TheWashCycle

WABA: Tell Montgomery County leaders to fund a Bethesda Bike network

Despite the fact that people had been talking about the purple line for 20+ years, the beginning of construction, and closure of the Georgetown Branch, still came suddenly and as a bit of a surprise. One result was that cyclists in the area were left without a key bike route, a situation made worse by the Town of Chevy Chase's refusal to allow a signed interim route on their streets. WABA is arguing that this is as good a reason as any for Montgomery County to rapidly fund a complete, protected bicycle network in Bethesda. This would include

• Woodmont Ave – a 2-way protected bike lane from Wisconsin Ave at Leland St to Norfolk Ave, is the pivotal backbone of the network. It will connect the Capital Crescent Trail to the Bethesda Trolley Trail via Norfolk Ave and the Interim Georgetown Branch Trail along Jones Bridge Rd and Maryland Ave. via Cheltenham Dr.
• Montgomery Ln / Ave – a 2-way protected bike lane will connect Woodmont Ave to Pearl St. and East West Highway, creating a safe crossing of Wisconsin Ave and a new bicycle link to Bethesda / Chevy Chase High School and the many stores and offices on Montgomery Ave.
• Pearl St / Maryland Ave Bikeway – bike lanes and traffic calming will create a low-stress neighborhood bikeway from Montgomery Ave to the Jones Bridge Rd.
• Norfolk Ave / Cheltenham Dr. Bikeway – bike lanes and traffic-calmed neighborhood streets from Woodmont to Pearl St. will create a new safe crossing of Wisconsin Ave and a northern link to the Interim Georgetown Branch Trail.
• Capital Crescent Trail Surface Route – a 2-way protected bike lane crossing Wisconsin Ave. from Woodmont Ave to Elm St via Bethesda Ave, Willow Ln and 47th St. This will reconnect East Bethesda and Chevy Chase residents south of the now-closed Georgetown Branch Trail and serve the important trail crossing while a new trail tunnel is designed and built.

Funds are needed this spring and in July to build these essential safety improvements. Montgomery County’s budget process is already underway. The Woodmont Ave protected bike lane needs more than $1.5 million to construct and additional funds are required for improvements to Montgomery Ln, Pearl Street, Maryland Avenue and Cheltenham Drive to complete the core network.

There's a petition at their website.

Speaking of it being surprising

Travis Ready, a lieutenant commander with the U.S. Public Health Service, bought his home near the intersection of Jones Mill and Jones Bridge roads in Chevy Chase a little more than two years ago.

He knew the Purple Line was a possibility, but he wasn’t sure if it would ever be built on the Georgetown Branch Trail that runs directly behind his home.

Now they're busy clearing trees, creating enormous piles of mulch, which is something of a nuisance to neighbors. 

Some of the most visible cleared spots between Bethesda and Silver Spring include where the Purple Line will pass under Jones Mill Road near Ready’s home and where the line will cross over Connecticut Avenue on a bridge next to the future Chevy Chase Lake station.

Anyone who's lived near construction can sympathize. I live about a mile away, but the driving of piles for the 11th Street Bridge used to shake my house. 

Carla Julian, a spokeswoman for Purple Line Transit Partners, wrote in an email that crews are governed by noise limits in its $5.6 billion, 36-year agreement with the state to build, operate and maintain the line.

She noted that there are some permanent noise monitors in place and more will be installed when tree clearing is complete. Some crew members use handheld noise and vibration monitors while trees are being cut down until the permanent monitors can be installed, according to Julian.

She said tree clearing along the route will wrap up in April, then restart in the fall. 

Julian wrote that after crews finish the tree-clearing process, they’ll begin excavating to build the line’s embankment and installing utilities. She wrote “as with all construction, there will be noise associated with the progress.”

Some of the neighbors, those who opposed the Purple Line, think this will lower their property values, while others acknowledge that it could raise it but states that

“I don’t care about property value. I care about peace and a happy place to live,” she said.

In related news, Chevy Chase voted not to fund the lawsuits for the so-called "Friends of the Capital Crescent Trail" and they lost one of their lawsuits.

approving the money would have “called into question” the town’s policy to ease the impact of the Purple Line project on the town and could put the town back into a position of opposition. The town switched to the mitigation policy in 2015 when it stopped formally opposing the 16.2-mile light-rail project.

