‘The ball was dropped’: Community frustrated after Baltimore City loses funding for Greenway Trail

By Tommie Clark

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    BALTIMORE (WBAL) — Baltimore City missed out on more than $1 million in funding for a project that would have helped build out the Greenway Trail.

Four years ago, the state awarded a grant to build out the Greenway Trail. The money went unspent, and now it is being taken away.

Bikemore said there is no excuse for losing those funds.

The money would have helped fill a gap in the trail network from Canton Waterfront Park up to Herring Run Park and eventually to Druid Hill Park.

“We’ve lost a critical resource essentially for the city, and if we don’t get it back, we really do not have a path forward,” said Jed Weeks, executive director of Bikemore.

Weeks is among many baffled by Baltimore’s lack of action to build out the Greenway Trail.

The city received $1.5 million from the state to be put toward purchasing a 1.5-mile railroad and constructing the trail in its place. That money wasn’t spent, so the state is taking the grant back.

“We were assured we wouldn’t lose this money,” Weeks said. “We flagged it multiple times. And so, I don’t understand how the ball was dropped.”

The southeast Baltimore spot, including an abandoned bridge over Eastern Avenue, is among several miles of gaps in Baltimore’s Greenway Trail.

The trail is ultimately envisioned as a 35-mile loop connecting the entire city. 11 News asked Mayor Brandon Scott what’s going on with the trail funding on Friday.

“The Greenway Trail is going to continue to be a priority for us, and what the administration is going to do is everything we can to make sure that the Greenway Trail is built,” Scott said. “We understand how we need to be a city that thinks about connectivity, and any and everybody knows that’s a priority for me.”

Weeks said, because of the city’s slip, another $1 million dollars is in jeopardy.

“We could try to ask for the money back, but unfortunately, that money was also the cash match for an additional $1.3 million federal grant, which is now in danger of being lost as well,” Weeks said. “So, potentially, if we lose all of that money, we would lose the acquisition funding for this critical portion of the Greenway.”

City Council President Zeke Cohen said the city administrator will now reassign and reprioritize the Greenway Trail.

In a statement, Rails to Trails Conservancy said:

“As for what comes next, we’re really encouraged by the volume of people across the city who’ve been motivated by the news to work more closely together to keep something like this from happening again. “Because further development of the Baltimore Greenway Trails Network is important to so many, and, as it was said, is an easy win for the city, we are encouraged there will be more collaboration with city leadership moving forward, especially as we explore potential new sources of funding.”

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