Matthew Henson State Park

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Matthew Henson State Park
Matthew Henson Trail-18.jpg
Boardwalk section of Matthew Henson Trail
USA Maryland relief location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location in Maryland
Location Montgomery County, Maryland, United States
Nearest town Aspen Hill, Maryland
Coordinates 39°04′40″N77°03′53″W / 39.07778°N 77.06472°W / 39.07778; -77.06472 Coordinates: 39°04′40″N77°03′53″W / 39.07778°N 77.06472°W / 39.07778; -77.06472
Area100 acres (40 ha) [1]
Established1989
AdministratorMontgomery County Department of Parks
Website Matthew Henson Trail

Matthew Henson State Park is a publicly owned greenway with recreational features that runs along Turkey Branch, a tributary of Rock Creek, in Montgomery County, Maryland. [2] The state park is managed by Montgomery County under an agreement with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. [3] It was named for Maryland native and arctic explorer Matthew Henson. [4]

Contents

Matthew Henson Trail, an 8-foot-wide (2.4 m) hard surface hiking/biking trail, was completed through the park in 2009. [4] The trail runs 4.5 miles (7.2 km) from the Rock Creek Hiker-Biker Trail near Aspen Hill northeast to Alderton Road near Layhill. The trail features 0.6 miles (0.97 km) of wooden boardwalk through environmentally sensitive areas. [5]

History

Purchased by the state in the 1950s, [6] the land was originally called the Rockville Facility, which would have connected to Montrose Parkway [5] as a spur to the proposed Washington Outer Beltway. [4] In response to residents' calls to the preserve the stream valley corridor, the state legislature designated 83 acres of the land as a state park and 117 acres as a county park in 1989. [7] [8] The state land is owned by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and the county land is owned by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC). [7]

Planning for the Matthew Henson Trail began in 2001. After many public meetings and environmental studies, the trail's preliminary plan was approved by the Montgomery County Planning Board in 2003. [7] Funding was put forth in 2006. [9] The Montgomery County Department of Transportation paid for the design and construction, but the M-NCPPC managed the project. [7] Opened May 9, 2009, [4] the project cost $5.7 million. [7] The trail connects with the Rock Creek Hiker-Biker Trail at Winding Creek Local Park on Dewey Road and continues northeast to Alderton Road. [10] [11] The trail includes ten-foot-wide boardwalks to protect the most sensitive areas and solar-powered emergency cellular phones. The trail's design and construction were nominated for a Planning & Design Award as part of the 2010 National Trails Awards. [7]

Since opening, the Veirs Mill Road crossing has been redesigned several times for safety. Some time shortly after opening the crosswalk was painted. Then, after a cyclist was killed using the crossing in 2015, the state added a yellow, flashing light and signs alerting drivers. When a second cyclist was killed 6 months later, the state switched to a HAWK beacon. [12] Then in 2020, they upgraded again, replacing the button-activated flashing pedestrian signal with a full color traffic signal equipped with both a call button and sensors that alert drivers to slow down. They also upgraded to a "continental" crosswalk that is more visible to motorists, replaced the zig-zag crossing with a straight-line crossing in the median and installed “passive detection” — a system in which sensors detect pedestrians and bicyclists standing in the flat landing area and activate the pedestrian signal. [13]

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References

  1. ↑ "DNR Lands Acreage" (PDF). Maryland Department of Natural Resources. p. 8. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  2. ↑ "Montgomery County Parks". Rock Creek Conservancy. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Montgomery County". Maryland Atlas of Greenways, Water Trails, and Green Infrastructure. Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Archived from the original on February 8, 2007. Retrieved June 24, 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Brachfeld, Melissa J. (May 6, 2009). "Matthew Henson hiker-biker trail to open Saturday". The Gazette. Gaithersburg, Md. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
  5. 1 2 Bathen, Effie (January 8, 2003). "Matthew Henson trail construction takes political turn". The Gazette. Gaithersburg, Md. Retrieved June 1, 2013.
  6. ↑ Townsend, Eric J.S. (March 4, 2003). "Bike trail proposal detoured by senate delegation". Capital News Service. Maryland Newsline. Archived from the original on September 12, 2006. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Design and Construction of the Matthew Henson State Park". American Trails. Retrieved June 1, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Code of Maryland, Courts and Judicial Proceedings Sec. 5-10004". General Assembly of Maryland. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  9. ↑ "Matthew Henson Trail: No. 500400" (PDF). Montgomery County. May 18, 2006. Retrieved June 1, 2013.
  10. ↑ "Matthew Henson Trail". Montgomery County Parks. August 24, 2016. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  11. ↑ "Matthew Henson Trail" (PDF). M-NCPPC. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
  12. ↑ "Red lights going up at 2 Md. pedestrian crossings" . Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  13. ↑ "MDOT SHA ADDS PEDESTRIAN FEATURES ALONG MATTHEW HENSON TRAIL AT MD 586 (VEIRS MILL ROAD) IN ROCKVILLE" . Retrieved 3 August 2021.
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