It still annoys me to hear them called a "trail group" since they're really an anti-Purple Line group. But maybe now that all their opposition has been for nothing, they'll redirect their friendship towards making the best Capital Crescent Trail possible. 

In an opinion issued Tuesday, judges on the federal court in Washington, D.C., ruled that the Federal Transit Administration and Maryland Transit Administration properly studied the impact Metro’s problems would have on the light-rail project being built in Maryland. As a result, the three judge panel ruled the transit agencies would not have to conduct a new environmental study to examine other potential routes for the Purple Line.

The ruling is likely a major blow to the trail group Friends of the Capital Crescent Trail and the two Town of Chevy Chase residents who had pursued the case against the Purple Line in federal court since 2014.

Still, they aren't done yet.

The trail group and Town of Chevy Chase residents are also pursuing a second case contesting whether the federal government properly vetted the project before providing the federal funding for it. Leon is reviewing that case in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. Earlier this month, attorneys for the state filed a motion to dismiss the case. The plaintiffs could also request the U.S. Supreme Court review the Appeals Court ruling in the Metro-related case.

Georgetown Branch Trail is closed. What now?

I've heard, but not seen photos of, that a large fence now blocks the Georgetown Branch Trail just west of Connecticut Avenue (but that you can still ride from Connecticut to Stewart Ave. Lyttonsville if you're willing to go around the closure sings). So with it REALLY closed, what next? 

A day in court

There are still two court cases (for now) outstanding. There's the case about whether or not the Purple Line EIS has to be redone because it didn't account for a recent decline in Metro ridership and there's one filed last week asking the courts to prevent them from cutting down trees until the first case is settled. Final briefs in the first case were filed last week and the "oral arguments in the case could take place as soon as this fall." On the second case, Judge Leon on Friday denied a request to halt tree cutting.

However, he wrote in his order that he’ll wait until after a preliminary injunction hearing scheduled for Sept. 19 to decide whether his court has the jurisdiction needed to rule on the issue.

That's one day after the state said they're going to start cutting down the big trees, but they've agreed to wait to the 20th now, but not to delay cutting down smaller brush which could cost as much as $6.1 million. "Workers began cutting smaller trees — those less than nine inches in diameter — [last] week."

Some have complained about the rapid way in which the closure happened once permission to do so was given, but I agree with MD Transportation Secretary Pete Rahn on this one

“I find it hard to believe that anyone thought the trail wasn’t going to be closed after a year of litigation,” Rahn said. “I believe it’s common knowledge. We have been talking about this. There have been meetings. The fact is we need to get the project going and I do not believe the notice that was given was inadequate.”

Rahn said notification requirements were altered for the trail closure and for construction activity to occur near the Arliss Street tunnel and also at the Prince George’s County site where the project’s groundbreaking took place last week.

“I’ve got to stress that we are having to make up for nearly a year in delay caused by the lawsuit,” Rahn said. “It cost taxpayers’ money for delays. Frankly, it would cost the public far more than is reasonable to have waited another 30 days to have started work when the public clearly would have seen that construction is going to start.

I'm not sure what people would have done with more notice, except filed more lawsuits. 

Detour

It's a little bit shameful that we have a 5-year closure with a mutli-year warning and the official detour is so awful (they're spending $5.23 million on it - which I can only hope includes the cost of designing the new tunnel). Some of the signage has been up for over a year, but it's not clear that the detour will change the streets in any way other than added signage despite earlier plans for bike lanes. 

While the official detour uses streets many feel are too busy, Mayor Flynn claims that the streets in Chevy Chase are just too quiet and residential to handle cyclists.

But Flynn said past town leaders raised safety issues about encouraging pedestrians and cyclists to cut through quiet neighborhoods.

“There are safety issues; we have narrow streets, a lot of shared driveways,” she said. “The houses are closer together than you might think. The streets are residential streets — they weren’t designed with the trail,” said Flynn.

It does indeed sound very dangerous. I guess we have to look for Goldilocks streets. Rahn gets it right again.

