This morning, District of Columbia Mayor Adrian Fenty and DDOT Director Gabe Klein joined neighborhood residents, area cyclists and long-time trail advocates for the ribbon cutting of a key missing link in the Metropolitan Branch Trail. A photo set from RTC features images of today's event.

Residents of Edgewood, Eckington, Brookland and much of Northeast D.C. now have a seamless route to Union Station and downtown that bypasses busy arteries including Rhode Island, New York and Florida avenues. While this ribbon cutting was twenty years in the making, today is only the beginning of the fun for area residents. May is National Bike Month and this month the trail will host commute convoys, walking tours, and neighborhood bike rides culminating in Meet the Met, a grand opening celebration on National Trails Day, June 5. To keep on top of all the happenings, sign up for Met Branch Trail e-mail updates.

The process of completing this  trail took a few twists and turns over its many years. In February, we were lucky enough to be joined by DDOT trail planner Heather Deutsch (in photo, with Mayor Fenty) at Urban Pathways to Livable Communities, a conference hosted by RTC to bring together professionals working on the challenging issues that surround trails in urban neighborhoods. Heather presented a short history of the trail and the hurdles it faced during construction. A video of her presentation is below: