2.3 Mile Stretch Provides Vital Link to Odenton Town Center

Annapolis (June 18, 2004) - Anne Arundel County Executive Janet S. Owens today announced the official opening of the first phase of the WB& A Trail Park located in Odenton.  Ms. Owens was joined by Councilman Bill Burlison and officials from Governor Ehrlich's staff, including representatives from the Maryland Department of Transportation, Transportation Enhancement Program.

"It's been quite a week for the Odenton community," said County Executive Janet S. Owens. "A week that magnified the partnership between Federal, State, and Local government and the citizens of Odenton.  This partnership has resulted in the completion of key elements of the Odenton Town Center plan. I thank our State officials for approving a significant amount of Federal Transportation Enhancement Funds for the WB&A Trail and the recently finished gateway we celebrated earlier in the week. To those that have spent many hours of their own time working on the Odenton Town Center Plan, the Odenton Small Area Plan and the Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan, I thank you."

This 2.3 mile section of trail between Strawberry Lake Way and Odenton Road was constructed by Urban N Zinc.  Work began in the Fall of 2003.

The WB & A Trail originates at the intersection of Piney Orchard Parkway and Odenton Road, from which a marked bicycle route extends approximately four blocks to the MARC commuter rail station.  From Odenton Road, the trail runs south, utilizing the right of way of the former Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Railroad, a high speed interurban electric railway which was built in the first decade of the twentieth century and abandoned in 1935.  At Old Waugh Chapel Road, the trail goes through a short tunnel.  Most of the trail right of way is quite rural, bordered with mature forests and wetlands.  This phase of the trail terminates at Strawberry Lake Way, approximately 3/8 mile north of the Little Patuxent River.  The next planned phase, extending from Strawberry Lake Way to Conway Road, is currently in the design phase and  will be under construction in approximately one year. 

To the south, the WB&A trail connects to the Odenton Road Hiker/Biker Trail which opened in August, 2003 and terminates at the Odenton Town Center round-about gateway whose opening was celebrated on Wednesday, June 16.  In addition to giving people greater access to the Odenton Town Center, it will provide alternative access to the West County Area Library  which is scheduled to open in November. Today's celebration marked the completion of yet another feature of the Odenton Town Center, the Small Area plan and the Greenways Master Plan.
 
In addition, the WB & A Trail is a component of two national trail systems, the Maine-to-Florida East Coast Greenway and the Delaware-to-California American Discovery Trail.  These two trail systems join on the B & A Trail in Arnold, Maryland and share a common route into Washington, D.C., where they divide for their respective destinations.  

The cost of the Capital Improvement Project totaled $1.2 million.  The Maryland Department of Transportation, Transportation Enhancement Program funded approximately $600,000, or roughly half of the cost.