Baltimore will spend more than $2 million to extend the Jones Falls Trail by another 3.1 miles from the Cylburn Arboretum to the Mount Washington Light Rail stop under an agreement approved Wednesday by the city's spending panel.
The Board of Estimates agreed to accept the federal money from the state Department of Transportation for the next phase of the $6.6 million bicycle and pedestrian trail, which is planned for a 10-mile stretch beginning at the Inner Harbor and running north along the Jones Falls stream valley.
Construction on the latest phase of the trail is expected to begin in September after the city receives final plan approval from the State Highway Administration and settles right of way issues, said Gwendolyn A. Chambers, a spokeswoman for the city Recreation and Parks Department. Completing the phase should take 18 months, she said.
The next portion of the trail will include a bike and pedestrian bridge over Northern Parkway and two 40-foot long timber bridges over streams and wetlands.
When finished, the trail will connect 20 neighborhoods with the harbor, Druid Hill Park and Lake Roland in Baltimore County, according to Maryland Greenways Commission. The first portion of the trail from Penn Station to Wyman Park Drive opened in 2005. The trail continues through Druid Hill Park along the reservoir loop to Clipper Mill at Woodberry, for a total of 4.25 miles.
The trail is one of nearly 400 open space properties — including parks, golf courses and traffic islands — in the city that collectively make up some 5,700 acres.
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