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PROJECT UNDER
CONSTRUCTION:
Capital Trails
Coalition regional
network
LOCATION:
Montgomery and
Prince George’s
counties,
Maryland;
Washington,
D.C.; City of
Alexandria,
Arlington and
Fairfax counties,
Virginia
LENGTH:
400+
miles (estimated)
PHOTO (LEFT):
When complete,
the 28-mile
Anacostia
River Trail will
connect 16
D.C. waterfront
neighborhoods
to workplaces,
schools, shops,
cultural sites
and parks.
With hundreds of miles of trails on
the ground in the Washington, D.C.
region, some people may wonder
why trail developers are ramping up
efforts in the nation’s capital. But
that’s exactly what’s happening as
more than 40 trail and transporta-
tion groups work together to create
an equitably distributed world-class
trail network.
Led by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
(RTC), the Washington Area Bicyclist
Association (WABA) and the Na-
tional Park Service Rivers, Trails, and
Conservation Assistance Program
(RTCA), and supported by REI, the
Capital Trails Coalition is seeking
to transform public life by providing
healthy, low-stress access to open
space and reliable transportation for
people of all ages and abilities.
While the area has a variety of
well-maintained trails—used by
tens of millions of people each
year—many are disconnected, hav-
ing been built to different standards
by multiple jurisdictions, and with
different funding streams. “The
result is trail systems that function
in their own right but are discon-
nected from other regional trails,”
said Tamara Evans, advocacy direc-
tor for WABA.
According to Greg Billing, ex-
ecutive director of WABA, the early
disconnect in planning also means
that cross-sector cooperation—at
all levels—is crucial now to project
success. “The region is incredibly
complex,” Billing explained. “It com-
prises two states, a federal district,
multiple counties and numerous
cities. Accomplishing a major
project like this one will require an
intense focus on regional coordina-
tion and collaboration.”
While the coalition’s public launch—
attended by local officials including
Rep. Don Beyer Jr. (D-Va.-08)—was
held on Oct. 13, 2016, along D.C.’s
Mount Vernon Trail, the group has
been in various stages of planning
over the past year.
Core spines of the network will in-
clude popular rail-trails such as the 11-
mile Capital Crescent Trail, which con-
nects Georgetown in D.C. to Bethesda,
Maryland; and the 45-mile Washington
and Old Dominion Railroad Regional
Park trail to the west, which runs from
urban Arlington to Purcellville in Vir-
ginia. They also include greenways like
the 18-mile Mount Vernon Trail, which
follows the George Washington Me-
morial Parkway from Alexandria south
to George Washington’s residence at
Mount Vernon.
One of the first major trails to open
is the Kenilworth section of the Ana-
Washington, DC’s Capital Trails Coalition
America’s capital seeks to connect region’s trails into a world-class system.
BY KATIE HARRIS
E M E R G I N G R A I L - T R A I L S
4
RAILS TO TRAILS WINTER 2017