Finish the Trail

Town study biased by its scope.

2008-07-18T11:05:00.003-04:00

The Town of Chevy Chase has hired a transportation consultant, Sam Schwartz, to perform a study of Bus Rapid Transit on Jones Bridge Road, and also to help the Town conduct a public relations compaign against building the Purple Line next to the Town along the Georgetown Branch Trail. The Schwartz study, and a portion of the correspondence between the Town and public officials, is available at the Town website.

MTA believes many of the Schwartz study "findings" are in error. The Secretary of Transportation first answered some of the claims the Sam Schwartz study makes in a letter to the Town. A July 8 MTA briefing to the Western Montgomery County Citizens Advisory Board Transportation Committee addressed more of the issues. MTA Purple Line project Manager Mike Madden has also released an informal memo addressing some more recent assertions from the Town about the Trail. MTA is trying to schedule a meeting with the Town in a few weeks, and will be releasing a lengthy technical report that addresses the study assertions in detail.

I won't get into the Schwartz vs. MTA assessments of the effectivenes or BRT on Jones Bridge Road here. But Sam Schwartz makes claims about the impact of the Purple Line on the CCT that I must challenge. I gave a short list of questions for Sam Schwartz to the Mayor of the Town of Chevy Chase, Pat Burda, in late May. The questions that most concern me are:

- Why does Schwartz portray the safety restraint structures on the top of trail ramps and on the elevated trail structure in the Bethesda tunnel as solid walls, when chain link fences and cages are more than adequate for safety and more typical for elevated trail structures?
- Why does Schwartz assert a trail ramp to elevate the trail at the east end of the Bethesda tunnel must be 1200'+ long to meet ADA requirements, when only 500' is needed to meet ADA requirements?
- Why does Schwartz assert the trail effective width will be less than 10' in many places while MTA finds they can and will provide a full 10' wide trail with 2' clearance on both sides throughout this entire area?

The Schwartz choice of solid walls instead of chain link fences for safety on elevated structures especially troubles me, because it suggests an unfair bias. This is most evident in the difference between MTA and Sam Schwartz' concepts for the elevated trail structure in the Bethesda Tunnel. Let's start by being realistic about the condition of the trail in the tunnel now:

The trail is confined in the tunnel to 14' between fences
The tunnel is dimly lit and not attractive. Trail safety from crime is provided mainly by "eyes on the trail" of other trail users.

If the Purple Line is built, then the trail would need to be in an elevated structure in the tunnel. The MTA concept for this is presented on the MTA website:
A fence is suggested along the north side of the trail.
The clearance between fences is proposed to be at least 14'.

The choice of a fence for safety in this concept is important. A fence would allow trail users to see and be seen by transit users at the station below. Since MTA estimates there will be over 13,000 people boarding transit at this station every day, the number of "eyes on the trail" will be over 10 times that in the tunnel today. Riding a bike on this elevated structure will be like riding along a long balcony, with a view below along one side through the length of the tunnel.

Now let's see Sam Schwartz' concept for this elevated structure, as he presents it in his Town study:

A solid wall completely encloses the trail.
The clearance between walls is stated to be only 10'.
Having selected a solid wall to enclose the trail, Sam Schwartz then goes on to claim the trail will be too "tomb-like". Well, yes it will be. If his design is used.

Why would Schwartz ignore the most common, and far cheaper, use of fences for safety on elevated trail structures and instead show solid walls in his concepts? Chain link fences are everywhere on trails, including very nearby on the CCT:

CCT at River Road

Imagine crossing River Road on the bridge, above, if the fences on the ramps and the chain link cage on the span were replaced by all solid walls. I'll take the chain link fence any day. Be thankful Sam Schwartz did not design this bridge!

Pat Burda forwarded my questions to Sam Schwartz, who then gave detailed answers in a memo response. I followed up with another memo to Pat Burda detailing why I felt Schwartz' answers fell short. Sam Schwartz continues to defend his solid walls. He asserts that a chain link fence or cage could not provide adequate protection between trail users and the electric wires that would be about 10' away over the north side transit tracks. Schwartz does not explain how trail users would touch the wires through a chain link fence. Are we to believe people are at risk from sticking a 10' pole through the fence to touch the wire? What would prevent people from using that same 10' pole to reach up and touch the wire from the station platform below? Have people been using 10' long poles to reach out and touch any of the thousands of wires along thousands of streets where street cars have been operating around the world?

