A Post article yesterday on a lawsuit that could delay, and seeks to prevent, construction of the Purple Line and the Capital Crescent Trail extension included this line
Metro’s recent decline is one of four major arguments that the Purple Line opponents — two Chevy Chase residents and a trail advocacy group — raised in their 2014 lawsuit against the Federal Transit Administration, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Transportation and Interior departments.
The lawsuit was filed by Chevy Chase residents John M. Fitzgerald and Christine Real de Azua and the nonprofit Friends of the Capitol Crescent Trail. In order to call the FCCT an advocacy group, they would have needed to advocate for the Capital Cresent Trail. At your most generous, you could say that they have advocated for the Georgetown Branch Trail, but I'd disagree even with that. They are advocates for the status quo, not for making the trail better.
Most of the lawsuit alleges that the state ignored or gave short shrift to the line’s potential environmental impacts, including storm-water runoff, endangered species, and noise for pedestrians and cyclists on an adjacent recreational trail.
Work appeared to be just aroud the corner
The Purple Line, expected to break ground in November and open to passengers in 2022
Which reminds me, I want to have a Georgetown Branch "bachelor party" right before work begins. The GBT really is nice and parklike. I think it's going to get better, but it is about to change forever and if you've never ridden it as it is, you should before it gets married to the purple line. To that effect I think we ought to do one last ride right before work starts/closure to say goodbye to the trail as it was, even as we're excited for the trail that will be. If you hear anything about what that date might be, please let me know.
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