Walk north from the Brookland-CUA Metro this week and the Metropolitan Branch Trail stops at a closure sign. Detour signs send people walking over to the west sidewalk of John McCormack Drive NE. People on bikes and scooters ride on the drive itself, and the parking lane along its east side is fenced off for construction staging.
The neighborhood's biggest weekend of the fall is a few days away, and it barely touches the closed section. The Brookland Halloween Parade moves along the 12th Street sidewalk. The family bike ride that ends at the parade's party is routed mostly onto low-stress side streets. The closure matters most for the ordinary daily trip north toward Fort Totten, and that trip should be back to normal in a couple of weeks.
What the Closure Changes, and for How Long
The District Department of Transportation announced the closure on October 2. The work zone runs from the Brookland-CUA Metro area north toward the Fort Totten Transfer Station. Work started Monday, October 5, and DDOT expects it to take about four weeks, through the first week of November 2026, weather permitting.
How the detour works depends on how you travel:
- On foot: use the sidewalk on the west side of John McCormack Drive NE.
- On a bike or scooter: ride on John McCormack Drive NE. If you use the sidewalk, DDOT asks you to slow down and yield to pedestrians.
- Driving or parking: the east-side parking lane on John McCormack Drive NE is closed while crews use it for staging.
DDOT says this section is one of the earlier parts of the MBT to be built, and the resurfacing is meant to restore the surface for a smoother, safer trip. "Weather permitting" is part of the schedule, so a rainy stretch could push the reopening back. If your weekday routine runs north along the rail line, plan on the detour into early November and check the signs after that.
The Weekend Was Already Planned Around the Trail
Two things show why Halloween weekend doesn't depend on the trail.
The first is the MBT Trail or Treat ride. This is its fourth year under the DC Trail Rangers, and in 2026 it's organized with Ward 5 Family Biking. WABA's event page says that because so many riders are expected, the route will "largely avoid the actual Met Branch Trail" and use parallel low-stress streets that can handle a larger group. Riders start at REI DC, stop at local businesses for candy and treats, and finish at the Brookland Halloween Party at Noyes Park. The ride is open to all ages. Anyone under 18 must be with an adult, and every rider needs a helmet.
The second is the parade. A DC event listing for the Brookland Halloween Parade carries the word "CANCELLED" in its title. The details below the title tell a narrower story: the request to close the street was cancelled, and the parade is "contained to sidewalks." The route still starts near 12th and Monroe Streets NE, heads south on 12th Street to Franklin Street NE and ends at Noyes Park. Friends of Noyes Park lists the 2026 parade and party as scheduled, with the parade going down the 12th Street sidewalk.
The parade has no closed street and the ride doesn't use the trail. Both run on the same sidewalks and side streets Brookland uses every day.
Saturday and Sunday, in Order
Here's how the weekend of October 24 and 25 lines up:
- Saturday, October 24, 2 to 4 p.m.: Dance Place hosts its Family Spooky Disco at 3225 8th St NE, with a live DJ, snacks, games and costumes. Tickets are sold through the venue's site.
- Sunday, October 25, Trail or Treat: riders meet at REI DC and head toward Brookland on side streets, stopping at businesses along the way. Sign up through WABA.
- Sunday, 1:30 p.m.: parade lineup at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church, 3400 12th Street NE.
- Sunday, 2 p.m.: the parade heads south on the 12th Street sidewalk, led by the Catholic University Pep Band, according to WABA's description of the event.
- Sunday afternoon: the party at Noyes Park, on Franklin Street between 10th and 12th Streets NE. Friends of Noyes Park lists bounce houses, face painting, balloon artists, STEM activities, arts and crafts, and snacks. The group's page gives party hours of 2 to 5 p.m., and WABA says children's activities run through 4:30. Arrive early if your kids want the bounce houses.
- After the party: Friends of Noyes Park is holding an after-party at Right Proper Taproom.
Halloween itself falls on the following Saturday. The night before, Friday, October 30, Dance Place holds a Cuban Dance Social in its Cafritz Foundation Theater from 7 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.
South of the Metro, Outside the Work Zone
DDOT's closure covers the stretch from the station north toward Fort Totten. To the south, the corridor runs past Rhode Island Avenue NE toward Eckington and NoMa, and the Monroe Street end of Brookland sits at the edge of the work zone.
These spots are right at the trail:
- Monroe Street Market's FRESHFARM market at 716 Monroe St NE runs Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. through December 26. Winter hours begin in January at 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- The Arts Walk at the same address has 27 artist studios beside the Brookland-CUA Metro stop.
- Right Proper at 716 Monroe St NE describes itself as directly off the MBT. It serves dinner daily, lunch on weekdays and brunch on weekends, and it has bike parking.
- Metrobar at 640 Rhode Island Ave NE says it's open year-round.
Monroe Street Market's July 2026 retail directory also lists Busboys and Poets, &pizza, Wardman Wines, Tropical Smoothie Café and Trader Joe's.
The trail also has a passport this year. The NoMa BID's 2026 Metropolitan Beer Trail runs from May 1 through December 31 and lists 14 bars and breweries along the corridor in Brookland, Eckington and NoMa. Metrobar is one of them. The listed stops are spread across Brookland, Eckington and NoMa, so the passport covers far more of the trail than the closed section north of the Metro. If you head all the way to the NoMa end, the BID has a temporary "NoMa in Color: Fence Banner Walk" along First Street NE and the stairs that climb from M Street NE up to the trail.
November on the Calendar
From the Halloween weekend through the trail's expected reopening and into late November, much of Brookland's calendar is on the Catholic University campus and at the Franciscan Monastery:
| Date | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Oct. 22 to 25 | The Addams Family, Rome School production | Catholic University |
| Nov. 2, noon | Stained Glass Tour | Franciscan Monastery |
| Nov. 5 | "Beauty, Space, and the Sacred: Gaudí at 100" | Catholic University |
| Nov. 19 to 22 | The Greeks, Rome School production | Catholic University |
| Nov. 21 | Marian special tour | Franciscan Monastery |
The Addams Family opens the day this post publishes and closes the same Sunday as the parade, so families can make a full Halloween weekend of it. The Franciscan Monastery requires reservations for its special tours. Check the Catholic University event calendar for tickets and which events are open to the public.
The Next Piece of Trail
After this fall's resurfacing, DDOT's next trail project north of Brookland adds new mileage. Its planning page for the MBT's Piney Branch Road to Blair Road NW link says the trail is currently built between Union Station and Fort Totten. That page lists final design in fall 2025 and construction starting in spring 2027. For Brookland, the north end of the trail gets smoother pavement this November, and the gap past Fort Totten is scheduled to start closing in spring 2027.
For more on how the neighborhood's week has shifted, see our earlier look at what's actually changing in Brookland and the Brookland neighborhood guide.
Public projects like this trail work change how a block lives day to day, and they're part of how I read a neighborhood when I talk with clients. If you own near the Met Branch corridor and want to know how projects like the 2027 extension could affect your plans, Anthony Beharry is glad to walk through it with you. Let's Connect.
