The Foundry Branch trestle stood over Glover-Archbold Park for 120 years before anyone fenced off the ground under it. It has now been fenced for ten. For most of those ten years, nobody could say whether the fence would come down for a restored bridge, a new trail across the top, or no bridge at all. This summer that question got answered. When the trail reopens is now set by a written list of steps, and the last step comes with a deadline.
For anyone who walks into the park from the Wesley Heights side, this changes what counts as news. The southern end reopens after the Park Service issues WMATA a permit and a fixed process runs its course.
Ten Years Behind A Fence
The trestle is a 280-foot bridge built in 1896. It carried the Glen Echo Line, with streetcars running from Georgetown past Glen Echo Park in Montgomery County until 1960, WTOP reported in July. It sits at the southern end of Glover-Archbold, over the Foundry Branch valley, and you can see it from Canal Road near the Foxhall Road split.
WMATA's ownership came about in an odd way. The agreement governing the bridge's removal explains that D.C. Transit stopped running on the trestle in 1960. In 1997, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ordered the bridge and the land under it transferred to WMATA. The case grew out of D.C. Transit's bus fare overcharges, and the transfer was meant only for sale to fund public buses. So a streetcar bridge ended up with the transit agency because of a bus-fare lawsuit, and it stayed there.
The fence went up in stages. WMATA's 2014 engineering study found the structure unsound. The Park Service learned of those findings in 2016, closed the area under the trestle right away, and then let WMATA fence it off. According to WTOP, the trail was cordoned off once debris started falling from the bridge.
The gap matters more than its length suggests. The Park Service describes the Glover-Archbold trail as a nearly 2.5-mile dirt path running from Van Ness Street down to Canal Road. The Georgetowner calls the trail the only non-motorized route between Georgetown University and MedStar Georgetown University Hospital and the Palisades. A walker heading south from the Wesley Heights edge is using the long middle of that route, and the fence closes off its last stretch.
What July Actually Settled
On July 15, 2026, the National Park Service released the final Memorandum of Agreement for removing the trestle. The release says studies since 2014 looked at whether the bridge could be adapted, including as a recreational trail. It also says the bridge "remains in an extreme state of disrepair and poses a safety hazard."
The same release quotes Rock Creek Park Superintendent Brian Joyner: "removing the bridge is the only responsible path forward to protect visitors."
July settled the question of what happens to the bridge. For years the open question was whether it could be kept, and that is now closed. The agreement is the record of the Park Service's compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. It documents how demolition will affect the park's historic resources and what mitigation is required.
July did not settle a start date. The Georgetowner reported that the agreement had been made public but was still waiting to be finalized, and that neither the Park Service nor WMATA had announced when demolition would begin. The copy on the Park Service planning site still has blank signature lines. The project page's latest update, dated July 17, 2026, says documents were posted. It does not mention a permit or crews arriving.
The Sequence Between The Fence And The Footpath
The agreement spells out the order of the remaining steps, and that order is more useful than any guessed date. As written, the remaining steps are:
- The agreement is finalized. The Park Service says it will issue the permit once this happens.
- A 30-day review of the landscape restoration plan. WMATA's proposed plan for replanting the site gets a 30-day review before the permit can be issued.
- The Park Service issues WMATA a Special Use Permit. The permit lets WMATA use federal parkland temporarily for staging equipment and materials and for reaching the site. It also covers temporary access routes, vegetation removal, and landscape work after demolition.
- Demolition and removal of the trestle.
- Restoration and trail reopening, within six months. WMATA has to finish the initial landscape work, including reopening the trail, within six months after all demolition work is complete.
Only one deadline appears in that list, and it starts at the end. Nothing in the published material sets a date for steps one through four. Once demolition is done, the agreement allows half a year at most before the trail is supposed to be walkable again.
The most recent public sources are The Georgetowner's July 20 report, which said no demolition start date had been announced, and the project page's July 17 update, which doesn't mention a permit. So for a Wesley Heights walker, the permit is the news to watch for. When it's issued, the remaining steps are demolition and a capped restoration period.
What Stays When The Bridge Goes
Removing the bridge doesn't wipe the site clean. The agreement lists the mitigation that comes with demolition, and some of it will stay visible after the steel and timber are gone.
| Element | What the agreement provides |
|---|---|
| Concrete trestle footers | Preserved in place as "tangible evidence of the former location" |
| Interpretive signage | Installed along Canal Road NW, accessible to all visitors |
| Historic property documentation | Completed as part of mitigation |
| Site landscape | Cleared of materials and replanted with native vegetation |
| Glover-Archbold trail under the bridge | Reestablished and reopened |
WTOP reported that the signs will describe the trestle's history and architecture and its role in the Washington and Great Falls Electric Railway Company's operations. The agreement itself says the work will let the park "continue to function as a critical greenway that extends from upper Northwest Washington, D.C., to the Potomac River."
After reopening, walkers coming down from the north will pass the footers and then reach a sign about a bridge that is no longer there.
Using The Park From The Wesley Heights Side Until Then
Most of the park is open, and the Wesley Heights edge has several ways in. A long-running birding guide to the park lists access at 44th Street south of Greenwich Parkway, at 44th Street and Reservoir Road, and at 44th and Dexter Street. Farther along it lists Garfield Street near New Mexico Avenue and Massachusetts Avenue near Macomb Street. These are edge entry points onto the park's trail network. None of them is a separately signed neighborhood trail.
The Park Service describes the trails as foot-traffic only. They are rugged, narrow, and unpaved, and major streets cut across the park, so walkers have to take care at the crossings.
The Park Service's 10-mile multi-park loop, updated in March 2026, brings the Whitehaven Trail in from Wisconsin Avenue and turns onto the main Glover-Archbold trail just before Foundry Branch stream. From the south end, the described route follows a short sidewalk along Canal Road and then a trail and tunnel under the road to the C&O Canal towpath. For the trestle section, the page tells hikers to follow the detours in place. It doesn't name a specific detour route. The signs on the ground are the best guide for now.
There's one thing that's easy to misread on a map. The Palisades Trolley Trail corridor ends at Foxhall Road, and a 2019 DDOT feasibility study puts the fenced trestle about 400 feet east of that end. Foxhall Road and MacArthur Boulevard are a separate point on that corridor, not a way around the closed section.
The other change on this side of the park is in the woods themselves. Rock Creek Conservancy reports clearing invasive plants from about six acres near Hoban Street, the creek, and Reservoir Road, with native planting planned for early 2027. That puts restoration work near the 44th and Reservoir entry, so the stretch closest to Wesley Heights is also due for new plantings.
For a weekend walk this month, the Palisades Community Association lists its year-round, growers-only Palisades Farmers Market at 48th Place NW and MacArthur Boulevard, with Sunday markets on October 18 and 25. The same association lists Paltoberfest for the same Sunday, October 18, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., with a German band, food, drinks, children's activities, and free entry. The event page gives two street numbers on Sherier Place, 5738 and 5378, so check with the organizer before you go.
Project documents for the trestle are posted on the Park Service planning page at parkplanning.nps.gov/foundrybranchbridge.
Park-edge projects like this one tend to come up when people talk about homes along Glover-Archbold. If you'd like to talk through how the park and its upcoming changes fit into your plans, District Property Group is glad to help. Let's connect to discuss your real estate goals.
