TheWashCycle

DDOT's Rock Creek area livability studies

This year, DDOT has held two meetings - in February and May -  on their Rock Creek Far West Livability Study. Studies like these can form one of the first steps to changes on the ground and so their important stepping stones to protected bike lanes, road diets and other projects that make streets safer, greener and more conducive to walking and biking. Officially:

The Rock Creek Far West Livability Study will identify opportunities for safer travel for residents and visitors to the neighborhoods in the study area. The purpose of the study is to enhance the quality of life of the community through improvements to transportation safety and connections to destinations. This study will also align with Mayor Bowser’s Vision Zero Initiative, which has an objective to reach zero fatalities and serious injuries to travelers of the District’s transportation system by 2024.

The study area covers DC's Western corner, including the Palisades, from the C&O Canal to Massachusetts Avenue. 

After the first meeting, ANC 3D sent a letter supporting a bicycle trail along Nebraska Ave, bicycle lanes along Rockwood Parkway and Loughboro Road, and a PBL along Nebraska, Loughboro and Arizona all the way to Canal Road. 

At the 2nd meeting they presented draft recommendations. These included

• A road diet on Dalecarlia Parkway that then allows for more space for pedestrians and cyclists
• Make 48th between MacArthur and V into a "shared street"
• Provide new connections to the Capital Crescent Trail (CCT) at Arizona and Norton
• Improve Tunlaw Road for cyclists
• Add a PBL to Loughboro/Nebraska; bike boulevards to 49th, Glenbrook and and Rockwood Parkway, a bike facility on 37th and a sidepath on Massachusetts Avenue

I pretty much only bike through the area the way most people do - on the CCT, canal towpath or MacArthur. Occasionally I ride Massachusetts and I'd probably use a sidepath in the uphill direction. I'm surprised the Palisades trolley trail isn't one of the recommendations and that there isn't more in the southern part of the study area. 

It's a shame that trails aren't included in the Glover-Archibald corridor, Battery Kemble corridor or the green corridor south of Fulton that connects them. Or the Whitehaven Parkway for that matter. 

A third meeting should happen in August or September, but the best way to make comments before then would be to use the interactive map.

And more time critical, DDOT is doing a study on the east side of Rock Creek Park and holding a meeting on it this week (June 12). You can see the map of existing and proposed bike facilities for that area here. 

Section of Capital Crescent Trail temporarily closed in Bethesda, South Shore ribbon cut

A section of the Capital Crescent Trail near the Bethesda trail head will be closed for about 10 weeks while Ourisman Honda finishes construction of a 1300 foot public plaza, and some other work related to their new garage. The plaza is retroactive compensation for the garaged that encroached on trail space. 

Ourisman...agreed  to construct and maintain a 1,300-square-foot public plaza near Bethesda and Woodmont avenues as well as move its driveway farther from the trail’s Bethesda Avenue entrance [and] to install decorative screening around the expanded garage to create a more appealing facade facing the trail.

At the same time, crews will widen about a quarter-mile section of the trail about two feet to 16 feet.

While construction is ongoing, the trail will be blocked and Ourisman has created temporary paths to get past the construction, one for pedestrians and one for bicyclists. Signs will direct trail users the correct way, Kandel said.

Some police may be present intermittently to enforce correct use of the alternate trails.

This whole thing has been a mess, but maybe this plaza will make it all worthwhile. 

Also, Anne Arundel County officials cut the ribbon on phase I of the South Shore Trail this week.

The original groundbreaking on this section of trail was held back in, checks notes, 1990. Let's just say things didn't go as planned. Land was harder to acquire than they thought and so was money, there was some nimby fear about "thugger-mugger trails" and about the plans to connect it to the Elementary School it passes by because of the bad people it would bring (Unlike the road) and they eventually had to detour around wetlands. 

Anyway, the 1.65 mile section is finally opened and it looks great. See you at the opening of Phase II in 2048!

Also, Happy Bike to Work Day.

Fletcher's Cove makeover will create separate entrance/routes for pedestrians and cyclists.

Earlier this month, NPS held a meeting about a ideas to redesign the Fletcher's cove entrance, roads and parking lots. The project will have a small impact on the Capital Crescent Trail (CCT) and C&O Canal towpath and comments are due May 15th, so if you feel strongly, I suggest you get on it quickly. 

