Late last month, Governor Hogan finally made his long awaited announcement about the fate of the Purple Line and the project will move forward. It's been something of a roller coaster for the Purple Line lately. After seeming to be a done deal, the election of Hogan, who had oppossed the project duriing his campaign, put the project in jeopardy. The project is of interest to cyclists since part of the Purple Line will be built on the right-of-way of the current Georgetown Branch Trail from Bethesda to Lyttonsville, and construction of the light rail will make possible the extension of the Capital Crescent Trail from Bethesda to Silver Spring. Though the two projects are linked, the media hasn't mentioned the trail very much during its Purple Line coverage.
Neither project is necessarily a done deal at this time, but the announcement does appear to remove a major hurdle for both. A list of proposed changes to the Purple Line that Hogan put forward to reduce costs appear to only have minor impacts on the Trail. Still, Montgomery County is paying for the trail and they will now have to shoulder a larger burden of the light rail costs, so it is possible that some of that money will come from trail. I've argued that under federal rail-banking law, the County has to include the trail, but even if my reading is correct, they don't have to make it nice.
A few of the changes Hogan has proposed are directly relevant to the trail. Montgomery County will take on a greater role in providing trail detours during construction and the trail bridge over the developer road at the Chevy Chase Lake Station has been reduced from 60' to 40'. There are some less direct changes like replacing green tracks with ballasted track, less landscaping and the removal of the requirement that the project comply with the LEED Silver standard which could make the trail less pleasant or result in a less bike-friendly Purple Line, but those changes will likely be trivial.
Ironically, these changes will make the future trail corridor marginally less park-like than it was going to be otherwise. It is the loss of greenspace that the so-called "Friends of the Capital Crescent Trail" - a group which actually supports the current Georgetown Branch Trail and opposses the planned CCT expansion - opposed and that led them to support Governor Hogan's review of the Purple Line. Needless to say, they aren't happy.
The trail isn't out of the woods yet (see what I did there?). Not only does the Purple Line need to continue to move forward in the face of lawsuits, changing responsibilities, a forthcoming lobbying push against it and possible funding issues with the FTA (The lawyer suing the government to stop the Purple Line has already said he plans to push for a supplemental environmental impact statement and the federal money has only been recommended, not obligated); but the trail needs to continue to be funded as well. And projects can be killed even after work begins. Despite all this, things look much better now then they did in November.
The PL/CCT expansion project will forever change the exisitng trail corridor. Gone will be the wooded, gravel-surfaced Georgetown Branch Trail from Bethesda to Lyttonsville. During construction, the trail will follow a to-be-determined detour, and once complete will be replaced with an extended Capital Crescent Trail that continues from Lyttonsville to Silver Spring on its own right-of-way.
Though the new CCT will have less tree cover and less of a natural feel, it will have much greater utility. The new trail will be paved and will have its own right-of-way all the way to the Silver Spring Transit Center where it will connect with the Metropolitan Branch Trail. It will have a grade-separated crossing of Connecticut Avenue and a new bridge over Rock Creek Park (see renderiings below).
I hope they acquire a lot of Arlington-County style count data for the trail before, during and after construction so that we can see how much the changes to the trail change the usage of the trail. I'm willing to bet usage will go up considerably, which I would call success - even if Ajay Bhatt wouldn't.
Trail bridge over Connecticut Avenue
Trail bridge over Rock Creek Park east of Jones Mill Road
Trail at Lyttonsville Stations
Trail and Purple Line near Chevy Chase
Trail and Purple Line near East-West Highway
Trail and Purple Line
I can guarantee you that the count will go up once its built. The georgetown Branch trail in its current format really isn't a fun trail IMO.....hopefully this will vastly improve it
Posted by: Brett Young | July 08, 2015 at 08:56 AM
OMG. Did you see how one of the "Friends" had their kid put together a series of drawings as to why the Purple Line is bad: http://savethetrail.org/community/save-the-trail-comic/
I'm not beyond using my 6 year old as a shill for better bike infrastructure, but this seems much more unseemly.
For the kids . . .
Posted by: Fong Fong | July 08, 2015 at 10:19 AM
I think she missed a real opporunity with the rabbit that was panhandling. Should havve showed it turning Tricks (Silly Rabbit, Trix are for kids), which would have been more visceral.
Posted by: washcycle | July 08, 2015 at 10:26 AM
Are there any guarantees that Ajay Bhatt won't build a five-car garage on top of the new trail? Or a gardener's house? Or an extended addition to his own house?
Posted by: Citizen | July 08, 2015 at 12:46 PM
Are there any guarantees that MD won't decide the environmental impact of the trail is too great after they've already built the rail line, a la the ICC?
Posted by: DE | July 08, 2015 at 01:10 PM
hmmm Savethetrail.org domain seems to have disappeared.
Posted by: Jeffb | July 08, 2015 at 01:35 PM
DE, I don't know if there are any guarantees, but according to Marianne Fowler, the then Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's senior vice president of federal relations, if a corridor is railbanked, it can only be used for a trail or returned to commercial rail-road use. A transit line can be added, but the trail has to remain for the railbanking to remain in place. So if there were no trail, landowners or advocates could threaten to petition the STB to have the railbanked corridor's status revoked.
If that is correct, then that's pretty close to a guarantee.
Posted by: washcycle | July 08, 2015 at 02:07 PM
It's instructive to have the "preservation" shoe on the other foot for a change. Judge not lest we be judged, let's just get the damn thing built.
Re rabbits turning tricks, the ones around here really need to get their protection working!
Posted by: Smedley Burkhart | July 08, 2015 at 07:31 PM
Good to hear a legal opinion. I'll miss the old trail though, with its trees and woods. All it needed was a bit of paving and some love. I suppose the tradeoff of greater utility is worth it, especially since we've already decided to pave over everything we can anyway. It'll be better for commuters who live there. I only get out that way a few times a year to do the Rock Creek loop--mostly on very hot days when I can be sure the crowds aren't too bad--so my interest in it isn't as imperative as that of the locals.
Posted by: DE | July 09, 2015 at 08:15 AM
It is nice. Before work begins, someone should ride the trail and get some Go-Pro video of it - for posterity.
Posted by: washcycle | July 09, 2015 at 09:39 AM
I will miss the unpaved trail. It feels more like an overgrown dirt road that happens to be there than a "facility" and the speed differentials are lower. Sic transit...
Posted by: Smedley Burkhart | July 09, 2015 at 10:22 AM
Ajay Bhatt?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-8GVi2Fdi4
Posted by: Rob | July 10, 2015 at 07:48 AM