“I find it interesting that Chevy Chase refused to put up signs to designate the alternate route for the trail,” Rahn said. “If Chevy Chase is concerned about this, they should cooperate with helping people know how to get through their community.”

The Air Rights Tunnel

The tunnel will be rebuilt in two parts. One part will be done as part of the Apex Building and the other will be built by the County.

The portion to be built as part of the replacement building is in dark blue and the county section is in light blue on the right-hand side of the image.

Demolition of the Apex Building started in June (putting it behind schedule) with the hardware store moved in August, and will last at least until the end of October

Carr wants to replace the existing structure at 7272 Wisconsin Ave. with office and apartment towers that could soar 300 feet into the sky. The company has also agreed to construct a shell for a future Purple Line station beneath the complex, and despite the legal entanglements that have delayed the light-rail project, the Maryland Transit Administration is holding Carr to a late 2018 deadline, according to the June 19 waiver application.

Sticking to this schedule requires an expedited demolition process, Carr argues in its request for a noise waiver effective from Aug. 1 through Oct. 31.

I'm not sure if the tunnel has been closed down yet or not, but with the rest of the trail closed it's kind of moot.

The developer is also planning to close the Capital Crescent Trail tunnel below Wisconsin Avenue during construction. Carr needs a county permit to shut down the tunnel, and the approval process is on hold until the developer submits a proposed path for rerouting pedestrians, said Tim Cupples, a county transportation designer.

The tunnel will likely remain closed for several years during the redevelopment project, Cupples said. 

At last report, in last March, the county had not budgeted the money for the new trail, though they were approving money for the design.

the County Council’s transportation committee approved a $3.8 million budget item to be funded over three years to plan and design the tunnel that would extend from the planned Purple Line station underneath the Apex Building on Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda to Elm Street Park in Chevy Chase. 

Deputy Council Administrator Glenn Orlin said the county plans to complete the design of the trail tunnel by 2020, then construct it from 2020 to 2022 so it can be finished by the time the Purple Line is planned to open. County officials have estimated the tunnel may cost from $15 million to $30 million, but an exact cost won’t be determined until the design process is complete.

So to get the full trail we need the Purple Line project (~2022), Apex Building project (~2018) and Montgomery County Tunnel (~2022) project all to be complete.

The project will actually include two tunnels for trail users. One will be the new full trail tunnel, but it will also include a pedestrian tunnel that connects to the Bethesda station. There will also be an overpass to take the trail over the Purple Line.

The trail will then travel along the north side of the tracks, over Connecticut Avenue, under Jones Mill Road and then to Rock Creek Park.

The Rock Creek Trestle

 

The current Rock Creek Trestle will be removed and the trail will go across Rock Creek on its own bridge. It will have a connection to the Rock Creek Trail and then carry the trail over the tracks to the south side. 

At times, old bridges will be advertised for reuse and in fact the Capital Crescent/Georgetown Branch Trails use three re-purposed bridges (one of which, the Talbot Avenue bridge is currently available for reuse), but I doubt this one would be a good candidate for saving.  They should burn it to the ground for old times sake (the bridge was a frequent target of arsonists over the years). 

At the CSX tracks, the trail will again cross over the Purple Line (and the railroad tracks) and follow along those to the Silver Spring Transit Center where it will meet up with the Met Branch Trail - which one can dream will be complete all the way to Union Station by 2022.

When God closes an unpaved, interim path he opens a paved permanent one

The new Needwood Bike Path in Rockville

It was a tale of two trails yesterday in Montgomery County as one trail was closed for good and another was opened.

As you may have heard, the Georgetown Branch Trail closed for ever on Tuesday (I apologize that I was unable to make the ride on Monday that I scheduled. We had a health issue with one of the kids and I had to stay home. Bummed I did not get to ride the trail one last time, although from the looks of this photo it's only mostly closed). Here are some photos from the final weekend and there's one posted below.

But it seems I wasn't the only one to think that Monday was an opportunity. On Monday the "Friends" of the Capital Crescent Trail held a rally and announced that "it will seek a federal court order to keep the Georgetown Branch open while litigation around the Purple Line continues." There's a hearing scheduled for this afternoon on a restraining order to halt construction and it is a real hail Mary.

