Eckington slice of Metropolitan Branch Trail to reopen this week

After about two and a half months of detours around the construction site for a new park in Eckington, the stretch of the Metropolitan Branch Trail (MBT) between Randolph Place NE and Q Street NE is set to reopen this week. The busy multiuse trail will feature a softer turn at R Street NE than before, while a new access point is currently being built at Q Street NE.

“The temporary MBT detour along Harry Thomas Way NE, 3rd Street NE, and Randolph Street NE will be removed once the MBT is reopened,” the NoMa Business Improvement District (BID) explains in a recent newsletter. “The temporary pedestrian walkway on Harry Thomas Way NE adjacent to the park, however, will remain until the sidewalk on that street is rebuilt, around the time the park is ready to be opened in early 2020.” The BID, through its arm the NoMa Parks Foundation, is shepherding the new 2.5-acre Alethia Tanner Park.

The foundation seeks to bring more green space to NoMa, once an industrial neighborhood and now one of the District’s fastest-growing areas. Separate lane closures remain in effect along the Metropolitan Branch Trail—between Florida Avenue NE and Franklin Street NE—to accommodate streetlight updates until January. The trail runs north from Union Station.

NoMa Parks Foundation/Forrester Construction