The purpose of the proposed project is to provide more direct and safer transportation connections between Canal Road and the Fletcher’s Boathouse, the C&O Canal towpath, and the Capital Crescent Trail. Some of the problems they've identified are that the single-lane entrance isn't safe; the culvert under the canal has a low clearance that doesn't allow for large work trucks, firetrucks, ambulances or river rescue vehicles to pass through, and it is hard for pedestrians or those with ADA needs to get through the area. 

They've come up with 4 Alternatives with some sub-options for 5 total different designs, with some similar designs and some differences. All five will build a new motor vehicle entrance and make the existing ramp into a bicycle/pedestrian only entrance. All five build a new bike/ped crossing from the ramp, over the road to the lower parking lot, to the bike/ped bridge over the canal to the towpath and the trail. They all update the culvert bridge over Maddox Branch to the latest standard. But then after that they have various differences.

Alternative 1A

Alternative 1 sends vehicles that can't use the culvert, across the existing bridge over the canal with a modified landing for the bridge. The CCT will then be modified to create ramps up and down to that landing. It uses the existing road culvert (tunnel) for vehicles, pedestrian, and bicycle access between the upper and lower parking lots. It removes the stairs on the river side of the CCT and replaces it with a new ramp for pedestrians, cyclists and emergency and maintenance vehicles.

Alternative 1B

Alternative 1B also sends vehicles that can't use the culvert, across the existing bridge over the canal with a modified landing for the bridge. But then those vehicles would drive down the CCT to a ramp to the lower lot that is further south. It uses the existing road culvert (tunnel) for vehicles, pedestrian, and bicycle access between the upper and lower parking lots. 

Alternative 2

Alternative 2 also sends vehicles that can't use the culvert, across the existing bridge over the canal with a modified landing for the bridge then down the CCT to a ramp to the lower lot. But then the existing road culvert (tunnel) would become a pedestrian and bicycle only facility. Drivers would get a new bridge over the canal, towpath and trail.  

Alternative 3

Alternative 3 would build the motor vehicle bridge over the canal, towpath trail but it would serve all motor vehicles (keeping the large ones off the trail and existing bridge). The existing road culvert (tunnel) would become a pedestrian and bicycle only facility as in Alternative 2.

Alternative 4 

Alternative 4 would build a bridge over the canal, towpath and trail, but do so farther south. That new bridge would not serve emergency or maintenance vehicles, and they would instead use the existing bridge and a new ramp down to the lower parking lot, as would cyclists and pedestrians. The stairs would be removed, and the existing road culvert (tunnel) would become a pedestrian and bicycle only facility as in Alternative 2. The CCT will, like in 1A, then be modified to create ramps up and down to the new landing. 

There are some good things and bad things here. The improved entrance off of Canal Road is a big improvement for vulnerable users, and the possibility of getting exclusive use of the culvert is nice. It will be inconvenient to have vehicles on the trail, but it will be a worthy sacrifice to make sure people get the emergency help they need. The bridge over the trails, and the ramps will be disliked, for good reason, but have small impact. 

One opportunity here has to do with the culvert bridge over Maddox Branch. There has often been talk of continuing the Battery Kemble hiking trail under Canal Road through the tunnel Maddox Branch uses, and some have even wanted to use it to connect the Palisades Trolley Trail to the CCT and C&O. If there is any real interest in doing that, then THIS is the opportunity to make it possible. Building the bridge with a plan to accommodate a trail connection will make the whole thing more doable. 

Rock Creek Trestle demolition to close Rock Creek Trail section for two weeks

Teams have started tearing down the Rock Creek Trestle that once carried trains over Rock Creek, and more recently carried Georgetown Branch Trail users over it. As a result the Rock Creek Trail in the area will be closed for about two weeks. 

There has been a rail trestle in this location since 1892 when the B&O railroad constructed a 1400' long 67' high wood structure there. It was reputed to be the largest of its type in the B&O system at that time. "In 1904, much of the span was replaced by fill, reducing its length to 281 feet, and a single steel deck plate girder span inserted over Rock Creek. The trestle was rebuilt in 1928, and again in 1972 following extensive damage done by Tropical Storm Agnes", and a fire in 1967. The bridge was repaired in 2002-2003 at a cost of $1.3 million to allow trail access (working out to about $100,000 a year for the 14+ years it was open). At the time it was noted that

The prefabricated spans can be moved and used for trail bridges elsewhere if the trestle must be removed to make room for a new transit/trail bridge.

