WASHINGTON – Bicyclists one day will be able to ride from Georgetown to College Park.
D.C., Maryland and federal lawmakers Monday unveiled what will be the final 4-mile stretch of 60 miles of trails in D.C. and Maryland.
The Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens Trail will extend the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail in Northeast.
Construction starts in 2013. When the $15 million trail along the Anacostia River is finished in 2014, it will connect with Bladensburg Waterfront Park in Prince George’s County.
U.S. Secretarty of Interior Ken Slazar says the new trail is about more than recreation.
“Whenever you revitalize a place like Anacostia, it means that jobs are being created,” Slazar says.
In total, D.C. is more than half way through building 20 miles of bike trails. Maryland already has about 40 miles of trails in place.
The unveiling of this segment comes just days after the National Park Service opened a restored stretch of the C&O Canal towpath that had been closed since 1996.
“We were able at long last to connect the C&O Trail all the way from the District all the way up to Cumberland. It’s now continuously connected,” said Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., at Monday’s D.C. event.
Here is what the Kenilworth segment will look like:
Anacostia Riverwalk Trail – Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens Segment Designs
WTOP’s Mark Segraves contributed to this report. Follow Mark and WTOP on Twitter.
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