The plaintiffs in the long-running Purple Line lawsuit filed a new lawsuit Tuesday based on the federal Highway Act that argues the state and federal government shouldn’t be allowed to spend money on building the Purple Line because they haven’t properly funded Metro as required by the law.

Leon has scheduled a hearing at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday in his D.C. courtroom on the plaintiffs’ request for a temporary restraining order to prevent any irreversible construction from taking place

Others are upset about the closure too. Upset that the notice from the ribbon cutting to the closure was so short, that the interim route is terrible or that Purple Line Transit Partners (PLTP) isn't doing enough to keep the trail open longer. It is unfortunate that PLTP isn't talking to the press to explain things

A spokesman for Purple Line Transit Partners, a consortium of private companies that will design, build, operate and maintain the light-rail line, declined to comment on the closure.

But they did comment on the work

Chris Doherty, a spokesman for Purple Line Transit Partners, said Tuesday that crews are installing sediment and erosion control fencing along the trail. Then crews will begin clearing underbrush, such as small shrubs and bamboo, along the route later this week. In about two weeks, tree-cutting crews will begin removing trees along the trail, Doherty said.

though, perhaps that's on the advice of lawyers. I've heard some grumbling, and it was in the FOTCC letter, that the aggressive removal of trees is to weaken the lawsuit against the Purple Line.

The letter also alleges the state is rushing to close the trail and begin construction as part of a “political maneuver meant to defeat the private federal lawsuit by fait accompli.”

It's also reasonable that the project is behind schedule and tree cutting was banned by federal law until after September 1st due to nesting seasons, but now that it isn't blocked they want to get started, because that's how construction moves forward. Like I said, it's unfortunate they aren't talking and now local politicians are getting involved. 

Two Montgomery County Council members also expressed concern about the rapid closure of the trail in a letter sent Thursday to the state transportation department. Council President Roger Berliner and council member Tom Hucker wrote the state and county must do more to ensure alternative routes are safe and questioned whether all of the trail needed to be closed immediately.

On the subject of the detour, Chevy Chase is still signaling that it's willing to work out some kind of official route in the town

Chevy Chase Mayor Mary Flynn said the town has been working with Montgomery County and some surrounding municipalities to map out safe alternative routes for cyclists and pedestrians in an area where some streets lack adequate sidewalks, are too narrow to accommodate bikes and cars, or are slated for different types of construction.

Let's hope they find a good alternative. 

As for the long closure, this was forseen and Montgomery County talked about how to mitigate it. Back in 2014, county staff noted that 

The Purple Line is expected to begin construction in 2015 and to begin service in 2020. This will mean that the Capital Crescent Trail could be out of service for as much as 5 years. The County T&E Committee asked MCDOT to develop a detour plan during their work session on February 24, 2014. Staff supports this request, and furthermore requests that MTA include incentives to minimize disruption to the trail.

And recommended that 

The Purple Line RFP should provide a strong incentive to keeping the trail closure to a minimum and phase trail closures in a logical sequence, consistent with construction phasing/schedules. (MTA)

But I couldn't find any such incentives in the RFP. 

It would be a shame if the trail were closed earlier than needed, or kept closed longer than necessary but there isn't any evidence right now that that's the case (but PLTP silence allows for wild speculation). It would ironic if the tactics of FOTC led PLTP to cut down trees sooner than needed, but such is the wacky world of politics and litigation.

Farther north, Montgomery County opened a brand new trail, Phase I of the Needwood Bike Path, pictured above. This got a lot less press (as in none that I can find) but the trail will provide a critical link between the Rock Creek Trail and the ICC Trail and phase I acts as an extension of the latter for now.

It's not shown on the map above, but if you look at the left end of the green line and go straight down to the little pond, that's the current north end of the Rock Creek Trail (via the West Side Trail). 

So while the town of Chevy Chase is losing the Georgetown Branch, they still have the Rock Creek Park Trail on the east and north sides and they can bike all the way up to Rockville and then along the ICC Trail, which makes them pretty lucky if you ask me. 

Phase II of the Needwood Road Path will start this fall, according to the project website. 

