From Casey Anderson, chair of the Montgomery County Planning Board and vice chair of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, on Facebook:
“I am thrilled to announce that thanks to the efforts of our delegation to the Maryland General Assembly we will be receiving more than $12 million for Montgomery Parks projects. Thank you for the support from our legislators!
The biggest single project is a paved hiker-biker trail in Pepco’s powerline corridor. We have built a dirt trail suitable for trail running and mountain biking from the Soccerplex in South Germantown to the Muddy Branch. This funding will help pay for a new paved trail that can be used by walkers, road cyclists, scooters, roller blades, baby carriages, or pretty much any other non-motorized conveyance you would like to ride or roll. The paved trail will eventually run all the way from the Soccerplex to Cabin John Regional Park in Bethesda for a total of 13 miles.
We also will be getting:
• Almost $1 million in additional funds to acquire land for parks
• A separate additional allocation of $550,000 to acquire land for the Willett Branch Greenway in Westbard community
• A $225,000 grant to install lighting at the athletic fields at Damascus Recreational Park
• Upgrades worth $150,000 to South Germantown Recreational Park, including additional parking at the bike skills area and ADA enhancements
• A $150,000 bridge replacement and renovation of a paved trail connector from Randolph Hills Local Park to Rock Creek Trail
• An additional $150,000 in funding for better equipment and ADA improvements to playgrounds
• A $100,000 renovation of the hard surface trail from Narin Road to the dog park access road at Wheaton
Regional Park
• A $100,000 contribution toward replacement of the Long Branch Trail bridge near Domer Avenue
The improvements funded with this money will improve the quality of our parks system – and the quality of life for the people we serve – for many years to come, and we deeply appreciate the support of our elected leaders in getting this assistance from the state!”
