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!
<br><br>To me the key is the quote in the last line: <br><br><p style="margin-left: 40px;">"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."</p><font color="#888888"><br clear="all"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">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!
<br><br>Dwight<br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"></span><br></font><div class="gmail_quote"><font size="+2"><b>Darkened Part of Park Trail Near Metro to Get Lighting</b></font><br>Decision Comes After Years of Debate, Recent Robberies
<br><p><font size="-1"><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/06/AR2007120602792_pf.html" target="_blank">
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/06/AR2007120602792_pf.html</a><br></font></p><p><font size="-1">By Jackie Spinner<br>Washington Post Staff Writer<br>Friday, December 7, 2007; B05<br></font></p>
<p>After sunset, it's difficult to make out pedestrians or bicyclists who traverse a bridge on the Northwest Branch Trail in <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Prince+George%27s+County?tid=informline" target="_blank">
Prince George's County</a> and then disappear into the shadows.</p><p>That will soon change in response to years of complaints about public safety on the heavily used path. The <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Maryland-National+Capital+Park+and+Planning+Commission?tid=informline" target="_blank">
Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission</a>
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 <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Montgomery?tid=informline" target="_blank">Montgomery</a>, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Arlington?tid=informline" target="_blank">
Arlington</a> and <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Fairfax?tid=informline" target="_blank">Fairfax</a> counties, provide little or no lighting along park trails because they want them to be preserved mainly for recreation.
</p><p>"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."</p><p>The installation of lights on the Prince
George's path in coming months comes after lengthy discussions.
Officials from the County Council and from <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Hyattsville?tid=informline" target="_blank">Hyattsville</a>, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Brentwood?tid=informline" target="_blank">
Brentwood</a> and <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Mount+Rainier?tid=informline" target="_blank">Mount Rainier</a> have pushed for trail lighting and a greater police presence on a path many residents use.
</p><p>"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.</p><p>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.</p><p>"This is an exception," Gathers said, adding that
the commission does not intend to brighten the entire seven-mile trail,
which starts at the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Anacostia+River?tid=informline" target="_blank">Anacostia River</a> in Colmar Manor, crosses Queens Chapel Road near the Metro station and then continues north into
<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Montgomery+County+%28Maryland%29?tid=informline" target="_blank">Montgomery County</a>. There is limited lighting now on a small portion of the trail west of Queens Chapel Road.
</p><p>Elinete Rodrigues, 34, a Brazilian research fellow at the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Smithsonian+Institution?tid=informline" target="_blank">Smithsonian Institution</a>,
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.</p><p>"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."</p><p>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.</p><p>"We tried to explain to her it wasn't safe for her to be walking home at night," Christina Gebhard said.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>"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."</p><p>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.</p><p>"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."</p><p>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.</p><p>Scores of Montgomery commuters use the Capital Crescent, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Sligo+Creek?tid=informline" target="_blank">
Sligo Creek
</a>
and Rock Creek trails on a daily basis. But none of the paths is
lighted after dark, county parks spokeswoman Kelli Holsendolph said.</p><p>The same is true in Fairfax. "It's a matter of cost," Fairfax parks spokeswoman <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Judy+Pedersen?tid=informline" target="_blank">
Judy Pedersen</a> said. "But it's also a matter of maintenance. We don't want to encourage people to be on those trails after dark."</p><p>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.</p><p>"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."</p><font color="#888888"><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>"A budget is a moral document." --Jim Wallis <br>"Don't tell me what you value, show me your budget, and I'll tell you what you value." --Sen. Joe Biden
<br>Riverdale Park Community Wiki<br><a href="http://rpwiki.wetpaint.com/" target="_blank">http://rpwiki.wetpaint.com/</a>
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