Purple Line DEIS, Briefing and News. Oh My.

I was kind of busy when the Draft Environmental Impact Statement came out for the Purple Line, so let me do a more in depth look at what it means for cyclists than I what I did before.

There are eight options presented here, a No Build and a Transportation Systems Management (TSM) which do not change the trail (and so, I won't mention again) and three versions based on cost (investment) of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and Light Rail Transit (LRT). From the standpoint of the Capital Crescent Trail, there are a few differences between these six designs. All six include a new bridge over Rock Creek (either on the same bridge as the transit or on an adjacent one), a trail connection to the Rock Creek Park Trail on the east side and a new permanent trail from Jones Bridge Road to the Silver Spring Transit center. As the DEIS points out

All Build alternatives would support the Montgomery County Master Plan by constructing the permanent Capital Crescent Trail, although the Low Investment BRT alternative would not build the permanent trail west of Jones Mill Road.

The proposed hiker-biker trail would travel along a bridge adjacent to and lower than the  transit bridge and provide a “switchback” ramp connection to the Rock Creek Trail. Construction of the ramp would require regrading the hillside and removing trees within the existing right-of-way. The new connection would comply with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guidelines and enhance access to the Rock Creek Trail and Park.

So the issues of difference are

1. The trail between Woodmont Avenue and Pearl Street (basically through the Air Rights Tunnel). Most designs would move the trail out of this tunnel and through Elm Street Park. The picture above shows the trail head if it goes through the tunnel.

2. The trail between Pearl Street and Jones Mill Road. All but the low cost BRT will build a permanent paved trail

3. The intersection with Connecticut Avenue. Some designs are at grade and others have a trail bridge over the road.

4. The intersection with Jones Mill Road. Some designs are at-grade, others go below the road.

I created a matrix to make it easier to see the differences

Surprise, surprise, the expensive one is the best for cyclists [not counting the impact of changing the character of the trail from a woodsy-shaded trail, to a less park-like transitway]. As Track Twenty-Nine points out

The DEIS does not identify a locally preferred alternative (LPA). The decision about which mode and alignment will be made after public comment on the DEIS.

About the trail the DEIS reads

This trail would be built following Montgomery County standards for trail design; it would be a 10-foot-wide paved trail with 2-foot shoulders. Between Pearl Street and just west of Jones Mill Road the trail would be on the north side of the transitway; elsewhere it would be on the south side. Access to the trail would be provided at various points along the way, as would crossings over the transitway. The MTA has set a goal of maintaining a landscaped buffer of approximately 10 feet between the trail and the transitway and, wherever possible, that the trail would be built at a slightly higher elevation than the transitway. A barrier, either a fence or a wall, would separate the trail and transitway. The trail would cross the CSX right-of-way on a new pedestrian bridge east of the existing Talbot Avenue bridge. After crossing the CSX right-of-way the trail would continue on the north side to the Silver Spring Transit Center.

The LC BRT would keep the Air Rights Tunnel in its present state. For the HC LRT

the trail would be elevated above the westbound tracks. The trail would return to grade as it approaches Woodmont Avenue.

The other impact to the trail is that

the currently unrestricted crossing of the trail would be restricted to specific locations. This would occur under all the Build alternatives except Low Investment LRT.

Ther trail comes withing 500 feet of seven trails by their count (Rock Creek, NW Branch, Paint Branch, Sligo Creek, Capitol Crescent, Georgetown Branch and the NE Branch). By my count, they left off the College Park Trolley Trail.

This design option would cross the Sligo Creek trail on Piney Branch Road. All of the
Build alternatives would impact between 0.02 and 0.06 mile of the Sligo Creek Trail. If the High Investment LRT Silver Spring/Thayer Avenue design option were selected, the aerial structure required for the LRT on Piney Branch Road would result in substantial visual impacts for users of the Sligo Creek Trail.

All of the Build alternatives would impact up to 0.03 mile of the Rock Creek Trail.

Northwest Branch Trail would be impacted by all Build alternatives. Impacts under all Build alternatives would be up to 0.03 mile.

The Build alternatives would impact between 0.02 and 0.04 mile [of the Northeast Branch Trail] in the same location.

Paint Branch Trail would be impacted by all Build alternatives, with the exception of Low Investment BRT. The Build alternatives would impact between 0.02 and 0.04 mile of this trail. The impacted portion of the trail is a spur of the main trail that terminates at Paint Branch Parkway. The Build alternatives would potentially impact the southern end of this spur.

The spur they're talking about is actually the College Park Trolley Trail. The CPTT crosses Paint Branch on an old Trolley Bridge (seen at the bottom of the picture to the right) that was repaired for that purpose. The report says of the bridge

Field observations during an earlier survey revealed that the bridge decking was gone and that the metal structure was suffering from severe corrosion. The site is essentially a standing bridge structure, and it is unlikely that any related significant archaeological features exist around the abutments. Therefore, the site would not likely qualify for protection under Section 4(f) and is not analyzed further in this Section 4(f) evaluation.