Reminder: Today is your last chance to ride the Georgetown Branch Trail

I'll be riding it at 2:30pm starting from the Bethesda Trail head (at the west end of the Air Rights Tunnel) if you would like to join me.

Note: There is an 11th hour effort underway to postpone or scale back the closure

In a letter sent Thursday to the Maryland Department of Transportation, County Council President Roger Berliner and Council member Tom Hucker wrote that the announcement that the trail would close on Tuesday “caught many of us by surprise.” They question the immediacy and length of the closure.

“Is it absolutely essential to close all parts of the trail immediately, particularly on the day kids are returning to school?” they wrote. “We have heard many concerns from parents whose children have routinely used parts of the trail to get to school and believe both the state and county must do more to ensure alternative routes are safe.”

More here

 

Also, it appears the Town of Chevy Chase is rethinking its position on the detour, according to Mayor Mary Flynn

The Town is back in conversations with MC-DOT and I hope to have a resolution in September. The questions were not requirements, but discussion points. Our Council turned over with new members, and the list was compiled to allow all new members and representatives from nearby municipality an opportunity to get up to speed.

Georgetown Branch Trail to close forever on 9/5; "Final" ride 9/4

The Purple Line Project announced yesterday that the Georgetown Branch Trail will close on September 5th to allow for construction of the Purple Line and the Capital Crescent Trail. The extended Capital Crescent Trail that will run in the same right of way will not open for four to five years. There is an official detour - and an unofficial one - that cyclists and pedestrians can use in the interim; but more importantly, Labor Day will be the last day that you can ride the Georgetown Branch Trail FOREVER. 

So, we should do that. I'm inviting anyone who wants to attend the Georgetown Branch Bachelor Party and Final Trail Ride to join me at west end of the Air Rights Tunnel at 3pm  2:30pm on Monday, September 4th, 2017 to ride the trail one last time. 

I've supported the extension of the Capitol Crescent Trail (and the Purple Line) for a long time, but I will miss the Georgetown Branch Trail as it is. The Purple Line opponents have gotten some traction in their opposition because building it means losing something - the faux nature preserve feel of the current trail - even if I and others believe that the new trail will be vastly better, albeit different. That's why I call it a bachelor party. 

It's kind of like having a good friend get married. You're happy for them, you're (usually) sure they'll be better off, and yet there is a certain recognition that things won't be the same. So what else is there to do but have one last hoorah? Don't worry, there will be no strippers, just biking.

As much as I'd like to gloat about this finally getting starting and taunt the Friends of the Capital Crescent Trail for their failed opposition, I'm going to try to better than that. As I see it, this is over. They put up a good fight, but in the end the project won on its merits and now it's time to move on. I'd love to work with them instead of against them. I'd love to see them put their time and energy into advocacy and support for the trail and for a better detour. It would be great to see them evolve into a more traditional "Friends of" group, sponsoring events, clean-ups and community-driven trail improvements while advocating for the best possible trail. So even though I would still pay $50 for a photo of Ajay Bhatt on the future Purple Line, I really hope to see him out on the new trail, perhaps at a 5k he organized.

Until then, and starting on Tuesday, trail users will be redirected to the detour. There's supposed to be a "detailed map" of the official detour here, but so far I don't see it. There is this, which shows it relying heavily on Jones Bridge Road. 

This route is not ideal because "the planners were hamstrung on what route they could choose for the interim trail because the Town of Chevy Chase has so far refused to allow the county to use its streets....The interim route does not include installation of new cycling infrastructure—such as separated bike lanes—and depends on riders and walkers using the signs to guide themselves while traveling the route." Here is a place where FoCCT could redirect their efforts (once the lawsuit is done, of course).

And here's a different route, described going west:

From Candy Cane Village in Rock Creek just south of E-W Highway: Ride up the hill on Woodbine (next to Rollingwood School); turn left onto Brookville Road at the top; ride about 2/3 mile to Raymond Street and turn right, which will carry you to Connecticut Avenue, where you can cross at a light. Continue past Chevy Chase Elementary, through the circle and onto Stanford Street heading west. Turn right on East Street when you get to it, bend around onto Leland and cross Wisconsin (again at a light). In 200 yards you'll be at the CCT rear entrance.

