(5/21) Frederick County has long had a goal of connecting Frederick City and Frederick County with the Frederick and Pennsylvania Line Railroad Trail. The trail has been in the discussion phase for years and has finally made its way to the Burgess and Commissioners to discuss complications that have arisen in the design phase of the Walkersville portion of the trail.
Patrick Muldowney, Project Manager with the Frederick County Department of Engineering and Construction Management, and Matt Sichel, Senior Project Engineer at KCI Technologies, explained the Project at April's Council meeting. "I want to stress that this is our initial conversation to gather input and hopefully collaborate and come up with a starting point with design," said Muldowney.
The first phase will consist of the trail origination in downtown Frederick, at the North Frederick Park and Ride at Christopher’s Crossing, and continue to Fountain Run Park. Phases two and three will begin at Fountain Run Park and continue to Heritage Farm Park. Muldowney said they have $360,000 in grant money from the Kim Lamphier Bikeways Network Program for the design portion of these phases, although they do not have any plans drawn up yet. "It's fairly simple as the trail follows the MTA (Maryland Transportation Authority) right of way, when we get to Walkersville there are a number of challenges," he stated.
Traditionally, the rail trail would follow along the railroad right of way owned by the MTA and leased to the Walkersville Southern Railroad. However, because of the active operation of the Southern Railroad in Walkersville and the smaller constraints of the Biggs Ford Road crossing, it is not possible to follow the railroad through Walkersville.
The train tracks have a right of way of approximately 66 feet for its entirety and the tracks themselves are on the east side of this right of way due to the original plan of Pennsylvania Railroad to build a second track which was never completed. The six foot wide (and in some places up to ten), unlit, paved rail trail is proposed to be on the western side of the right of way, about ten feet from the tracks.
There will be bollards at every road crossing to prevent ATVs and larger vehicles from gaining access to the trail. Fencing between the tracks and the trail is being considered for safety reasons as well. Commissioner Bob Yoder pointed out the need for extensive excavation in order to get the railroad and the rail trail at the same elevation which is how the rest of the trail is. Sichel compared the future trail to the Northern Central Rail Trail through Baltimore County and the Western Maryland Rail Trail in Washington County.
Along with the design funding, $4.8 million dollars was awarded in 2022 for the trail construction phases from the Maryland Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP). TAP is a federally funded program administered by the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) supporting public transportation access, pedestrian and bicycle facilities, environmental projects and community improvements.
The County received a grant for $9.4 million for their portions of the rail trail, which Sichel clarified that the vastly larger amount of funding was, in part, due to the two pedestrian bridges needed to continue the line over the Monocacy River and Tuscarora Creek that will have to be built.
The owners of Lonza, a medical manufacturing company in Town, are "very interested in working out a way to be a part of the project" according to Sichel. He presented a rough sketch of the prospective trail, with it following the railroad tracks until south of the bowling alley, cutting through the Town’s newly acquired property next door to the bowling alley, crossing Biggs Ford Road and turning onto property owned by Lonza where it will follow behind property being purchased by the railroad until able to rejoin the railroad south of Main Street.
As for who will be responsible for maintaining the Walkersville portion of the trail, it is unknown at this time, said Muldowney. This concerned the Commissioners as well as residents present at the meeting. Commissioner Chris Ragen said, "We have a direct footpath or bike path out of Frederick into some stretches that are heavily wooded and one area that runs literally adjacent to our elementary and high schools." John Merando said, "At the last planning meeting there was a lot of concern about teenagers going around with the trains causing trouble." He encouraged the designers to think about these safety issues in the design phase and not wait until it's an active problem.
Commissioners also voiced concern over the close proximity to the Winterbrook and Glade Village residences. After Glade Road, the rail trail will be essentially "two feet into their back yards," said Ragen. Muldowney pointed out that this portion is part of the fourth phase and is many years away.
With so much yet to decide for the trail, the Commissioners suggested the Planning Commission get involved as soon as possible. Muldowney did say that, per the grant funding requirements, all construction must be completed by 2029.
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