But that survey was obviously done before the bridge was repaired; and as a trail, it is protected under Section 4(f).

Section 4(f) of the U.S. Department of Transportation Act of 1966 requires that the proposed use of land from a publicly-owned parkland, recreation area, wildlife and/or waterfowl refuge, or any significant historic or archaeological site, as part of a federally funded or approved transportation project, is permissible only if there is no feasible and prudent alternative to the use. Final action requiring the taking of such land must also document and demonstrate that the proposed action includes all possible planning to minimize harm to the property resulting from such use.

Furthermore, on the subject of impacts the DEIS notes

In some specific instances, the impacts [of the Purple Line] are seen by some in the local communities as onerous – specifically the change in the character of the Georgetown Branch railroad right-of-way along which the Interim Georgetown Branch Trail is located. The re-introduction of rail operations with the LRT alternatives, in conjunction with the construction of the permanent Capital Crescent Trail segment, as called for in the Montgomery County Master Plan for several decades, or the introduction of BRT, would remove the trees within the right-of-way. The trees and vegetation on the properties abutting the right-of-way would be expected to remain and would maintain much of the tree cover and visual character. The design features and character of the transitway and trail are incorporated to mitigate these concerns.

The Georgetown Branch is not protected by Section 4(f) because it was always meant to be a transportation corridor.

Finish the Trail points out that the MTA briefed the Montgomery County Council on the Purple Line on October 21. It included several renderings of the trail. The MTA presentation refutes many of the claims the "Save the Trail" crowd puts forward. But, FTT is not so happy about the way it focuses on Bethesda and Chevy Chase and ignores Silver Spring.

The presentation does not have a single slide about the future CCT east of Jones Mill Road. There is nothing showing how the future CCT will pass through Lyttonsville and Rosemary Hills or cross over the CSX tracks at Talbot Avenue. There is nothing showing how the future CCT will pass under the 16th Street Bridge, or how the future CCT will pass through North Woodside and Woodside neighborhoods, or on how the future CCT will pass over Colesville Road on a new bridge and connect into the Silver Spring Transit Center. Over 1/2 of the future CCT is not represented in this briefing at all.

And from that briefing it looks like the Columbia Country Club may (or may not) be working with the Purple Line.

The Columbia Country Club, which had been part of efforts to keep a transit link out of Chevy Chase, is reportedly working with state officials on a change to the route or a land swap so the project can move forward.

But a spokesman for the country club said the discussions with MTA could not be construed as a negotiation.

"We think there are serious concerns with the project, and none of this has changed. What we're hearing from MTA, their engineers and architects, has not changed that," Geoff Gonella of Kensington, a member of the club's board of governors, said Wednesday morning.

[Note: the Gazette calls the Georgetown Branch a Trolley, but that's incorrect. It was a freight rail line]

Finally, legislators are making a push to get it built.

You can make comments on the Purple Line DEIS here. Or you can attend a meeting

Meetings are being held around the region soon. Make sure to get your comments heard.

New Carrollton
Saturday, November 15
10:30AM-3:00PM
New Carrollton Municipal Center
6016 Princess Garden Parkway
New Carrollton, MD 20784

Chevy Chase
Tuesday, November 18
4:30PM-9:00PM
National 4-H Youth Conference Center
7100 Connecticut Avenue
Chevy Chase, MD 20815

College Park
Wednesday, November 19
4:30PM-9:00PM
Ritchie Coliseum, University of Maryland
Route 1 across from Rossborough Inn
College Park, MD 20742

Takoma Park/Silver Spring
Saturday, November 22
12:30PM-5:00PM
Montgomery College,
Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus
Falcon Hall
7600 Takoma Avenue
Takoma Park, MD 20912

photo by RethinkCollegePark

Comments

[finishthetrail]

Thanks for a comprehensive review of how the Purple Line and trails will interact.
My www.finishthetrail.org rant that the recent MTA briefing slighted the future CCT in Silver Spring does not mean I think the Purple Line will be bad for the future CCT. All of the Purple Line options would complete the CCT on the master plan alignment alongside the CSX corridor into the new Silver Spring Transit Center. Purple Line opponents can present no credible plans to finish the CCT into Silver Spring without the Purple Line. I've been waiting for the Capital Crescent Trail to be built through my Woodside neighborhooe in Silver Spring for many years, and I'm excited that the Purple Line may finally make that happen.
Also when the Purple Line will "impact" a trail, the impact may be at least in part for the good. For example, as you noted, the Purple Line impacts the Rock Creek Trail by giving it a direct ADA compliant off road connection to the CCT.

[chris]

someone needs to tell the lady in the top pic to put some shoes on. she's gunna get glass in her foot or something.

[jw]

I love that top picture. It is amazing how fast all the butchered trees grew back.

[finishthetrail]

There are no trees in the middle of that area now, just asphalt (the Reed Street spur) and grass. How can you butcher trees that do not exist? Trees are a real issue elsewhere, but not here.

[finishthetrail]

Oops, my bad. I was looking at the second picture.

Your point is taken, but trees do grow back in time, and trees will be planted as part of the mitigation.