Or a map of it can be found here.

Perhaps someone should create some unofficial signage to guide people along this detour (or a better one if people can come up with one).

Until then, we still have a few days left on the current trail. See you on September 4th! 

Capital Crescent Trail extension wins some small victories

Update: at almost the same time this went to post, it was announced that there will be a groundbreaking ceremony for the Purple Line in Hyattsville on Monday at 10am. [I worry that this is a bit premature, without an FFA and a resolution to the law suit, this would be really embarrassing if one of those falls through. Sort of like the ground breaking ceremony for the Anacostia Starter Line in 2004.

The Capital Crescent Trail extension project, often referred to as the Purple Line, has made some small progress since the project hit a major roadblock in 2016 when a judge vacated approval of the project. 

Last month, it was announced that a U.S. Senate transportation spending plan included $100 million to build the purple line. That is not the same as the money being approved or allocated or anything. Right now it is just a gleam in Chris Van Hollen's eye, but it's a start. 

The state can’t receive any federal money for the Purple Line until, or unless, it signs a multiyear Full Funding Grant Agreement with the U.S. Transportation Department. 

The congressional ban on earmarks prevents money from being explicitly designated to individual projects. However, Van Hollen said, the bill includes “funding sufficient to support the Purple Line,” with $100 million in fiscal 2018, which starts Oct. 1.

In the meantime, work has restarted since the Court of Appeals restored federal approval of the Purple Line project, pending the results of Maryland's appeal.

The work includes soil boring, surveying, design reviews, steps to purchase additional land needed for the project, and work on specific construction contracts.

And the legal fight continues

[In early August], the opponents filed a motion asking the lower court judge who had blocked the project to hold it up again, despite the fact that the appeals court has put his ruling on hold until a three-judge panel can hear full arguments.

This week, Judge Richard Leon denied that motion and called some of the arguments in it “bald statement[s]” that appeared to go beyond the facts.

The opponents of the line have now filed their own appeal of Leon’s final ruling that challenges the parts that went against them.

And Randall O'Toole has crawled out of his lair to hurl insanity at the project. Ridesharing and robot cars are going to make transit useless soon.

This means it makes no sense for Maryland or anyone else to build new light-rail lines. Construction of the Purple Line would barely be completed before most of its potential customers are taken away by shared driverless cars.

This is the same reason you don't need to quit smoking - because cancer is going to be totally cured before you need to worry about it. O'Toole goes on to state that "the Purple Line has been presented as a solution to congestion". Of course, that's a lie. Here are the stated purposes of the Purple Line:

• Provide faster, more direct, and more reliable east-west transit service connecting the major activity centers in the Purple Line corridor at Bethesda, Silver Spring, Takoma/Langley Park, College Park, and New Carrollton,
• Provide better connections to Metrorail services located in the corridor, and
• Improve connectivity to the communities in the corridor located between the Metrorail lines.

Furthermore, the reason that travel speeds slightly increase is that the MWCOG travel demand model doesn't take into account changing density patterns that are not on the regional plan. The "no build" analysis does not count people moving farther away and having to drive, and the transit analysis does not count increased density near Purple Line stations soaking up that population increase. He finishes by claiming that the state determined that buses would meet all the project goals at a lower cost (spoiler: it didn't) and that light rail never spurred development. 

Despite that, there is more positive news. DOJ attorneys filed a brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals in D.C. arguing that Leon's ruling should be overturned. 

The plaintiffs have until Sept. 8 to submit their brief in response to the federal government’s argument.

Oral arguments in the case could take place as soon as this fall. The court order for the expedited briefing schedule notes that the clerk will schedule the arguments “on the first appropriate date” after both sides submit their briefings.

Other than the ruling, the only other barrier is the funding agreement, and progress is being made there as well.

A federal funding agreement for a 16-mile light rail project in the traffic-choked suburbs of the nation’s capital is expected to be signed “in the very near future,” a spokesman for Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said

If the case is settled in the fall, is it to early to hope that the project is underway by the end of the year?