But it's unclear if there are plans to actually do this now that it is being removed to make room for a transit bridge. There was also once concern that repairing the trestle would make it harder to build the purple line.

Those who want the light rail say spending $1.3 million on the trestle is a waste of money because the trestle may have to come down to make room for a bridge holding both the rail and the trail. They also say the expense and popularity of the new bridge would make it harder to tear down and build light rail.

"We think it's a terrible waste of money to build this and then tear it down," said Ben Ross, head of Action Committee for Transit, which favors light rail and opposes rebuilding the trestle.

Anyway, it may or may not have been a waste of money, but it didn't stop the Purple Line nor was the PL built without tearing the trestle down as Wayne Phyillaier, chairman of the Coalition for the Capital Crescent Trail at the time theorized. What we do know is that trains will once again run above Rock Creek in this corridor and so will the newly expanded Capital Crescent Trail on a pair of bridges that will look like this:

It will also modify the Rock Creek Park Trail by raising it up higher.

In the meantime, the detour uses Jones Mill Road.

In other CCT news, the Friends of the Capital Crescent Trail has lost another lawsuit (or more accurately, had it dismissed). They're like the Washington Generals of lawsuits. 

Judge Richard J. Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted the Maryland Department of Transportation’s (MDOT) request that he dismiss a lawsuit filed by the organization Friends of the Capital Crescent Trail and a couple of individuals. Leon wrote in his opinion that he granted MDOT’s request because the plaintiffs did not meet the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act, which they had used in their arguments.

Judge Leon included criticism to plaintiffs in his written opinion, saying their first lawsuit was stronger, and since then, their arguments had weakened.

They still have another lawsuit active, and then I hope they'll just give up and move on. To paraphrase Betty Davis in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane, we could be such good friends. 

Planning Board considering redevelopment plans along the Willett Branch Greenway

The Montgomery County Planning Board is considering the redevelopment of the Westwood Shopping Center strip mall, its parking lots, and the area across the street.  The shopping center is more immediate with the sites across the streets submitting only preliminary plans. Staff has recommended they approve the plans, which are being presented today.

The project, located just west of the Capital Crescent Trail, will include separated bike lanes along Westbard Avenue and conveyance of land along Willett Branch for the future Willett Branch Greenway. The project will also realign Westbard and Ridgefiled Roads near River Road, contribute land towards the Springfield Neighborhood Green Urban Park at the Westwood Shopping Center, include easements to allow for access to the Greenway from Westbard Avenue and contribute $500,000 towards construction of the Greenway. 

For the Greenway

The areas to be conveyed now are undeveloped, while those under covenant are currently improved with buildings and parking and will be conveyed at a future date. The Sector Plan envisions the Willett Branch Greenway as an accessible, walkable, ecologically improved and naturalized stream corridor. The creation of this Greenway will naturalize areas of the concrete lined channel, improve the ecological functioning of Willett Branch, and thus Little Falls and the Potomac, Chesapeake Bay, and provide greatly needed pedestrian and bicycle linkages across the plan area and between the two existing linear parks. Once a critical mass of land is acquired for the Greenway, the Parks Department can begin detailed design and implementation, including planning for the historical and cultural resources stewardship of all parcels conveyed.

The Greenway will eventually connect to the Capital Crescent Trail. 

The project is also required to provide over 100 bicycle parking spaces, some in a bicycle room and others outside, and shared use facilities on the new internal streets. 

Separated bike lanes are in blue in the image below.

And the profile where the road has two PBLs is below.

And then where it only has the one.

Greater Lyttonsville Sector Plan Design Guidelines ready for comment

Last year, the Montgomery County Planning Department started work on the Greater Lyttonsville Sector Plan Design Guidelines and later this month they'll be looking for public comment on them.

