November 19,1999

M-NCPPC REQUESTS FUNDING FOR HENSON CREEK AND POTOMAC TRAILS
The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) is requesting $490,000 for the Henson Creek Trail, $200,000 for the Potomac Heritage Trail, and $400,000 for general trail renovation in the six-year Capital Improvement Program (CIP) that has been sent to the County Executive and County Council.

For Henson Creek, $240,000 is to become available on July 1, 2000, with another $250,000 to be released the following year. The Trails Coalition is strongly urging that some of the money be used to conduct enough design work so that an application for federal matching funds can be submitted in October 2000.  If this deadline is missed, M-NCPPC cannot apply again until the following year.  Since completion of the Henson Creek Trail is the County's top parkland trail priority, an expedited schedule for design work should be fully warranted.  We are disappointed that more funding is not provided in the CIP for the trail after FY02, so we will continue pushing for that.

The proposed funding for the Potomac Heritage Trail is a new item in the CIP that has been strongly supported by the Trails Coalition.  It would provide $100,000 in FY03 (starting July 1, 1992) and another $100,000 in FY04 for the high-priority shoreline trail segment between National Harbor and Fort Foote.  Although M-NCPPC owns a shoreline easement there, it is extremely important that this segment be constructed before neighboring houses are completed.  Of course, we strongly believe that the trail will prove beneficial to all  adjoining neighborhoods, but we also know that it is very difficult to construct a trail once houses are already in place.  Access to the National Harbor property continues to be an obstacle to this trail segment, because the easement dead-ends at the property line.  We are trying to arrange a meeting with the developers to work out an acceptable bike route within National Harbor (probably not along the shore) that would link to the proposed shoreliine trail segment outside the development.  If access can be guaranteed, the Trails Coalition will push hard to speed up the funding for this project.

The Trails Coalition also strongly supports funding for the countwide Trail Renovation Fund, for which $100,000 was provided in the current fiscal year (FY00).  The M-NCPPC proposal would provide another $100,000 per year from FY01-04.  Some of this funding has already been used to repave portions of the Henson Creek Trail.

The budget request submitted by M-NCPPC will now be considered by the County Council and County Executive.  As we did last year, the Trails Coalition will try to set up meetings with Council Members Ike Gourdine and Jim Estepp to make sure they are aware of the proposed trail funding in our area and give it their continued full support.  We will also need to appear at the Council's budget hearings next April.

POTOMAC HERITAGE TRAIL ROUTES CONSIDERED 
The Potomac Heritage Trail Subcommittee of the Countywide Bicycle and Trails Advisory Group (BTAG) met with M-NCPPC staff November 19 to discuss potential routes for the long-planned Potomac trail.  In general, the trail would follow the Potomac shoreline in Prince George's County as closely as possible from the District border to the Charles County line.  It would be part of a congressionally designated trail system that would follow the Potomac River from the mountains to the Chesapeake Bay.

The subcommittee was fortunate to have a 1987 M-NCPPC study as a starting point, and attempted to apply the proposed routes and alternatives identified at that time to detailed, up-to-date maps generated by the planning staff's new computerized geographic information system.  Major routing issues identified during the exercise included trail access through National Harbor (as noted above), potential routes through the Broad Creek Historic District, access to Fort Washington Park and the Colonial Farm (which charge entrance fees), and the availability of easements through private land.  It appears feasible to build the vast majority of the trail as a dedicated, off-road trail through parkland and easements.  Initially, however, the trail will probably be routed mostly on existing streets and roadways, which are to be identified at future subcommittee meetings.

INVITATION FROM SENATOR SARBANES ON FORT WASHINGTON AND FORT FOOTE
Senator Paul Sarbanes has invited all members of the Southern Prince George's Trails Coalition to tour Fort Washington and Fort Foote parks with him and National Park Service Director Bob Stanton.   The Senator's invitation says, "The purpose of this visit is to discuss and explore opportunities to upgrade the image of the two parks, improve the quality of the park facilities, and preserve the natural and cultural resources in the parks."  The approximately one-hour tour will start at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, November 30, at the Fort Washington Park visitor center.  This will be an excellent opportunity to discuss bicycle access to the parks, and the important role that the parks will play in the planned Potomac Heritage Trail.

TRAIL CONSTRUCTION UNDERWAY AT BRINKLEY ROAD
Anyone who has crossed the Henson Creek Trail at Brinkley Road recently (or vice versa) probably has noticed that construction is now fully underway on the long-planned trail realignment.  The new segment, being built by Metro as part of a wetland mitigation project, will bring the southern side of the trail into line with the northern side and eliminate the need for trail users to go along a busy quarter-mile stretch of Brinkley Road.  According to Metro, the realigned trail will be completed by next summer.

November 19, 1999
Mark Holt