Thanks to Chevy Chase the interim Capital Crescent Trail is going to suck, just like Chevy Chase

Chevy Chase sucks and, as a result, it looks like the (official) interim Capital Crescent Trail is going to too. 

the route proposed by planners would take walkers and cyclists entering the [interim] Capital Crescent Trail from the entrance near Bethesda Row on a sign-guided route through streets in downtown Bethesda, then north along Pearl Street and Maryland Avenue, east onto Jones Bridge Road and through Rock Creek Park, and then onto roads in the Lyttonsville area before arriving in downtown Silver Spring.

The interim route does not include installation of new cycling infrastructure—such as separated bike lanes—and depends on riders and walkers using the signs to guide themselves while traveling the route.

To quote one commenter

I'm a very confident road/off-road cyclist and ride Jones Bridge regularly on the weekends. It's dangerous and can be terrifying. As a designated cycle route, it borders on irresponsible in its current state. I'd like to invite County planners to ride it during commuting hours and see what they think.

The reason for this route is that the Town of Chevy Chase refused to allow Montgomery County to route the interim trail through its streets once the Georgetown Branch Trail closes for Purple Line construction.

Chevy Chase Town Manager Todd Hoffman said Wednesday town leaders and residents are concerned that the town’s narrow streets can’t safely accommodate the number of cyclists and walkers who may use the interim trail. He also said there are concerns about whether those users would conflict with ongoing utility replacement projects in the town.

Or maybe they're still sore about the Purple Line project which they have doggedly opposed for decades, even though "The Town of Chevy Chase says it has ended its active opposition to the Purple Line and will aim to work cooperatively with the Maryland Transportation Administration to resolve concerns about the line's design. A September 9, 2015, Town Council meeting approved a resolution stating that “the Town of Chevy Chase wishes to focus its efforts on mitigation of, rather than opposition to, the Purple Line.”"

Anyway, the only reasonable thing to do is to create an unofficial route that uses the roads in Chevy Chase. Putting such a route online is easy, but to really be effective, it has to also be on the streets. I see the plan working like this:

1. Crowdsource a route from the Bethesda end of the CCT to the Silver Spring Transit Center. I'm thinking it would start on Willow and Leland and then maybe Beach, W Beach, Kalmia, E Beach, N Portal and Colesville Road, but that's after a quick glance and without intimate knowledge of the area. I'm sure others from up there could do better.
2. Post the route on the internet in as many places as possible.
3. Nap (I always like to work one of these in when I can)
4. Trail blaze it with a combination of paint and stickers. A few rolls of this could do the trick.
5. Watch Chevy Chase's utility repairs grind to a halt. Not going to be able to watch your precious "Matlock" reruns without cable are you Chevy Chase?

I'd be happy to help coordinate these things if people are interested. 

The proposed interim trail route from Bethesda to Silver Spring. (Blue line drawn by Bethesda Beat for emphasis- click here to see it larger

From the archives: Opening the Air Rights Tunnel

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.

Montgomery County Council approves plan for bike lanes, trails near Lyttonsville and Purple Line

Last week the Montgomery County Council approved the Lyttonsville Sector Plan, which sets up a framework for how to reorient and rebuild the area once the Purple Line and Capital Crescent Trail are built through it.

Bicycle Facility map

The Planning Board draft is not much different from the working draft I wrote about 16 months ago, but there are some things relevant to cycling which I don't think I mentioned, or have changed. It also keeps the new language about the Talbot Avenue Bridge. As a refresher, here's a list of all the proposed bicycle facilities

Another presentation has this rendering of 16th Street with its separated bicycle lane.

In addition to all of these facilities, they call for new and better bike parking, Capital Bikeshare stations, and better intersections. They also want the whole area to be a Bicycle-Pedestrian Priority Area (BPPA).

Part of the Greater Lyttonsville Sector Plan area was designated as a Bicycle-Pedestrian Priority Area (BPPA) through the 2013 Countywide Transit Corridors Functional Master Plan. The area currently designated as a BPPA is west of 16th Street, east of Rosemary Hills Drive and the Spring Center shopping center on 16th Street. The BPPA should be expanded to include the entire Sector Plan area to support the future Purple Line stations and anticipated increase in pedestrian activity within the area.

The plan also calls for a greener Lyttonsville and much of that will benefit cyclists too.

