He has waited over 20 years to make the announcement. “Finally today we are able to dedicate the Chesapeake Beach Railway Trail,” declared Mayor Bruce Wahl.
The formal dedication of the pedestrian/biker friendly path was held Friday afternoon, Sept. 30 near Fishing Creek. Even the gloomy skies could not darken the spirits of the dedication attendees.
Wahl was a member of the Chesapeake Beach Town Council back in 1989 when he approached then-Mayor Gerald Donovan with the idea of converting the bed of the defunct Chesapeake Beach Railroad into a trail.
Donovan, who addressed the gathering, recalled telling Wahl he [Donovan] had a few other municipal projects he wanted to complete first.
“It took 22 years, 10 years on the back-burner,” said Wahl.
As Wahl Donovan recounted the 22-year trek to make the trail happen, it became clear why it took so long.
For one thing, the idea had to be sold—to the residents of nearby subdivisions, to property owners whose parcels were needed, to the funding entities, and, since the trail traverses an environmentally sensitive area, to the state and federal regulatory agencies.
Wahl and fellow councilmember Stewart Cumbo took the PowerPoint presentation on the project to area groups and subdivision property owners associations to garner support.
Funding-wise, in 2006 Maryland Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. [D-District 27] sponsored a $250,000 bond bill in the General Assembly. The bond had to be renewed two years later.
Donovan said when Miller got on board railway trail bandwagon, “it gave it credibility.”
Calvert County officials a portion of its Program Open Space funds allocated by the state to help pay for the project.
“What they’ve done here adds value to the whole county,” said County Commissioner Pat Nutter [R].
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