Trail Ranger Tuesdays: ART Update
This entry is part of a weekly series following WABA’s Trail Rangers. The D.C. Trail Ranger Program is giving some needed attention to D.C.’s off-street paved trails and the people who use them with daily patrols, maintenance, and outreach. Each week, you’ll find updates on goings on and improvements on the Met Branch, Anacostia Riverwalk, Marvin Gaye and Suitland Parkway trails.
Between the delightful weather and some much-needed rain, it has been another busy week for the Trial Rangers. The cooler mornings have brought out joggers and bikers eager to put in a few miles on the Met Branch and Anacostia Riverwalk trails. In addition to the regular bike commuters, plenty of new faces joined the morning rush downtown from points north and southeast. We are glad to see so many enjoying skipping the road traffic on the MBT or enjoying the morning sun along the river on the Anacostia Riverwalk.
The rain, while welcome, brought new obstacles, and we’ve been hard at work tackling them. In addition to our time scouring the trails—we’ve covered more than 200 miles since our last update—we helped five folks overcome bike troubles to get back on the trail and helped another four figure out where they were going. We spent a combined 12 hours on clearing out vegetation, sweeping up glass, and removing trash (about 90 gallons’ worth). Now, after a concentrated effort, the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail is nearly unobstructed by low hanging limbs, slippery trail surfaces like gravel and debris, and encroaching plants that narrow the trail and break up pavement. Trail users can look forward to holding their heads high and simply taking in the sights.
Those who ride the trail often have already seen our handiwork. For the rest, here’s a glimpse…
Anacostia Riverwalk Trail near RFK Stadium
Anacostia Riverwalk Trail under the Sousa Bridge (Pennsylvania Avenue)
Anacostia Riverwalk Trail west of East Capitol Street Bridge
If you haven’t seen us around, we assure you, we’ve been busy. To see where we’ve been spending out time, you can follow us on Strava and find more progress photos on Flickr.