The stretch of raised wooden walkway running alongside Maryland Route 27 just west of the Route 140 bridge has earned a catchy nickname from skeptical Westminster residents: the Boardwalk to Nowhere.
Critics of the project, which is designed to connect to existing walking trails, see a pricey plank path threading through a floodplain, seemingly disconnected from any practical use.
But the full picture is more complicated and more deliberate than the nickname suggests. All jokes about its Ocean City feel and Thrashers French Fries aside, the project has a clear purpose and a history that goes back a decade and a half.
Closing the final gap in a long community trail
A state project requested by Carroll County Commissioners, the boardwalk is the final phase of the Westminster Community Trail, a multi-segment shared-use path network that Carroll County has been piecing together since the mid-2010s. The trail was always intended to form a continuous corridor linking parks, residential areas, local employers, and downtown Westminster, but it's been built in stages.
The foundation is the existing Bennett Cerf trail, which runs from Hahn Road near Route 27 to Sunshine Way, passing through Bennett Cerf Park and into the Eden Farms community. In 2017, two additional sections were completed: one connecting the Westminster Community Pond trail to the adjacent Commerce Center, and another connecting the Commerce Center to the Autumn Ridge community. Those two segments, combined with sidewalks through Autumn Ridge and Eden Farms, created a continuous route from the Community Pond to Hahn Road at Route 27.
That left one stubborn gap: the connection from Hahn Road near the Penguin Random House facility along the State Highway Administration (SHA) right-of-way to Railroad Avenue, just past the Route 140 bridge. That's the Route 27 stretch — the "Boardwalk to Nowhere." Finishing it closes the loop.
The orange segment in this MDOT SHA map shows the section along Route 27, which, once finished, will complete the Westminster Community Trail Loop.
A decade of requests by the county funded the project
The project appeared in Carroll County's annual transportation priority letter to the Maryland Department of Transportation in 2010, submitted by a board led by President Julia Gouge, who had served as president since 1998, along with Vice-President Dean Minnich and Secretary Michael Zimmer. That annual priority letter from county leaders to the state is a formal funding mechanism, as it informs the development of Maryland's six-year transportation budget.
All three left office in late 2010, when Carroll County voters swept in an entirely new five-member board: J. Douglas Howard (president), Richard Rothschild, David Roush, Robin Frazier, and Haven Shoemaker. That board, and the commissioners who followed them, continued submitting the Route 27 path as a priority to the state, letter after letter.
The submission that finally worked came in March 2022, when commissioners Edward Rothstein (president), C. Richard Weaver, C. Eric Bouchat, Dennis Frazier, and Stephen Wantz sent their FY2023–2028 priority letter to MDOT Secretary James Ports.
In that letter, they called the Westminster Community Trail a top construction priority, describing the missing link as the connection from Hahn Road at Random House along the SHA right-of-way to Railroad Avenue, just past the Route 140 bridge. By 2023, MDOT had approved construction funding, and ground was broken that fall.
Construction was paused twice to resolve utility conflicts and relocations, according to the SHA project page. Those delays, combined with design and permitting costs, pushed the total project budget to $4.2 million.
Construction resumed in spring 2025, and as of June 2026, the project is 60% complete, with SHA targeting a fall 2026 finish.
What the state money bought Carroll County
The $4.2 million, which is the budget for this final phase alone, not the full trail, covers considerably more than the wooden boardwalk. According to Carroll News, the project includes:
A shared-use path built from both asphalt and raised boardwalk segments
Fine milling and resurfacing of the existing roadway along the corridor
New curbs, gutters, sidewalks, and ADA-compliant ramps
Driveway resurfacing for properties along the route
Significant stormwater drainage upgrades, including new pipes, manholes, and end walls
A new pedestrian crosswalk across Hahn Road with upgraded traffic signals
Stormwater management facilities
Updated signage, pavement markings, and corridor landscaping
There are three sections of the path where the raised boardwalk design was required. As SHA explains on its project page, the route crosses floodplain along Longwell Run stream in those locations, and "these sections cannot support an at-grade paved path."
That engineering solution is precisely what's drawn criticism, particularly online, as social media commenters across various platforms have wondered what the staggered sections of boardwalk could be needed for.
Who owns it, who maintains it
Under a 2021 memorandum of understanding with SHA, the Maryland State Highway Administration will own the finished path, and the Carroll County Department of Parks and Recreation will be responsible for all maintenance.
Andrew Radcliffe, District Engineer for the Maryland State Highway Administration, told Carroll News the project is fundamentally about connecting vulnerable users to the places they need to reach:
"This project fulfills a longtime transportation priority in Carroll County. We appreciate the County's partnership in expanding the transportation network for our most vulnerable users — pedestrians and bicyclists. A shared-use path provides a safe and accessible route for a wide range of users while also fostering a sense of community by connecting people to neighborhoods, parks, schools, and other destinations."
June 6, 2026, shows the project, which the state expects to be complete in Fall 2026.
The ongoing debate
Community reaction has split roughly along the lines you'd expect for a long-delayed, moderately expensive piece of public infrastructure.
Supporters see a long-overdue investment that completes a trail network years in the making, improves pedestrian safety on a busy state highway corridor, and connects residential areas to downtown Westminster without a car. Critics question whether $4.2 million is the right price and whether the floodplain routing was the wisest choice.
What's undeniable is that the boardwalk has gotten people's attention in a way that most trail projects don't. The project will eventually be finished, and the debate will move along. But "Boardwalk to Nowhere" has the feel of a name that could stick around for quite some time, even after it finally goes somewhere.
Sources: Carroll News — Construction Resumes on Westminster Boardwalk; Baltimore Sun — Westminster Community Trail on track, construction resumes on $4.2M final stretch; Carroll County FY2023–2028 CTP Priority Letter; Carroll County 2019 Bicycle & Pedestrian Master Plan; Maryland State Archives — Carroll County Commissioner profiles; Carroll County GIS Trail Maps