Metropolitan Branch Trail Upgrade

In April 2022, MWCOG awarded the City a grant to start the process to upgrade the Metropolitan Branch Trail (MBT) to meet current standards for safe, comfortable, and connected bikeways. The $60,000 grant will fund technical assistance for preliminary designs work on the trail. Possible improvements could include resurfacing and widening the trail, adding lighting for evening riding, creating new pedestrian crossings to nearby parks and community institutions, and more!

Current Project Status

Through a bidding process, MWCOG selected the engineering and design firm, RK&K as the project consultant. The project formally kicked off in late September, and the consultant team conducted a preliminary site walk-through with City staff in October. Currently, the team is surveying the route and inventorying the existing conditions, including the physical layout, vegetation, stormwater dynamics, and other features of the trail.

About the Metropolitan Branch Trail

Commonly referred to as the “Met Branch Trail”,  the partially completed trail uses rail right-of-way to create a multi-use pedestrian and bicycle path. When complete, the Metropolitan Branch Trail will be an 8.5-mile multi-use trail from Union Station in the District of Columbia to Maryland’s Silver Spring transit hub.

The City of Takoma Park is responsible for the care and maintenance of 0.45 miles of the MBT, running along Takoma Ave and Albany Ave, between DC and Silver Spring. In 2003, this half-mile stretch became one of the first alignments of the MBT. Today, the trail looks similar to how it did nearly two decades ago, but time has revealed the design to be inadequate and the condition of the trail to be deteriorating.

Learn more about the District Dept. of Transportation’s efforts to continue the MBT to the south: https://metbranchtrail.com/met-branch-trail-fort-totten-to-takoma/

Learn more about Montgomery County Dept. or Transportation’s efforts to continue the MBT to the north: https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/dot-dte/projects/metropolitan/index.html

Project Lead

Alex Freedman
Acting Planning & Development Manager
Phone: 301-891-7119
Email: alexanderf@takomaparkmd.gov

Quicklinks

• Planning and Community Development
• Takoma Park Demographics Interactive Map
• Takoma Park Social Vulnerability Map
• Bikeways Program
• Bus Stop Improvements
• Maple Avenue Connectivity Project
• Metropolitan Branch Trail Upgrade
• Minor Master Plan Amendment
• New Ave Bikeway
• Public Space Management Plan
• Safe Routes to School
• We Belong Here: The Takoma Park Equity Walk

Project Timeline

• April 2022
  MWCOG Technical Assistance Grant Awarded for Preliminary (30%) Design for Section A
• May – September 2022
  Project Contractor Selection Process
• September 2022
  Project Kick-off
• Fall -Winter  2023
  Site Analysis and Community Engagement Process
• December 10, 2022
  Community route walk and ride for preliminary input
• March 2, 2023
  Virtual Community Meeting to Review Initial Concept Designs
• Spring 2023
  Draft designs shared with City Council and public for feedback
• May 2023
  City Council Vote on updated draft designs