Our exchange on the other trail design issues, such as the length and width of the proposed ramp at the east end of the tunnel, followed a similar pattern with Schwartz always taking the most severe trail design. I am left with the belief that Schwartz displays a definite bias toward making the impact of the Purple Line on CCT appear as severe as possible.

This long memo exchange with Sam Schwartz about his trail designs misses the larger issue: Any study of the trail that is limited to the Town of Chevy Chase will be severely biased by its scope. The Town asked Schwartz to consider the impact of the Purple Line on only the short section of the CCT at the Town, west of the Country Club, even though the BRT on Jones Bridge Road option the Town is promoting would place buses alongside all of the trail east of Jones Mill Road.

The Schwartz study examines less than 1/4 of the future CCT,
making the study very incomplete.

As I concluded in my memo to Pat Burda:

"But by far the greatest bias in Sam Schwartz’ study is not Sam’s fault. The Town of Chevy Chase limited the scope of the study to examine the impact of the Purple Line on only the short section of the future CCT adjacent to the Town, from Woodmont Avenue to the Country Club. This is a segment of the future CCT where the impact is worse than typical, due to the worse than average constraints at the Bethesda tunnel. Any study that examines only this section will conclude the Purple Line impacts are on balance negative, but will be very incomplete."

"The future CCT will extend 4.4 miles from Woodmont Avenue to Colesville Road. If Sam Schwartz had extended his study only a few feet east into the Columbia Country Club, he would have found a trail that is now constrained to be only 16’ wide between high chain link fences in places, and with a 100’ right-of-way available for transit and trail. If Sam had extended his study east of Jones Mill Road, he would have found that over half of the future CCT, 2.4 miles, lies east of Jones Mill Road and would not be spared from the impacts of the BRT on the Jones Bridge Road alternative alignment. If Sam had continued east to my Woodside neighborhood and to the Silver Spring CBD he would have found a long section where the interim CCT is still on road with at-grade crossings of busy highways, and where the Purple Line is needed to complete the trail as an off-road trail. The impacts of transit on the trail will be on balance very positive in this section, balancing against the negative impacts at the Town of Chevy Chase. The future of the trail is as important in Silver Spring as it is in the Town of Chevy Chase."

I go on to ask that Sam Schwartz take the Trail Ride with me:

"Pat Burda is suggesting Sam and I try to meet when he is in the area in late July. I do not object to a meeting, but doubt that it will be productive if we only rehash this discussion. I propose that since Sam is an avid cyclist, he might find it much more productive to do a quick tour with me by bike, of the 4.4 miles of the future CCT between Bethesda and Silver Spring. I have a decent bike I can loan him, and the round trip can be done in 2 hours including time for stops along the way to check out Purple Line issues. Sam needs to see the rest of the future CCT before he can put the impact of the Purple Line on the trail into proper perspective."

Stay tuned - I'll let you know if Sam Schwartz agrees to get out of Chevy Chase to see the rest of the future Trail.

Tear down that fence

2008-07-11T05:50:00.003-04:00

Casey Anderson writes in a July 9 Gazette letter:

"Why doesn’t County Executive Ike Leggett take steps to remove the fences that allow the country club and its members the exclusive use of this public property free of charge. Alternatively, I would like to see Mr. Leggett start charging the club rent for the use of the right-of-way. The money generated from renting the land could be used to extend the trail to Silver Spring, where we have waited 20 years for it as part of the Purple Line project."

The public owns a 100' wide right-of-way
but fences pinch the trail into a 16' wide cage.

This could be a win situation for the trail and the public. If the fence is taken down, then the trail could be widened for a safer, more pleasant trail. If, alternatively, the Columbia Country Club pays a fair price to use the public land it is now encrouching upon, then the money could be used to maintain and extend the trail.

The trail section through the Club is approx. 1/4 mile long.

We're talking about approx. 120,000 square feet, or nearly 3 acres, of prime public land that the Country Club is now using for free. Fair market value rent for this land would be more than pocket change for a County that is facing tight budgets for maintaining trails. Has this idea never occured to our County Executive or Council?

Since the Club President can take time to write County Officials to tell them how much he loves the trail, maybe he will take time to write another letter to announce that his Club will start to compensate the public fairly for using the trail right-of-way for golf.

