Trolley Trail Day – Building Community Connection
The second annual Trolley Trail Day in 2023 Was a Smashing Success! 1,500 people, over 50 locally owned businesses, 8 hubs of activity. Learn more about why this is an important, effective event that connects the Route One community in many ways.
The Rhode Island Avenue Trolley Trail is a 3.8-mile-long trail that directly connects College Park, Riverdale and Hyattsville. The Trolley Trail connects commercial centers and neighborhoods, two Metro stations, three Commuter Rail stations, two future light rail stops and provides trail access to the University of Maryland. It also serves as a link between at least four other trails within the Anacostia Tributary Trails network. It is a vestige of the Route 82 streetcar line that ran along this route from DC to Laurel from 1902-1948, and now serves as a highly utilized trail for bicyclists, runners and pedestrians of the Route One community.
As the Trolley Trail continues to expand, hosting events and activities along the Trail, like Trolley Trail Day, becomes critical for economic development, community connection and provides tools to sustain the momentum for improved trail management and safety initiatives.
Background: The Making of Trolley Trail Day
In 2017, the College Park City-University Partnership applied for and received a Department of Justice Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) grant to complete a safety analysis of the Trolley Trail. This was critical since the Baltimore Avenue corridor was experiencing a positive transformation.
The Riverdale Park Station development was being completed and, with over $1 billion of redevelopment and the addition of thousands more housing units, hundreds of thousands more square feet of commercial space, and a growing number of visitors, we knew more people would be using the trail. We wanted to encourage greater walking and cycling and ensure that this trail – which serves as the main north/south route for pedestrians and cyclists – would be a model of safety from the outset once Riverdale Park Station was complete. If the trail was not perceived as safe, our work to create a walkable/bikeable community would be set back.
The CPTED study provided several recommendations from lighting adjustments and signage to improvements such as trail access at certain intersections. Events on the Trail or about the Trail were also suggested to ensure more people would use it, know about it, and direct people to it. So, the Partnership, working together with the Anacostia Trails Heritage Area and the Hyattsville Community Development Corporation, decided to create an event to celebrate the Trail.
Gearing Up: The Future of Trolley Trail Day
Trolley Trail Day 2023 was a timely event as the trail is being extended in Hyattsville from Farragut Street to Charles Armentrout Drive by the State Highway Administration, further connecting the trail to the Northwest Branch Trail and the regional trail network. The event grew with an expanded map, people were able to visit hubs of activity from Hyattsville to Hollywood or Hollywood to Hyattsville all day long – as covered by several local media outlets. There was a full range of things to do for all ages, including live local music, kid activities, arts, history, exercise and wellness, specials on food and beverages, and much more!
The hubs of activity included Hollywood Shopping Center, Berwyn Business District, Lakeland Community Park and James Adams Park, the Discovery District Hub Stop, Old Parish House, a Porchfest Party along the Trail, the Village Green in Riverdale Park Station, Riverdale Park Town Center and the Spot Park in Hyattsville.
Thousands engaged with Trolley Trail Day on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and via our website. And because of this engagement, the DC area has more awareness of the positive transformation of the Route One Corridor.
Trolley Trail Day is a fun way to remind us that trails are wonderful assets for communities. It is critical to have uniform management as much as possible for these places. It is imperative for entities across the Trolley Trail work together to continue building awareness, initiatives, and efforts to further connect and maintain the trail.
This popular event is scheduled to be held again on June 8, 2024, and organizers are excited to see how it continues to grow and evolve.