Why only 10' wide??

The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) presented its design concept for the Purple Line and CCT to the Coalition for the Capital Crescent Trail at its March 10 meeting, reported at the CCCT website.

At the conclusion of the brief CCCT Chair Peter Gray asked the MTA engineers if they could build the CCT to be wider than the 10' width that is now proposed. Peter cited the chronic overcrowding on the CCT in Bethesda and the numerous cyclist vs. pedestrian collisions that result in serious injuries. He described CCCT's effort to advocate to widen the CCT to 16' in some places. Mike Madden gave the MTA position that Montgomery County was responsible for setting the width requirement for the trail. Chuck Kines, M-NCPPC trails coordinator, pointed out that a wider trail would come with significant negative impacts including higher cost, more construction impacts, and possibly a reduction in the width of the buffer between trail and rail.

MTA will not evaluate the cost and impacts of a wider trail unless requested to do so by Montgomery County, and Montgomery County will not make that request without strong pressure from trail supporters.

A proposed trail profile at the Columbia Country Club.
Why must the CCT be only 10' wide when there is room for more?
If the CCT is rebuilt to be only 10' wide between Bethesda and Silver Spring, then that decision will be seen as a serious mistake within days of the opening of the new trail. As Peter Gray said during his remarks, when the CCT between Bethesda and Silver Spring is completed, paved, and connected to the Metropolitan Branch Trail we will see trail traffic many times greater than seen on the Interim CCT now. Montgomery County and MTA are understandably focused on minimizing the initial construction costs and construction impacts. But it will be far more costly to widen the trail later than to build it wide now.