Hooray!! Another Rail Trail for Maryland

Whenever I get discouraged about how long the South Shore Trail has taken to reach even the engineering stage, I talk with someone like Beth Strommen, who reminds me that Baltimore's Gwynns Falls Trail was fourteen years in the making.    But this heartening story tops even that example of tenacity.

In Chesapeake Beach, just over the Anne Arundel County line, citizen activist, city council member and now Mayor Bruce Wahl has been working since 1989 -- that's right, twenty years -- to build an all purpose recreational trail on the abandoned rightaway of the railroad that connected the resort community with Washington DC many years ago.  He's had to deal with budget cuts, easements, environmental issues and myriad governments (including the feds, and we know how that can go) to bring this dream to fruition. 

This month, the Chesapeake Beach Railway Trail received its final approval and is going out to bid.  Construction will begin later this fall on the segment that connects several residential neighborhoods with downtown.

The rail trails of Maryland are among the most appealing in the country.  This winding path around the bayfront town will be a community enhancement, visitor attraction and one more recreation asset for our state. 

Congratulations to Mayor Wahl for seeing this part through.  Here's hoping his vision will extend to Anne Arundel County some day.