I apologize for the late notice, but there is a meeting tonight about the planned design and construction of a hard surface trail connection between the Capital Crescent Trail and the Little Falls Trail near the Bethesda Pool.
The objective is to improve safety, efficiency and reduce conflicts on current route used by bikers near the Bethesda Pool and adjacent parking lot. The connector plan includes the crossing of Hillandale Road. Park staff will available to answer questions at the Montgomery County Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center from 7:00 pm- 9:00 pm.
The current route used by bikers to connect the Little Falls Trail to the Capital Crescent Trail is through the Bethesda Pool parking lot which has led to conflicts when the pool is open. To improve safety, efficiency and reduce conflicts, a trail connector is proposed for construction near the Bethesda pool.
There are two design ideas. One builds a trail around the southern side of the pool and the other around the northern side.
Tentatively, a 2nd meeting is scheduled for September. Deisgn will continue into early 2016, with bids solicited for construction in late winter 2016.
Off topic but I'll post it here as its tangentially related.
Today (8/3/15) I was on a lunch time ride up the CCT to Bethesda and back to DC.
While I was coming back down the trail I saw a Montgomery County Parks officer & cruiser just before the entrance to the Dalecarlia tunnel.
The officer told me she was there enforcing the trail speed limit - 15 MPH while in Montgomery County. I don't know if NPS has stated a limit for the DC portion.
This speed limit is posted in several places. Awhile ago an electronic sign giving ones current speed was placed at the north entrance to this tunnel facing trail traffic moving north (i.e. slightly uphill).
This is where the office was and she may have been relying on the readout from the sign to tell her what cyclists to stop.
So as a gentle reminder to fellow cyclists - the CCT is a great place to stretch one's legs without worrying about car traffic but its not the place to do training at racing speeds.
Posted by: jeffb | August 03, 2015 at 05:36 PM
Traffic would have to be pretty light to rely on the sign--it would be difficult to assert which cyclists' speeds was being measured. That said, the operative principle is not to give the NPS a reason to start enforcing.
Posted by: Crickey7 | August 04, 2015 at 09:12 AM
This is not the first time they've been out there enforcing it. With a bit of work you can keep it below 15 uphill, but downhill it's a bit more difficult. Is why I only use that trail in the uphill direction and on very hot days when there are fewer folk about. If they start enforcing on the downhill of the Custis Trail, I'm in trouble (and I'm not alone).
Posted by: DE | August 04, 2015 at 09:17 AM