[RP TownTalk] 350 feet of lights for the Northwest Trail near W Hyattsville Metro/Queens Chapel

[Dwight Holmes]

It was announced that Parks & Planning is given in and agreed to light the
NW Branch Trail from Queens Chapel east for a grand total of 350', to a
large apartment complex (from which there is a lot of pedestrian traffic to
the Metro).  This is good news for everyone who uses the NW Branch trail for
commuting purposes after (or before) dark (as I know quite a few
Riverdalians do).  A good first step.  But why stop there?  If we want to
get people out of their cars, we have to show 'em the light!

To me the key is the quote in the last line:

"If those trails weren't put there for commuters to use, they shouldn't have
been put there or they should be safe to use," she said. "It boggles my
mind. We're telling people to take the bus or to walk but then to take their
lives into their own hands. You can replace a light. You cannot replace a
life."

A lot of people have fought for years to accomplish this first step.  I hope
we can learn from this an preclude having such a problem on our Trolley
Trail -- may there be lights (along with a operating and maintenance budget
and clarity of jurisdiction) on the Trolley Trail from its inception!

Dwight

*Darkened Part of Park Trail Near Metro to Get Lighting*
Decision Comes After Years of Debate, Recent Robberies

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/06/AR2007120602792_pf.html

By Jackie Spinner
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 7, 2007; B05

After sunset, it's difficult to make out pedestrians or bicyclists who
traverse a bridge on the Northwest Branch Trail in Prince George's
County<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Prince+George%27s+County?tid=informline>and
then disappear into the shadows.

That will soon change in response to years of complaints about public safety
on the heavily used path. The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning
Commission<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Maryland-National+Capital+Park+and+Planning+Commission?tid=informline>is
preparing to illuminate a small portion of the trail near the West
Hyattsville Metro station, an action that underscores what has become a
regional issue as more commuters rely on such paths to get to work or
school. Many jurisdictions, including
Montgomery<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Montgomery?tid=informline>,
Arlington<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Arlington?tid=informline>and
Fairfax<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Fairfax?tid=informline>counties,
provide little or no lighting along park trails because they want
them to be preserved mainly for recreation.

"The trail lighting is always an issue," said Eric Gilliland, executive
director of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association. "It's a problem no
matter where you go."

The installation of lights on the Prince George's path in coming months
comes after lengthy discussions. Officials from the County Council and from
Hyattsville<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Hyattsville?tid=informline>,
Brentwood<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Brentwood?tid=informline>and
Mount
Rainier<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Mount+Rainier?tid=informline>have
pushed for trail lighting and a greater police presence on a path many
residents use.

"We thought the fact that we had the Metro station next to the trail was
significant enough to merit the lighting," Prince George's council member
Will Campos (D-Hyattsville) said.

Ronnie Gathers, county director of parks and recreation, disclosed the
decision in a recent interview. The commission will pay $100,000 to install
lights on a 350-foot section of the trail from the Metro station to the
Queenstown Apartments in Mount Rainier, a project expected to be completed
in about a year.

"This is an exception," Gathers said, adding that the commission does not
intend to brighten the entire seven-mile trail, which starts at the Anacostia
River<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Anacostia+River?tid=informline>in
Colmar Manor, crosses Queens Chapel Road near the Metro station and
then
continues north into Montgomery
County<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Montgomery+County+%28Maryland%29?tid=informline>.
There is limited lighting now on a small portion of the trail west of Queens
Chapel Road.

Elinete Rodrigues, 34, a Brazilian research fellow at the Smithsonian
Institution<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Smithsonian+Institution?tid=informline>,
said she was walking on the trail to her host family's home in Brentwood
about 6 p.m. on Nov. 16 when she was robbed of her backpack at gunpoint. She
said she lost a computer, her passport, plane tickets home and other items.

"I was just walking like I did every day," Rodrigues, who was unhurt, said
through a Portuguese translator. "The guy took my backpack and put a gun to
my neck. I asked him for my passport, but the guy didn't care and just
walked away. I started screaming for my passport, and the guy just came back
and asked me for more money."

Her hosts, Christina Gebhard and Brian Schmidt, museum specialists for the
scientific bird collection at the Smithsonian, said they had warned
Rodrigues not to use the path after dark. The two ride their bicycles on it,
but always together.

"We tried to explain to her it wasn't safe for her to be walking home at
night," Christina Gebhard said.

On stretches of the trail near the Metro, six people have been robbed this
year, the Park and Planning Commission said. Five robberies occurred during
afternoon and evening, and one at 4 a.m. In 2006, there were eight
robberies, all in the afternoon and evenings, and in 2005, there were eight
in the afternoon or evenings and one at 9:30 a.m. Four arrests have been
made in the attacks since 2005.

Latricia M. Good, a spokeswoman for the Park and Planning Commission, said
park police assigned more officers to the path after a rash of robberies in
2004.

Hyattsville Mayor William F. Gardiner said the city has fought for trail
lighting for years, without success. Several years ago, Hyattsville received
a $70,000 state grant to install lighting on portions of the trail. Gardiner
said the Park and Planning Commission refused to accept responsibility for
maintaining the lighting, so the grant went unused because the city could
not afford the upkeep.

"We needed to convince the commission to change their policy," he said. "The
commuters who use the trails in our area are not just people on $1,000
bicycles. These are people who can't afford cars."

Richard Layman, a Brentwood resident who bikes to work in the Brookland
neighborhood of the District, said he avoids the park trails and rides on
streets that have no designated bicycle lanes. They can be hazardous, too.

"But I'd rather be around people on the street," Layman said. "I don't use
the path because I'd be more likely to use it at night, and it doesn't make
sense from a public safety point."

None of the park paths in the Washington suburbs is designated as an
official commuter trail, said officials who oversee trails, even though they
acknowledge that bicyclists and pedestrians use them for that purpose. Most
are unlighted, unless they lead to a recreation center or another park
facility. Even then, the lighting generally is limited to the grounds where
a pedestrian or biker might be headed.

Scores of Montgomery commuters use the Capital Crescent, Sligo Creek
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Sligo+Creek?tid=informline>and
Rock Creek trails on a daily basis. But none of the paths is lighted
after dark, county parks spokeswoman Kelli Holsendolph said.

The same is true in Fairfax. "It's a matter of cost," Fairfax parks
spokeswoman Judy
Pedersen<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Judy+Pedersen?tid=informline>said.
"But it's also a matter of maintenance. We don't want to encourage
people to be on those trails after dark."

Brentwood Mayor Bettyjean Schmiedigen said commuters are getting mixed
messages. They are urged to use public transportation or bicycles, she said,
but they are not given adequate protection along trails.

"If those trails weren't put there for commuters to use, they shouldn't have
been put there or they should be safe to use," she said. "It boggles my
mind. We're telling people to take the bus or to walk but then to take their
lives into their own hands. You can replace a light. You cannot replace a
life."


-- 
"A budget is a moral document." --Jim Wallis
"Don't tell me what you value, show me your budget, and I'll tell you what
you value." --Sen. Joe Biden
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