Hancock patiently awaits bridge repair along C&O Canal trail

HANCOCK, Md. (WDVM) — Bridge construction along the C and O Canal has been delayed again.

The pandemic held things up for the National Park Service along the scenic stretch of the Potomac River. Now, with winter coming, replacing the bridge deck, rail, steel bearings, and curbs will be put off for a few more months. But Hancock town officials and the business community are being patient, hoping for that return of boaters, hikers, and cyclists.

“We haven’t had access to our boat ramp and our boat ramp park,” he says, “and this really has been the only vehicular passage to the national park in Hancock,” says Town Manager Joe Gilbert.

Jimmy Barnhart owns C & O Bicycles just off the trail. “The bikers,” he says “are definitely a big part of having the bridge there, they can cross over and come into town.”

Until construction is completed, there is boat ramp access at both Fifteen-Mile Creek and downstream at McCoys Ferry.