North Baltimore's Chinquapin Run Park to get walking/biking trail

A plan is underway to build a 1.8-mile walking/biking trail in north Baltimore's Chinquapin Run Park, in hopes of revitalizing the 76-acre linear park.

BUILD (Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development) community group has secured a $270,000 grant that will go toward designing the multipurpose trail.

The group - along with Rails to Trails Conservancy and NECO (Northeast Community Organization) - is holding a celebration and press conference at the park's basketball courts Monday afternoon.

The grant is from the France-Merrick Foundation, Kentfields Foundation, Lockhart Vaughan Foundation, and several private donors.

The park runs roughly from Walker Avenue in the Towson area, south through the Northwood area, where it connects to Herring Run Park.

The new trail would "provide a crucial pedestrian and bicycling connection between Morgan State University, Lake Montebello and Herring Run Park, as well as connections to northeast Baltimore neighborhoods."

After the preliminary design, the project's managers will seek state/federal funding for the final design and construction.

The larger goal is to connect the area to the Baltimore Greenway Trails Network.