Metropolitan Branch Trail. Montgomery County, Maryland.

The Metropolitan Branch Trail is part of a larger recreational trail system that enables non-motorized travel around the Washington region. The overall goal is to create a bicycle beltway that links Union Station and the Mall in Washington to Silver Spring, Takoma Park, Bethesda and Georgetown.

The 0.62 mile long project will extend along the CSXT Railroad corridor from the planned Silver Spring Transit Center to the Montgomery College Campus in Takoma Park. The trail will be approximately 10-ft. in width with locations of 8-ft. and 12-ft. depending on constraints and anticipated level of use. WRA is currently taking the project to contract advertisement, along with the development of MOU parameters with the major stakeholders to garner approvals. In addition to the development of plans (including civil, structural, traffic control, and E&S control), project responsibilities include background research; adjacent project coordination; agency coordination including, but not limited to, M-NCPPC, MHT, MPI, Montgomery County Historic Preservation Commission, DPS, WMATA, CSXT, MDSHA, and Montgomery College; surveys; wetland and forest stand delineations; geotechnical investigations; property mosaics, ROW impacts; environmental, utility, constructability, and structural impacts; preliminary hydrologic and hydraulic analyses; SWM; traffic control (pedestrian, bicycle, and vehicular); and parking analyses.

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Services Performed

Project Highlights

Pedestrian/Bicycle

The trail is a 10-foot wide, off-road, shared use facility through an urban environment, serving bicyclists, joggers, and in-line skaters. The trail is ADA accessible and ties in some historic sites including the existing B&O Railroad Station.

Structural

The project entails approximately 900 LF of retaining walls with heights ranging from 4-ft. to 23-ft. The trail will then enter into a pedestrian underpass beneath Burlington Avenue, constructed using top down techniques, that will be approximately 70’ long with an inside width of 12 ft.

Traffic

Project responsibilities included pedestrian, bicycle, vehicular, and parking analyses background research, as well as preliminary right-of-way impacts.

Water Resources

WRA performed preliminary hydrologic and hydraulic analyses.

Environmental

WRA conducted natural resource services including wetland delineations, permitting and regulatory coordination.