For example, they want the Capital Crescent Trail to be a linear green space and they plan to get there through regulatory requirements for public and common space along the Trail for expanded activity areas, stormwater management and planting buffers. Furthermorehe plan calls for prioritizing street tree planting along connecting streets with bicycle lanes.

Daylighting streams will also create more and greener trails. A section of Donnybrook Stream is currently piped underground parallel to the existing Georgetown Branch trail, and they suggest daylighting it as a public amenity adjacent to the Capital Crescent Trail. They would also like to daylight a long section of Fenwick Branch and build a shaded hard surface park trail connecting to a planned natural surface trail on parkland south of East-West Highway. That trail could be continued to the DC boundary, and from there perhaps to the Rock Creek Park Trail.

 

 

Apex Building replacement will create (part of) a new tunnel for the Capital Crescent Trail with a bike parking and maintenance space

The developers of the Apex Building site recently submitted a sketch amendment to their site plan and it has some good information on what the Capital Crescent Trail (CCT) will look like through the site. The Georgetown Branch currently passes through the site in the old trail tunnel, but that space will feature the Purple Line and its station. The developers are required to design, build and maintain the CCT which will pass through the site in a new tunnel built south of the current tunnel. They also have to build a bicycle storage and maintenance facility and the western entrance to the trail.

The developers are responsible for building the trail's western portal to the Woodmont plaza.

On the floor plan below, you can see how the trail is moved south, how its line has been rerouted and where it ends with a knockout panel on the east side. The trail will be 12 feet wide with 2-foot unpaved shoulders on each side. On the east side, the developers will build the trail up to the eastern edge of the property line, and the county will build the rest of the tunnel from there, under Wisconsin Avenue and then another block to Elm Street Park. 

(I have no idea what the referenced Note 8 is. There must be a larger version of these diagrams elsewhere.)

Unfortunately, 

there’s no clear plan for rebuilding the rest of the tunnel to where the trail emerges near Elm Street Park, county officials learned at a Jan. 5 planning meeting.

The tunnel for the trail, estimated to cost $15 million to $30 million, is part of the downtown Bethesda master plan, but no funding is in place to build the underground link, said Tim Cupples, a county transportation designer.

Cupples said it’s only been about seven months since the county and Carr struck an agreement for reworking the section of the underground trail that passes under the developer’s site. At the eastern edge of its property, Carr will install a panel that can be torn down if the other trail tunnel section is constructed.

I don't like the use of the word "if" there, but I'm not too worried the rest of the tunnel won't happen. And the Apex section of the tunnel won't be finished for four years, at the earliest.

The proposed underground trail section, if built, would run underneath Wisconsin Avenue and the buildings that stand along Elm Street, and Cupples said the county will have to work with those property owners to finish the tunnel link.

funding for the trail tunnel likely wouldn’t be considered until the next full CIP review in 2019. However, the council does have the option to fund the project as a supplemental appropriation before the CIP review.

The storage and maintenance facility's design takes advantage of the deep floor‐to‐ceiling height to create upper and lower levels connected by a helical ramp system.  The space includes a deceleration area at the trail entrance and room to park over 250 bikes, and has the potential to include showers, changing rooms and other amenities.  While this plan will fix the size, location, and arrangement of the platforms and ramps, the “fit‐out” of the space and its operation will be determined at a later stage by MCDOT, either directly or by contract

And you can see from this furnishings concept that it can possibly store a lot of bikes, some accessed by going down to a bike storage facility and some by going up.

During construction, trail uses will lose access to the tunnel.

The county is pushing forward on a roughly $5.23 million project to construct the surface-level path that would send cyclists and pedestrians across Wisconsin Avenue. The county has budgeted about $1.9 million in fiscal 2018 for the interim, above-ground path that has been designed to take trail users around the tunnel as the Purple Line is constructed.

The county has already budgeted about $54 million over the next six years to rebuild the Capital Crescent Trail and pave the interim Georgetown Branch Trail from Bethesda to Silver Spring next to the Purple Line. Those funds are also being used to rebuild the Bethesda Metro station’s south entrance near the Apex Building and build the Silver Spring Green Trail between Spring Street and the Sligo Creek Trail.