Sharing the Trail

2008-05-28T07:30:00.002-04:00

There are over 10,000 uses of the Interim Capital Crescent Trail just east of the Bethesda Tunnel each week. The "Save the Trail" advocates throw that fact out at every opportunity to support their claim the Interim CCT is too valuable a public resource to be compromised by sharing with Purple Line transit. But if you look at the numbers more closely, a different story emerges.

The over 10,000 counted weekly uses of the Interim CCT comes from a trail traffic survey done in 2006 and reported by the Coalition for the Capital Crescent Trail at CCCT survey. The chart above shows that the 10,000 weekly uses on the Interim CCT was counted at Elm Street Park, near the Bethesda end of the Interim CCT. But this is only about 1/2 of the weekly uses seen on the permanent, paved CCT (Georgetown, Brookeway, and Bethesda Ave.) This strongly suggests that the Interim CCT is now only being used at about 1/2 of its potential at its Bethesda end. Interim CCT weekly uses at Grubb Road, near Rock Creek, is a small fraction of the Interim CCT use at Bethesda.

The trail survey shows that the Interim CCT has not come close to reaching its potential. If the Interim CCT is paved, is completed through Silver Spring neighborhoods, and is connected to the Silver Spring Transit Center and to the Metropolitan Branch Trail, then use of the CCT in Silver Spring will increase to levels similar to that seen in Bethesda.

Another set of numbers need to be considered in any discussion of how to get the highest public use of this trail corridor. MTA released its most recent ridership estimates for the Purple Line during May public workshops. MTA now estimates that as many as 13,000 riders will board Purple Line light rail at the proposed Bethesda station every day. More people would use the Purple Line station in the Bethesda tunnel each day than now use the Interim CCT in the tunnel in a whole week. MTA estimates there will be as many as 68,000 daily boardings on the 16 mile long Purple Line system.

So what point are "Save the Trail" advocates trying to make when they throw out the "over 10,000" weekly uses as though it is a huge number? That is a small number compared to how many would use the CCT east of Bethesda if it were completed. It is a tiny number compared to the number who would benefit from better transit alongside the trail in this corridor.

I assert in the Keeping it in Balance first post on this blog that the Purple Line must be sold on its merits overall, and not just to enable us to finish the trail. But the Purple Line should also not be stopped just to enable the 10,000 weekly trail uses to remain as they are now at Bethesda. The CCT would not exist today had the council not voted in 1988 to purchase the right-of-way for the rail line. It is fair to ask the 10,000 to share the trail.

Lessons from the ICC bike trail.

2008-05-04T18:14:00.008-04:00

Our most recent walk of the future Purple Line/CCT alignment was held under beautiful weather (at last) on May 3. Several of the dozen hikers who began the walk opted to walk the entire 5 miles with me to Bethesda.

One of the hikers was convinced that promises to rebuild the CCT alongside the Purple Line were empty promises being made by public officials to get the public to accept the project, and that the CCT would be taken out of the project later, as "not essential", to reduce costs.

How can we trust government to keep its promises for the CCT when we have the ICC Bike Trail as an example? Local and state government have just stripped much of that important bike trail out of the project after "discovering" late in the process that the trail adds to the cost and environmental impact of this multi-lane highway project. We can still afford the cost and environmental impact of a billion dollar ICC roadway, but apparently cannot afford the cost and environmental impact of the trail alongside it. The evident hypocracy of this position is explored in the WashCycle blog.

There are strong similarities between the ICC Bike Trail and the CCT:

Politicians and public officials promise a first class trail early in the project process to get public support.

The trail marginally adds cost and environmental impacts to the project.

We can expect local and state government to be under pressure to trim the project back after the project is approved and the actual costs start to exceed the estimated costs.

But there are also very strong differences between the ICC Bike Trail and the CCT:

The Purple Line/CCT project between Bethesda and Silver Spring will be built in officially recognized transportation corridors, and not through parks or wetlands. There are trees within the Georgetown Branch transportation corridor that must be replaced by planting trees elsewhere, but nonetheless this is an old railroad corridor and is not a park. This is in direct contrast to the ICC which must be built through several sensitive parklands, and where the Sierra Club opposes the ICC Bike Trail as adding to the park destruction. Environmental groups including the Sierra Club support the Purple Line/CCT project as being environmentally friendly overall.

