Recently Casey Anderson wrote to the Gazette complaining about the Columbia Country Club's stated concern for the CCT/Georgetown Branch ROW. Casey points out correctly that the County owns 100 feet of ROW, but uses only 12 feet and asks:
Why doesn’t County Executive Ike Leggett take steps to remove the fences that allow the country club and its members the exclusive use of this public property free of charge. Alternatively, I would like to see Mr. Leggett start charging the club rent for the use of the right-of-way. The money generated from renting the land could be used to extend the trail to Silver Spring, where we have waited 20 years for it as part of the Purple Line project.
I have always wondered the same thing. If you let people squat on this property it makes it hard to take it back later (The same issue could pop up in a few places in the Palisades). And besides, why is the county giving real estate rights away for free? They certainly need the money
Cyclists and county officials recognize that Silver Spring’s bike path network is inadequate, but with a lack of funding and difficulty in acquiring land, those involved are not expecting a timely solution.
‘Right now, we’re fighting to keep [funding for] the transit center. That’s of utmost priority. That deals with thousands and thousands of people while the bike paths are part of a multi-pronged solution.” said Darian Unger, chairman of the Silver Spring Citizens Advisory Board transportation and pedestrian safety committee.
Officials have been trying to negotiate a crossing for the Capital Crescent Trail over the railway in Silver Spring owned by the CSX Corporation, but have been unsuccessful.
Upon completion, the Green Trail would run east along Wayne Avenue and serve as a connector between the other major trails and the Sligo Creek Trail. But the Green Trail comes with delays as well. The trail currently stops near the Whole Foods supermarket on Wayne Avenue and will not be completed until the planned route for the Purple Line is known, according to Unger.
‘‘Bicycling facilities are really the first things to go when times get tough, and that’s what we’re seeing in Montgomery County right now,” said Eric Gilliland, executive director of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association. ‘‘In our opinion, everything should be developed with bike access in mind.”
Finish the trail adds
If the fence is taken down, then the trail could be widened for a safer, more pleasant trail. If, alternatively, the Columbia Country Club pays a fair price to use the public land it is now encroaching upon, then the money could be used to maintain and extend the trail.
We're talking about approx. 120,000 square feet, or nearly 3 acres, of prime public land that the Country Club is now using for free. Fair market value rent for this land would be more than pocket change for a County that is facing tight budgets for maintaining trails. Has this idea never occurred to our County Executive or Council?
And as for the Columbia Country Club. They're supporting an astroturf movement to kill the Purple Line and the extension of the CCT.
the Alliance for Smart Transportation bills itself as a "coalition of concerned citizens advocating for smart transportation solutions for Montgomery and Prince George's Counties."
But although the new group criticizes Maryland's plan to build a 16-mile Purple Line transit link between Bethesda and New Carrollton, it offers no ideas for how to relieve traffic in the suburbs. Nor does the site identify the "concerned citizens."
Its founder is a board member at Columbia Country Club in Montgomery, whose 100-year-old golf course would be bisected by the transit line.
"What's going on here is a battle between commuters who want to get to work and a bunch of people who don't want to look at trolley cars while they play golf," said Ben Ross, president of Action Committee for Transit, a pro-Purple Line group. "If the public understands that's what this fight is about, then the Purple Line will be built."
Geoffrey Gonella, a member of the country club's board of governors, said the club has done nothing to hide its opposition to a Purple Line and is just raising "serious questions" about its potential costs as well as its impact on traffic congestion, the environment and an extension of the popular Capital Crescent Trail.
The alliance, Gonella said, has members who do not belong to the country club. Asked for their names, he said he did not have them readily available and that he could speak only for the country club. The Web site doesn't list alliance members, he said, because the group is so new. He said he didn't know how many people it had recruited so far.
"It's like any grass-roots organization," Gonella said.
Except that I don't know any of the members....Later, people wrote in to the Post to point out there is real grassroots opposition.
Eighteen community organizations and municipalities formed Rethinking the Purple Line after a May 31 event, attended by more than 400 people, to support protecting the Capital Crescent Trail. Thousands of people have written to the governor or signed petitions to protect this valued park.
