This is our 24th Greenbelt East Trail Newsletter. If you're new to the project, our website for Friends of the Greenbelt East Trail is www.greenbeltnasatrail.org for background info.

Here's the latest news:

It's Finished! The final MDOT Feasibility Study for the NASA Sector is now available at this link. Note, we haven't read it yet, it's hot off the presses. If you have trouble accessing, please let me know. And please rather than commenting on the document (if that's even allowed), pls send us your comments at info@greenbeltnasatrail.org. We will be sending out our comments on the study in a week or so.
The video grab above was from particularly gratuitous hit and run/near miss on Greenbelt Road, right on the shoulder where we're trying to build the Greenbelt East Trail. Please scroll below for the video and discussion -- thankfully not a fatality this time.
UMD capstone project students did a speed study of Greenbelt Road just west of Cipriano Road, near the ghost bus stop (across from the Shell station). The average speed over the half hour that we recorded was 43mph; the lowest was 27mph, and the fastest two observations were 68mph and 70mph (see Graphic below)
Regardless of the speed limit, some drivers are going to speed because Greenbelt road is built like a highway. Other drivers are going to get impatient and weave and swerve and tailgate (sometimes murderously) when they see a road that looks like a highway but they can't go highway speeds.
We also have to acknowledge that there is no speed enforcement anywhere on Route 193 -- neither by camera nor by Prince George's PD nor the City of Greenbelt PD nor the Maryland State Police -- at least not on the Greenbelt East Trail sections.
The only way to reliably improve safety is to actually physically change the road itself, to make if feel more like a street where people traveling at slower speeds can peacefully coexist, instead not like a limited access highway where people walking or on bikes aren't allowed.
Our next call will be Friday May 10th, from 12pm to 1pm. We will discuss the NASA sector feasibility study, discuss our media and outreach strategy, and update on possible grant funding opportunities. I'll send out the invite soon. Please reply to this email or send a note to info@greenbeltnasatrail.org if you don't get an invite to the May 10th call and would like to join.

Results from the First Occasional Student Speed Study -- Greenbelt Road Near NASA

Homicidal Driving is Common on Greenbelt Road: When I first saw this video from between the NASA entrances along Greenbelt Road, my thought was "that driver needs to be taken off the road." And it turns out they have over $3000 in speed camera fines in DC alone, so yeah. But those kinds of aggressive drivers are fairly common. Taking one off the road won't solve much long term.

Video Link: https://youtu.be/WPEDdWJ927M

Video Link: https://youtu.be/Vkqou5pbF5A

The Problem is the Road Itself: It a road looks like a highway, some drivers are going to treat it like a highway, regardless or the speed limit. Sure, speed enforcement would help -- there's none currently, either by camera or by police. But in the absence of enforcement, we desperately need engineering. We need vertical features like curbstops and flexposts or Quickcurb to start calming traffic on Greenbelt Road before more people are killed.

SHA District 3 Should Start These Steps Immediately:

Paint a Double White Stripe in Front of NASA. That would signal to drivers that something is in the works to protect the shoulder lane.
Start Installing Some Quickcurb or Placing Some Construction Barrels Now. College Park says their flexposts on Rhode Island Ave. cost $300 each, installed. Let's start with a humble investment of $9,000 for 300 flexposts or the equivalent expenditure for Quickcurb: 100 posts placed between Cipriano Road and the Greenbelt City Limit; 100 between the Goddard Road and ICESAT Road; and 100 between ICESAT Road and Good Luck Road. If we can't do spots of flexposts or Quickcurb this fiscal year, how about some temporary construction barrels?
Help Us Put Up a Sign: "Future Greenbelt East Trail." The sign could be near just after the bus stop westbound after Good Luck Road would be a great start. Friends of the Greenbelt East Trail could fund raise for this and make this a thing!

This actions would be a signal to drivers that the trail is in the works, and a sign of hope for non-motorists in the NASA corridor. We need to get the Greenbelt East Trail built BEFORE we have another casualty of highway-like design in a high-conflict area!

Prince George's County Is Planning to Use the Greenbelt East Trail as the Spine of a Broader Active Transport Network. More Info Here

Friends of the Greenbelt East Trail

Full Trail Resources:

Sector 2 (NASA) Resources:

Our community partners in this effort are the City of Greenbelt, WABA, ATHA, the East Coast Greenway, the Greenbelt Community Development Corp., and the Glenn Dale Citizens Association. Would your company or organization like to help the trail effort? Please use reply to this newsletter or email us at info@greenbeltnasatrail.org for more info. -Jeff

How Can You Help?

Please don't hesitate to reply to this email with info and corrections and ideas! Please forward this newsletter to your friends and encourage them to sign up for these emails too. We will need to reach out to more stakeholders and public officials whose help we will need to make www.GreenbeltNASATrail.org a reality! -Jeff