MNCPPC study recommends bridge at Old Calvert Road site; county planners suggest near-term road improvements

County park planners told the College Park City Council on Oct. 7 that a feasibility study funded by a state bond shows a pedestrian-and-bike bridge across the Northeast Branch is constructible but faces substantial permitting, floodplain and environmental-review hurdles.

Sonya Ewing, division chief for Park Planning and Environmental Stewardship at the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (MNCPPC), and Bob Patton, program manager, presented findings from a consultant study that examined four locations: (1) a bridge near Old Calvert Road access across the stream, (2) a bridge closer to the airport runway, (3) a crossing south of the Campus Drive bridge, and (4) a Campus Drive bridge reconfiguration/maintenance approach.

Patton told councilmembers that site 1 (Old Calvert alignment) rated best for long-term usability but would require compensatory flood storage, more environmental work and multi-agency permits. Site 2 posed unacceptable flood risk because a low bridge there would be vulnerable to repeated flooding and debris damage. Site 4 (modifying the Campus Drive bridge and improving the road corridor) offers a faster, lower-cost, lower-permit-risk way to improve pedestrian and bike access in the near term because it uses existing road structure and thus avoids some floodplain-permitting complexity.

MNCPPC said $2 million had been programmed for a bridge, but the figure did not include design consultants, permitting, floodplain work or soft costs. Commissioners recommended the county capital team begin further engineering work on the Old Calvert alignment while MNCPPC and city and university partners pursue complementary road-calming and sidewalk improvements along Old Calvert Road and Campus Drive to provide near-term safer connections.

Council members pressed for clarity on how a bridge would connect cyclists from the Metro area to the park and said they wanted the city kept in the loop about Campus Drive and DPW&T (county roads) plans. Councilmember Ray Ranker and others urged the county to coordinate a holistic approach so that incremental changes do not produce disconnected bike lanes or sidewalk segments.

MNCPPC said it would take the council irection and expected to coordinate funding requests and design-phase work with its capital program. Councilmembers expressed support for advancing the Old Calvert alignment (site 1) as the long-term solution while asking staff to pursue near-term safety and access improvements.