On Wednesday, February 20, the public is invited to learn more about the guidelines through informal discussions with planners during drop-in hours at the Gwendolyn E. Coffield Community Center (2450 Lyttonsville Road, Silver Spring, MD) from 2:30 to 7:30 p.m. (RSVP to laura.shipman@montgomeryplanning.org with the time you plan to attend).

 

The public is welcome to attend the design guidelines work session with the Planning Board tentatively scheduled for Thursday, March 21. During this session, members of the Planning Board will review and refine the guidelines before the document is finalized. The meeting date will be posted on the project website and the Planning Board agenda website: montgomeryplanningboard.org/agendas/   

Improved bikeability is one of the key visions of the design guidelines which highlights the Capital Crescent Trail that runs through the center of the community. To achieve greater bikeability, the Design envisions

• more public through-block connections to break up large blocks
• healthy tree canopies on bicycle priority streets. Plantings will be prioritized along such routes.
• site design that prioritizes the public sidewalk and bikeways over private vehicular crossings

Some specific facilities called for are

• separated bike lanes and a planting buffer on 16th Street (see below)
• streetscape improvements to sidewalks and bike lanes along Brookville Road and Lyttonsville Place
• Improved connections from the CCT to nearby streets and bikeways, particularly Brookville Road
• An Urban Greenway along a daylighted Fenwick Branch
• Pedestrian and bicycle pathways, stairs and ramps to improve connectivity to the future Purple Line station and recommended open spaces
• new green spaces along the CCT
• Create an identity along the CCT with wayfinding and public art reflecting surrounding neighborhoods.
• Provide consistent lighting and other furnishings along CCT.
• Explore opportunities for distinct spaces for pedestrians and cyclists where feasible to increase safety of all users.
• Provide landscape edges to the CCT including native trees and active public open spaces that are connected to the CCT
• Orient building entries, balconies and transparent ground floors to the trail to activate the CCT and adjacent open spaces.

Great American Bike Trail will start in Washington and end in the other Washington

Rails-to-trails on Wednesday announced its vision for the Great American Bike Trail, a bike route connecting 4000 miles of rail-trail and stretching from Georgetown in Washington, DC to Cedar Falls, WA about 35 miles east of Seattle. Locally, the GABT uses the Capital Crescent Trail and the C&O Tow path. 

"The Great American Rail-Trail is a bold vision—one that will take years to complete. The investment of time and resources necessary to complete this trail will be returned many times over as it takes its place among the country's national treasures," said Laughlin

The Great American Rail-Trail is a signature project of RTC and the most ambitious in its portfolio of TrailNation™ projects—the organization's initiative to encourage the rapid replication of regional trail networks across the country. The trail was first envisioned in the late 1980s by RTC co-founder David Burwell, and for decades has been an underpinning of the organization's strategy to create a nationwide network of public trails. 

The GABT marks the third trans-national trail to pass through or into the DC area. Both the East Coast Greenway, running from Maine to Florida, and the American Discovery Trail, from the Delaware shore to San Francisco, pass through the District. The major difference between this trail from the ADT, is that this one would primarily connect rail trails and the ADT is much more likely to be on-road. 

Interestingly, the western end of this trails ends shy of Seattle, but the railroad grade that it runs on there continues west. In fact there are two tracks from there. One becomes the Snoqualmie Valley Trail which ends in Duvall, WA though the ROW continues up to Monroe, WA. The other, after a 10+mile long gap, becomes the Cedar River Trail. That rail-trail ends in the Seattle suburb of Renton. It's unclear to me why the gap exists or why they stopped the trail where they did, but it means any future Mariners-Nationals World Series won't be called the Great American Bike Trail Series. 

Friends of the Capital Crescent Trail is a 501(c)(3). Are they following the rules?

Friends of the Capital Crescent Trail has filed another lawsuit in an effort to stop the Purple Line. They've done a lot of that, but not much else that I can see. Mostly they've been arguing that the Purple Line Project isn't following the rules, and they get pretty far in the weeds on that. But what's good for the goose as they say.

FOCCT is a 501(c)(3) organization.

To be tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, an organization must be organized and operated exclusively for exempt purposes set forth in section 501(c)(3), and none of its earnings may inure to any private shareholder or individual. In addition, it may not be an action organization, i.e., it may not attempt to influence legislation as a substantial part of its activities and it may not participate in any campaign activity for or against political candidates.