An Interim CCT is already in place with over 10,000 uses each week. A powerful trail constituency has been established. Several advocacy groups have formed to protect the CCT, including the Coalition for the Capital Crescent Trail, and are ready and able to mount a public outcry and to raise legal challenges in response to any effort to strip the CCT from the Purple Line project. This is in contrast to the ICC, where the trail is still only a vision and has not developed a broad constituency.

The CCT is an integral part of the Purple Line project. Light-rail depends upon easy access to local stations for its ridership. The Purple Line concepts being evaluated in the Preliminary Environmental Impact Statement/Alternatives Analysis (PEIS/AA) include the CCT as an integral feature that provides important pedestrian access to the transit stations. Removing the trail after the project that is based on these designs has been approved by the Federal Government would invite a serious legal challenge to the project. This is in contrast to the ICC, where the ICC Trail has no significant functional interaction with the highway and can be removed without compromising the roadway usage.

A friend once commented during a discussion about trusting government: "No matter how cynical you are, it is not enough!" I trust transportation bureaucrats to know when their project can be stopped by legal challenges. I also trust elected officials to know their careers can end if they break their promise to protect the most popular trail in the region. Do I trust too much?

We're #1! We're #1!

2008-04-25T17:10:00.008-04:00

Eric Gilliland, of WABA, has sent an email alert:

"The winner for the stupidest bike lane in America goes to Silver Spring MD! We’re # 1! We’re #1!"

http://slatev.com/player.html?id=1504447505

I know I should not say "I told you so!" But I saw the potential for this bike lane to be recognized as world class when it was built, and featured The Cedar Street Wrong Way Bikeway in my Silver Spring Trails website until last year. It is good to see this bike lane finally get the recognition it deserves.

This may appear to be off topic for this Finish the Trail blog. But the same people who designed this Cedar Street bike lane, Montgomery County DPWT, will be responsible for the design to finish the CCT into Silver Spring. Keep that in mind when they assure us "trust us - we know what we are doing!"

A "natural Trail" for Golf

2008-04-10T16:00:00.005-04:00

Can playing too much golf can make you think a "natural Trail" looks like this?

The Interim CCT at the Columbia Country Club. Trail users are confined in a 16' wide linear cage even though the public owns a 100' wide right-of-way here.

Mr. J. Paul McNamara, President of the Columbia Country Club, wrote to the Montgomery County Council in a January 13 letter: "I, along with thousands of other Trail users, would be distressed to see this natural Trail degraded and the surrounding mature forest destroyed for a light rail Purple Line."

The text of Mr. McNamara's letter is cut-and-paste directly from Chevy Chase neighborhood activist Pam Browning's call for emails to stop the Purple Line. Mr. McNamara presents himself as a trail user and does not disclose his affiliation with the Country Club in his letter. Perhaps Mr. McNamara feels this is necessary to preserve the "grass roots" appearance of the new club grass roots campaign to stop the Purple Line.

One wonders how Mr. McNamara can see the trail at his Country Club as it exists, narrowly confined between high black fences and treeless near the putting greens, and still believe it is "natural". But maybe if you play a lot of golf at the Columbia Country Club, in time you begin to feel it is "natural" to play golf in the 100' wide right-of-way that the public owns while the public is confined to a 16' wide cage. Many of us who are not members of the Club would feel the Trail is more natural if, say, the fences were removed and trees were planted to replace the golf cart paths and putting greens now in the 100' wide right-of-way. With 100' to work with, we could widen the trail, share the corridor with the Purple Line, and still have more trees in the remaining right-of-way.

Transit on grass tracks alongside a trail.
If trees and grass tracks replace the golf cart paths and putting greens now within the Georgetown Branch right-of-way at the Columbia Country Club, we would have a more natural trail setting than exists there now.

Crossing Colesville

2008-04-01T21:00:00.003-04:00

The alignment the future CCT takes across Colesville Road to connect with the Metropolitan Branch Trail will determine whether the CCT will complete an urban trail network of regional importance.

Looking north toward Colesville Road from above the Silver Spring transit center. The Georgetown Branch Trail now ends at Second Avenue on the north side of Colesville Road (right center in the photo above).
Click here for a larger view.

