You got to pave the CCT to save the CCT

Now that the design for the Purple Line and the Capital Crescent Trail along it from Bethesda to Silver Spring have been finalized, WABA is even more committed to supporting the project than they were before.  On their blog they reiterated their support for the project as it will create a trail that is complete, wider, paved and better separated from motor vehicle traffic.

As WABA recommended, the trail will be paved and 12’ wide from the Bethesda tunnel to Silver Spring.  The trail will have grade separated crossings of all busy highways, including Connecticut Avenue, Jones Mill Road, 16^th Street, Spring Street, and Colesville Road.  The trail will be safely separated from the transit tracks by a landscaped buffer and fencing, and it will include direct access to five transit stations, including at the Bethesda and Silver Spring Metro stations.

They also address the "$65M" price tag and try to put it in context.

improving a single roadway intersection is budgeted to cost $62.5M—nearly as much as the entire trail, even accepting the $65M figure. (Georgia Ave. at Randolph Rd.)

They don't accept the $65M price tag though.

In addition to this, WABA will be out promoting safe cycling on the CCT this weekend as well as explaining their position on the Purple Line/CCT project

This Saturday, April 23,from 10am to 2pm, WABA Executive Director Shane Farthing and Board Member Casey Anderson, along with WABA staff and volunteers, will be in Bethesda highlighting the need for trail users to share the trail safely as the weather warms and usage increases.  WABA Vice President Martin Moulton will be sharing similar information with cyclists near the Georgetown trailhead.  This outreach effort was inspired by an October CCT stakeholder meeting convened by Montgomery County councilmember Roger Berliner, who asked all stakeholder groups to communicate to their members and constituents the need for civility and safety on the trail.

WABA will be providing safety information and bicycle bells—which allow cyclists to give audible warnings to slower-moving trail-users when passing.  But WABA will also be meeting with trail users to explain the organization’s longstanding support of the Purple Line and affiliated trail.  “The overall goal is to improve the trail network so that Bethesda, Silver Spring, and downtown DC are all interconnected with quality cycling facilities,” explains Executive Director Shane Farthing, “and the Purple Line with accompanying trail presents the best, and perhaps the only, way to make that happen.”

Coincidentally, FABB recently took a ride on the trail as they had never ridden the whole thing. They liked the trail more than the Silver Spring Metro.

The Silver Spring metro station has probably the worst bike parking of any Metro station I've seen. There was one bent U rack with a carcass of a bike locked to it, and a few other bikes locked to the nearby railing. Pitiful.

Comments

[Contrarian]

I'll say it again: the emphasis on warning when passing is misguided. If you pass safely -- not getting into the other person's space -- there should be no need to warn. Teaching people to warn is teaching them to pass unsafely.

[7]

@ Contrarian - Audible warning isn't only to avoid a person's space and pass safely, it's a courtesy move to avoid giving the person being passed a freakin' heart attack at the surprise.

[satan's friend...]

i'll say it's just a matter of time before a pedesterian walking with the bikes gets killed.

i walk against the bikes...and never have a problem...

of course...id prefer to ban walking on the CCT...that road is for bikes and should be. all those idiot RICH suburbanites didnt want sidewlaks on their neighborhood...remember?...so they dont need to use the damn trail!

[Contrarian]

@ Contrarian - Audible warning isn't only to avoid a person's space and pass safely, it's a courtesy move to avoid giving the person being passed a freakin' heart attack at the surprise.

The problem is the exclusive emphasis on warning. It's as if drivers' ed taught people the only thing you need to do to pass safely is to lean on your horn. Where is the message not to pass if the trail isn't clear? And that if it's not clear, you need to wait? Even if that means slowing down? Sounding your bell doesn't grant absolution for bullying slower and opposing traffic out of the way.

The underlying problem is congestion, and the reality is that people need to change their expectations about how fast they can go, just as they do with automotive congestion.

[Joe]

A major problem I still see on the CCT is all types of users abruptly changing directions, ie: turning around, entering, exiting and crossing the trail with out looking to make sure it is clear to do so.

I've seen a number of walkers heading South on the CCT on the North side of the bridge crossing river road abruptly cut over to the other side with out looking or any warning.

Insuring that it is safe to pass, turn, enter or exit the trail is the responsiblity of ALL trail users. Not just cyclists.