process alone was at least eight months, and of course the long term design and then engineering and construction took many person months.  I wasn't able to check the section by Fort Totten (next time) which shifted the trail from on street including a tough hill.

I saw children from a day care, a runner, a woman walking her dog, cyclists, scooter riders, people pushing baby carriages, etc. on the Trail.

But I did see people on it.  More on the weekend, compared to the Tuesday when I took these photos.

One of the things that shocked me is that they actually did a form of what I recommended maybe 15 years ago, about how to report problems on the Trail.

I suggested something a little different, that they sign it as if it were a road, e.g., the 800 block of Metropolitan Branch Trail.

They didn't do that, but they put up mile markers, it seems maybe every 0.2 miles, which state use the mile marker when calling 911.

At least in this section they didn't put in much in the way of benches or amenities, maybe because they are afraid of encouraging homeless camping.

While sections have trees, they need more.  And like how I suggest adding amenities icons to signage ("May is National Bicycle Month | More on the concept of adding services icons to bicycle route wayfinding signage") they really should do this.  A bunch of bus stops had no shade, and it gets brutal in the summer heat.

And make arrangements with businesses like the 7-11 at the corner to provide a water bottle filler, and/or access to restrooms (there aren't really such places).

Street crossing to the trail, Metropolitan Branch Trail/Blair Road, Washington, DC

It would be nice if like how I wrote about doing "after action analysis" ("Things I learn going to events by closely observing and analyzing them"), they would do this for the trail.  There are opportunities for public art and other amenities.  Very few trash cans, although not too much trash.  

This wide side section would be great for a small playground or picnic area.

But some sections had a lot of leaf mold buildup and I couldn't help but think how the city could leverage National Trails Day ("National Trails Day: Saturday June 6th") to do such community cleanups on the trail, or to do adopt a block programs, like they do for the city streets.

Because the street is so much narrower now, pedestrian crossings from the Trail to the neighborhood aren't "insane."

They do have bicycle sharing stations at certain points on the trail, at least at Kansas Avenue NW.

I was skeptical of this concept, with the retaining wall to protect bicyclists from traffic but it works well, and exactly as it was rendered years ago.

Lack of programming to me is the biggest failure of planning bicycling for transportation ("Revisiting assistance programs to get people biking: 26 programs").  There's a lot of opportunity to do this with trails, because they are used by so many different types of users.

Interestingly this bicycle route sign wasn't updated with information on the Metropolitan Branch Trail, which it crosses, Washington, DC.

That's what I mean about the need for "after action analysis."