The City of Greenbelt is proceeding toward final approval and construction of the long-delayed pedestrian/bicycle trail from the Greenbelt Station community to the Greenbelt Metro station. This follows recent agreement between the city, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA, Metro) and the Maryland Department of Transportation that it is time to proceed with the trail. The project was on hold while awaiting selection of Greenbelt by the General Services Administration (GSA) for the FBI headquarters (HQ) relocation, which occurred in November 2023. The agreement is based on FBI occupancy not being expected until at least 2036. Greenbelt Director of Planning and Community Development Terri Hruby estimated trail construction will begin in summer 2025 and take 18 months. She said the parties agreed to adjust the northern end as needed upon Metro property reconfiguration amid construction of the FBI HQ and the associated mixed-use commercial development.
Design
Hruby said the 0.8-mile-long trail will be on Metro property to the north and Greenbelt Station property to the south. It will consist of pavement built on an existing gravel bed to the north, and a wooden boardwalk and bridge over wetlands and Narragansett Creek to the south. The design includes lights and call boxes, as well as security cameras connected to WMATA security and communications systems. The trail will enter the south end of Metro parking lots at a pedestrian crossing of the road carrying cars from the Beltway. The crossing will have a pedestrian/biker-activated beacon to stop traffic, similar to that on Crescent Road near Northway, and traffic calming devices.
Schedule
Completed so far, said Hruby, are: an agreement detailing city and WMATA responsibilities; Greenbelt Station HOA and Pepco easements; county stormwater, soil conservation and construction permits; environmental and wetland reviews by the Maryland Department of the Environment and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; and Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) review. The State Highway Administration (SHA) reviewed the city’s 60 percent engineering plan and the city completed a 90 percent engineering plan for the construction of the trail. The federal wetland reviews are conditions of a federal Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant administered by SHA.
Hruby said her department is now finishing addressing SHA’s 60 percent review comments. She expects to spend fall-winter 2024-2025 obtaining SHA/TAP and WMATA approvals of the engineering and contractor procurement plans, perform contractor selection in spring 2025 and begin construction in summer 2025.
Cost and Funding
The Greenbelt Station developer Woodlawn committed $517,000, which has been almost fully spent on the development of the 90 percent engineering plan, after which the city is responsible for funding the construction of the trail. Hruby estimated a $3 million construction cost. Funding sources include the $1.5 million TAP grant; $1 million from Greenbelt West developer contributions to the city’s Greenbelt West Infrastructure Fund; and other grants of $400,000. She expects to add to that $2.9 million with additional grants, saying the project is well liked by grant programs for connecting residential development to multimodal transit. (The Metro station includes Metrorail, Metrobus and MARC trains between D.C. and Baltimore.)
Hruby said the city will fund electricity for the lights, cameras and traffic beacon and will maintain them and the trail, including repairs, snow and ice removal and vegetation management, as on other city trails. She said the trail, bridge and boardwalk are designed to accommodate authorized vehicles so that small Public Works and emergency vehicles will be able to enter from either end of the trail, with most city vehicles entering from the Greenbelt Station community. Larger vehicles, such as fire engines, would enter the paved trail from the Metro station pedestrian crossing and return there from a turnaround in the trail.
Metro Station Access
Woodlawn planned and advertised a trail to Greenbelt Metro since before Greenbelt Station’s 2013 incorporation. When interagency coordination delayed the trail, Woodlawn funded a Metro shuttle until approximately 2017. Prince George’s County TheBus route 15X now travels from the community to Metro.
Greenbelt Station Parkway extends from Greenbelt Road to the community’s north end. M-NCPPC’s Greenbelt Metro Area and MD 193 Corridor Sector Plan cites plans to extend the road to Metro, as does GSA’s FBI HQ Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Greenbelt.
A full Beltway interchange at the Metro station in both directions is included in GSA and Maryland planning for the FBI site. The current Beltway ramps are only from and to the west. Maryland’s FY24-29 Consolidated Transportation Program budget contains $264 million through FY27 to design and build the interchange. When contacted by the News Review for planning and schedule information, SHA said it is “in the early stages of design/engineering for the [interchange].” About the parkway, they said they are still finalizing “the scope of improvements that will complement the relocated FBI headquarters.”
City Councilmember and Greenbelt Station resident Danielle McKinney wrote, “We are excited about the prospect of this project finally moving forward. The trail, the completion of the nearby Purple Line and access to green spaces were key selling points for many residents, including myself, when we purchased our homes in Greenbelt Station. Having direct access to public transit helps reduce our carbon footprint and creates an affordable option to get to work and other activities in and around the DMV. We are grateful to the city staff for continuing to advocate for the trail on behalf of the residents with WMATA, MDOT and other partners.”