Mark Gabriele of the Seven Oaks Evanswood Citizens' Association sums up the opposition argument
· The Purple Line isn't going to solve any transit problem.
· The Purple Line would create a number of problems [WC: Defined as "widening of Wayne Avenue" and a parking shortage] in our neighborhood (and, we believe, in other neighborhoods, as well).
· The Purple Line is going to cost a lot of money to build.
With a new claim I have not heard:
the Purple Line would...adversely affect the proposed Green Trail, which would make it safer and easier to bike longer distances around our area.
So this is not talking of the section between Bethesda and Silver Spring but between Silver Spring and Sligo Creek. I'm not sure how it will adversely affect the Green Trail, Mr. Gabriele doesn't say. I hope it's not the old "trails next to trains are dangerous" argument.
Photo from Finish the Trail
As far as I can determine from the plans MTA present at their www.purplelinemd.com website, the Purple Line would have a minimal impact on the Green Trail. There would be no impact from Colesville Road to Fenton Street because the Purple Line would not run on Wayne Avenue in that section. From Fenton Street to the Sligo Creek Parkway the main impact would be that the Green Trail would lose the landscaped tree panel between the trail and the roadway. The Green Trail would still be a sidepath trail continuous along the north side of Colesville Road, with a separate sidewalk for pedestrians alongside.
In my view, the Green Trail at its best will never come close to being the regionally important spine trail that the CCT/MBT will be if completed. The CCT and MBT can be true off-road trails and not just sidepath trails (i.e. glorified sidewalk), and they connect through to much more important activity centers.
I support the Green Trail, but we need to keep our attention and priority on finishing the CCT and MBT.
Posted by: Wayne Phyillaier | July 28, 2008 at 01:31 PM
Oops - I misspoke. The Green Trail will run along the north side of Wayne Avenue, not Colesville Road.
Posted by: Wayne Phyillaier | July 28, 2008 at 01:34 PM
I am waiting for the Purple Line people calling themselves "Save the Trail" to show up at a hearing on the ICC trail, or Muddy Branch trail, or Upper Rock Creek trail. I know, I'm naive.
Posted by: Jack | July 28, 2008 at 01:53 PM
What is the probability that the tunnel will stay open for bike/walking traffic if the Purple Line Light Rail plan is chosen. I have heard that it will be too expensive to run both rail and trail through the tunnel.
Wayne, are you ok with the tunnel being closed for trail usage to accomodate the Purple Line rail only?
Posted by: Sin Verguenza | July 30, 2008 at 10:27 AM
I am not OK with the tunnel being closed for trail usage to accomodate the Purple Line rail only. MTA concepts show it is possible to keep the trail in the tunnel, and propose doing so for the Light Rail "high option". MTA has not shown how much this will cost, but I believe if it is reasonable to MTA for the "high option", then we can make MTA understand this is important enough to do in any of the options.
Posted by: Wayne Phyillaier | July 30, 2008 at 11:13 AM
Wayne,
I do believe you when you say that you want to push for continued trail access in the tunnel. I am afraid that once the MTA has the go-ahead that the tunnel will be the least of their concerns. I also believe that most pro-Purple Line folks could give a hoot in hell about either the tunnel or even the trail. The development interests want to ramrod this Light Rail in specifically to increase development ceilings. Once the project's wheels are in motion the trail users will have very little say in the final product.
Posted by: Sin Verguenza | July 30, 2008 at 05:03 PM
Do you think Ben Ross (ACT), the Chevy Chase Land Company, or George Leventhal, really care about the trail or specifically the tunnel under Wisconsin Avenue.
If you believe that, I have some land south of Tallahasee with real low humidity to sell you.
Posted by: Sin Verguenza | July 30, 2008 at 05:13 PM
Sin, you bring up a good point. It's important that should the purple line be built, that the cycling community make its voice heard. We should push MTA to build the RIGHT light rail - one which includes bikes in the tunnel.
Posted by: washcycle | July 30, 2008 at 05:31 PM
Sin, I'm with Washcycle here that we must make our voices heard. This is not about trusting MTA to do the right thing. This is about making MTA understand the CCT has so much popular support that the Purple Line project can be derailed if they fail to protect the Trail.
Posted by: Wayne Phyillaier | July 30, 2008 at 05:55 PM