My first question is are they pursuing exempt purposes? 

The exempt purposes set forth in section 501(c)(3) are charitable, religious, educational, scientific, literary, testing for public safety, fostering national or international amateur sports competition, and preventing cruelty to children or animals.  The term charitable is used in its generally accepted legal sense and includes relief of the poor, the distressed, or the underprivileged; advancement of religion; advancement of education or science; erecting or maintaining public buildings, monuments, or works; lessening the burdens of government; lessening neighborhood tensions; eliminating prejudice and discrimination; defending human and civil rights secured by law; and combating community deterioration and juvenile delinquency.

I'd bet that rule is pretty loosy-goosy, but I don't see which one of those purposes they're serving.

My 2nd question is are they an action organization? They do try to influence legislation, but is it a "substantial part" of its activities?

I suspect they're within the broad range of the rules. But only a full investigation can really be sure. 

FOCCT sue the Army Corps of Engineers over the Purple Line

The anti-purple line group - the "Friends" of the Capital Crescent Trail - have sued the Army Corp of Engineers arguing that a permit for the project was issued erroneously. When the Purple Line is complete it will also complete the Capital Crescent Trail between Bethesda and Silver Spring. Purple Line opponent Robert Dyer describes the lawsuit:

The federal water law required that the ACE demonstrate that there was no alternative transportation project that would improve east-west travel in the Maryland suburbs without disturbing federally-controlled waters and wetlands. Jim Roy, VP of Friends of the Capital Crescent Trail said Thursday that the ACE failed to evaluate alternatives and declare one to have the least potential impact on waterways.

And Bethesda Now writes

The Friends of the Capital Crescent Trail and two residents announced Thursday they filed a lawsuit in the federal district court of Maryland challenging the 2018 decision of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to permit the discharge of dredge and fill materials as part of Purple Line construction.

The lawsuit argues the permit issued is invalid and violates the Clean Water Act.

“We also point out in our lawsuit that even if some dredging and filling were necessary, the agencies also failed to evaluate, let alone choose, the least harmful of the alternatives as the law requires,” FCCT Vice President Jim Roy said.

FOCCT has so far not been able to stop the Purple Line project, but they have managed to delay it quite a bit. 

“For a year, construction had been halted because of the lawsuit,” said Gregory Sanders, vice president of the advocacy group Purple Line Now. “It had always been a problem to try to figure out how they could get some of that time back.”

There were also reports that delays have added more than $200 million to the light-rail line’s cost.

I don't know if this is going to succeed in stopping or delaying the project, but it will definitely cost some money, and it won't save the trees - which was one of the main concerns of FOCCT - because those have already been cut down.

The Neal Potter Plaza at The Capital Crescent Trail is now open

Last month The Coalition for the Capital Crescent Trail dedicated the new Neal Potter plaza at River Road. 

Thanks to hundreds of donations, small and large, the park that the Coalition has worked on for years was dedicated on November 3, 2018 as The Neal Potter Plaza at The Capital Crescent Trail, honoring the longtime Montgomery County leader. A large crowd turned out on a sunny Saturday morning in November for the ceremony and ribbon-cutting, with dignitaries from all levels: State and County elected officials, County Parks Department staffers, representatives of the CCCT board and Coalition members.  

Your board has also been involved in other efforts. We developed a realistic proposal for the Little Falls Parkway crossing, giving equal consideration to all forms of traffic at that location. As a long-term solution, our position favors a bridge, but to promote safety in the short-term, we endorse moving the crossing to the Arlington Road intersection. We also continue to install bells on bicycles at our "Bells and Whistles" events to promote safe interaction among trail users, and we represent you on the Capital Trails Coalition as well as with government agencies.

With the park project completed, the board will start 2019 by setting future priorities. We are considering a number of ideas and welcome your suggestions for future projects and issues that should be addressed to enhance the Trail. And, along with other civic organizations, we will continue to follow the progress of the Purple Line and the adjacent rebuilt Capital Crescent Trail.

Please continue your support for the Capital Crescent Trail by making a year-end gift online atwww.cctrail.org or by mail to:

The Coalition for the Capital Crescent Trail

P.O. Box 30703

Bethesda, MD  20824