Soon, if Montgomery County leaders have their way, the Air Rights Tunnel in Bethesda will be closed and the Georgetown Branch that runs through it will be replaced by the Purple Line. The trail will be temporarily rerouted to street-level, and then eventually the Capital Crescent Trail extended through a new tunnel under a new Apex building and the existing buildings along Elm Street. It will mark the end of a 20-year run for the tunnel as a trail facility.
The County purchased the ROW in 1988 and opened the bulk of the the Georgetown Branch on May 17, 1997, but only 10 days before they opened the trail, the Council voted to cancel $180,000 in funding for the tunnel, which means that the trail opening was also a protest event with many people carrying "Open the Tunnel" signs.
Council member Gail Ewing (D-At Large), who joined Derick Berlage (D-Silver Spring) in voting against the tunnel in the committee, called it a "terrible idea." Even with improved security, "it's not a place where women by themselves, families or, for that matter, men by themselves would be safe," Ewing said.
A few months later a large "Open the Tunnel" rally, led by future Purple Line-opponent Pam Browning, was held at the Woodmont end of the tunnel - which by then had become a parking lot. The following February, the Council voted 5-4 to spend $410,000 to open the tunnel (though the final price would be $500,000). Isiah Legget was among those who for for. At ~$25,000 a year, I'd still say it's been a bargain. The tunnel opened in August, 1998.
The tunnel will be open daily from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. and will be part of the Montgomery County police bicycle patrol, county officials said. After hours, the tunnel will be closed by chain-link fencing topped with razor wire.
It took two months to pave the tunnel's pathway, paint over its graffiti-marred walls and install a chain-link fence along the trail to keep people out of nooks and crannies. The county ponied up most of the $455,000 cost, but the Capital Crescent Trail Coalition, a lobbying group working to expand the Washington area's trail system, chipped in $45,000.
Some of the concerns about how the trail would effect the debate over transit were perhaps well founded
The tunnel's opening for use as a trail connector caused concern among supporters and opponents of such a commuter line. "The light rail {opponents} are worried about a little bait and switch," Ochs said. "Now that {county officials} have the tunnel open, it could be used for the light rail, which not everyone is happy about."
But David Weaver, a county spokesman, said some light rail supporters worry that the pedestrian trail might "preclude light rail" from being built.
By the way, there were once plans to build above the garage that the trail passes beneath near the Elm Street Park, but I believe that only the hotel portion of that plan was ever executed.
Thanks...very interesting
Posted by: Brett Young | February 19, 2017 at 05:36 PM