My name is Mark Holt, a resident of Fort Washington, and I am speaking this evening on behalf of the Southern Prince George’s Trails Coalition.  Our coalition, consisting of 10 community associations and other groups in the Fort Washington and Oxon Hill areas, was formed a year ago to promote the expansion and proper maintenance of the hiker-biker-equestrian trail system in Southern Prince George’s County. We now have twice the number of members we had at last year’s budget forum, which indicates the intensity of the pent-up demand for new trails in our area.

For more than 20 years, the trail system in our area has consisted of a five-mile segment of the Henson Creek Trail between Oxon Hill Road and Temple Hill Road.  We have been waiting patiently for more than 20 years for the Henson Creek Trail to be completed and connected to the rest of the Washington-area trail system.  Completion of the Henson Creek Trail and the construction of other interconnected trails planned for Southern Prince George’s County will open pedestrian and bicycle access to all the beautiful parks and recreational attractions in our area. The planned trail system will also encourage bicycle commuting to major employment centers in the County, as well as in D.C. and Virginia.  In short, we see trails as an extremely important and cost-effective enhancement in our area’s quality of life.

Therefore, the members of the Southern Prince George’s Trails Coalition are delighted that $490,000 for the Henson Creek Trail has been included in the Capital Improvement Program for fiscal years 2001 and 2002.  Completion of the entire Henson Creek Trail from Suitland Parkway to the Potomac River is the county’s number-one parkland trail priority identified by the Prince George’s County Bicycle and Trail Advisory Group, or BTAG.  We strongly urge that the $240,000 in the CIP for the trail in FY2001 be included in the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission FY2001 budget, so that work on this top-priority project can begin as soon as possible.

It is particularly important to quickly identify the segments of the Henson Creek Trail extension that will be constructed first, so that planning and design work can begin this year.  At least 30% of the design work on those initial new trail segments must be completed by fall of 2000 so that federal matching funds can be requested at that time.  Otherwise, the Park and Planning Commission will have to wait another year, until fall of 2001, to apply for the matching funds for completion of the Henson Creek Trail.  The Trails Coalition believes that is too long to wait for the County’s top-priority trail, which will form the backbone of the southern Prince George’s trail system.

We also urge that the funding pipeline not run dry after FY2002.  Additional funding should be included in the CIP for FY2003 through 2005 to complete all remaining segments of the Henson Creek Trail and begin work on other high-priority trails in Southern Prince George’s County.  The long-planned Potomac River Heritage Trail is an extremely important part of the trail system.  A crucial segment of this trail runs from Oxon Cove to Rosalie Island, providing a link to the planned bicycle and pedestrian crossing on the new Woodrow Wilson Bridge.  Another high priority segment runs north from Fort Foote along the Potomac shoreline, using an existing easement.  It is important that this easement be used before planned residential developments along the shoreline are constructed.  We also recommend funding for Potomac shoreline trail segments on National Park Service land along Piscataway Creek and through Piscataway National Park.

Maintenance of existing trails should also remain a high priority, and the Trails Coalition strongly supports the continuation of the Trail Renovation Fund that was established for FY2000.  A special BTAG subcommittee has recommended a number of priority projects for this funding.

Thank you for this opportunity to present our views.  For more details on proposed trails in Southern Prince George’s County, I have provided a copy of the latest Trails Coalition Fact Sheet.  We look forward to working with you and your excellent staff on these projects.