Project Overview

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The Shepherd Branch Trail is a proposed 3-mile long, shared-use path that will extend from the intersection of Firth Sterling Road SE and South Capitol Street SE to E Street SE.  The trail would connect the South Capitol Street Trail (currently in the design phase) to the Greenway neighborhood in Anacostia.

 

The trail will be built on the inactive Shepherd Branch rail corridor that extends from the CSX Benning Yard to Blue Plains.  The corridor is adjacent to I-295 and South Capitol Street SE , passing through the Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling (JBAB) and Blue Plains property.  The District of Columbia has been negotiating with CSX to acquire the rail corridor for fifteen years, with plans to use the property for the Streetcar Project and/or a shared-use path.  DDOT completed initial Title Reports and Property Appraisals for the entire rail corridor and is currently conducting additional survey work to update those reports for parcels associated with the Shepherd Branch Trail.  Environmental permitting and preliminary design work for the project will follow completion of survey tasks.

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KEY DESIGN ELEMENTS

• Three mile long, shared-use path

• Improve the area’s non-motorized transportation infrastructure for local residents and provide a new commuting option for employees working at JBAB and the developing St. Elizabeths West Campus

• Provide connections to other trails in the District, Maryland, and Virginia