The last time we heard about efforts to close the Rhode Island Avenue Trolley Trail gap in Hyattsville, we were told construction could start by Fall of 2020. Well, that’s been pushed back, city officials say. According to Hyattsville City Administrator Tracey Douglas, complications with the design have pushed construction back at least to December.
The project, undertaken by Maryland’s State Highway Administration, would close a 2,500-ish foot gap that separates the current southern terminus of the Trolley Trail from the Anacostia Trail System near Charles Armentrout Drive and Rhode Island Avenue. You can see the planning documents here.
As originally proposed, the 10-foot-wide trail would hug the eastern border of Rhode Island Avenue between Farragut Street and Charles Armentrout Drive. Near the intersection of Charles Armentrout, SHA officials plan to install a redesigned pedestrian and cyclist crosswalk regime and motor-vehicle light cycle designed to separate each mode of user from each other.
Designs for the project dating to 2019 planned to acquire property from CSX rail road to build portions of the trail connection. According to Douglas, “complications” acquiring land from CSX meant the project needed to be redesigned. Douglas said final revised designs are expected to be reviewed by the city in December 2020.