Construction of the new Silver Spring Transit Center will begin in earnest this summer. A three level bus deck will be built in the center where the bus bays are now. Two high rise buildings will be built at the northeast and southeast corners. The northern terminus of the Metropolitan Branch Trail will be built with the transit center construction. The MetBranch Trail will enter the transit center from the south, alongside the CSX corridor.

The future CCT needs a direct alignment that gives a safe crossing of Colesville Road and an easy MetBranch Trail connection through all of the heavy vehicle and pedestrian activity at the new transit center. The Purple Line transit/trail concept will provide this connection. The concept calls for the CCT to be built across Colesville Road and straight through the transit center alongside the CSX/Metro tracks on an elevated structure. The CCT would be at the same elevation as the CSX/Metro tracks but separated from them by a 25'+ buffer space. The CCT would also be at the same level as the existing MARC platform and the new second level bus deck, and would have a pedestrian bridge connection across to the elevators and escalators from the second level bus deck down to the first level of the transit center. The CCT be at the high elevation needed for a level connection to the MetBranch Trail at the south side of the transit center.

The Purple Line transit would also go across Colesville Road and through the transit center on an elevated structure, between the CCT and the CSX/WMATA tracks and about 20' higher than the CCT. The structure holding the Purple Line high above the trail would be similar to that holding the Metro Red Line above the Beltway and Rockville Pike in North Bethesda.

It is unlikely the CCT will ever be built on this alignment without the Purple Line. The Metro Plaza Building proximity to the CSX tracks on the north side of Colesville Road creates a serious "choke point" for this alignment. The CCT can get through this choke point as a 10' wide trail IF an agreement can be reached with CSX and WMATA to build a retaining wall at the minimum required 25' safety standoff within their r.o.w., IF a several foot wide easement can be taken from the west side of the Metro Plaza building lot to allow the trail to be built to within 2' of the building at the south corner, and IF we can fund the high cost of the retaining wall and the elevated structure over Colesville Road and through the Transit Center. We need the Purple Line to leverage the CSX operating agreements and easements, and to share the cost of combined transit/trail structures.

If the CCT is not built on this alignment, then the best alternative alignment past the Metro Plaza Building will be on along Second Avenue. But that will force the CCT onto an at-grade trail crossing of Colesville Road, a six lane highway busy with bus traffic coming into the busiest bus station in Maryland. After crossing Colesville Road the CCT must either use a path through the transit center or go around the transit center on a sidepath trail along Wayne Avenue and Ramsey Avenue to connect to the MetBranch Trail. Any route through the center will conflict with the heavy bus and pedestrian activity in the center, and will require cyclists to dismount and walk their bikes through most of the center. A sidepath trail going around the center must deal with the motor vehicle conflicts from crossing the entrances to the second level bus deck, the third level kiss-and-ride and taxi deck, and entrances to the high rise buildings.

You don't have to be a trail advocate to want the direct CCT connection into the new transit center. Anyone who lives or works north of Colesville Road and wants to use Metrobus, MARC, or the Purple Line will want the grade-separated trail crossing of Colesville Road.

The Girl Scout Test

2008-03-28T21:30:00.004-04:00

A bike trail should be designed to be safe. But it must also be perceived as safe if it is to be widely accepted.

One way to check a trail's perceived safety is to apply the "Girl Scout Test". I first heard of this test from M-NCPPC planners years ago when we were looking for the best future CCT alignment for the North and West Silver Spring Master Plan. The Girl Scout Test works like this: You are planning to take Girl Scouts on a bike ride. They have bike skills typical of pre-teens. They can ride in a straight line, keep right, and stop at stop signs without being told. But they are inexperienced and unpredictible around motor vehicle traffic. If you feel comfortable that a trail is safe for your Girl Scouts to bike on, then that trail passes the Girl Scout Test.

The Girl Scout Test helps to explain why the Georgetown Branch Trail is so little used in Silver Spring. Would you take your Girl Scouts on a trail that crosses a major highway like this?

Looking north along the Georgetown Branch Trail
at Second Avenue and 16th Street.

Finding a safe trail crossing of 16th Street is one of the major challenges for the future CCT. Crossing 16th shows how this will be done with the Purple Line transit/trail. Purple Line opponents need to explain how they would have their trail cross 16th Street if the Purple Line is not built. The existing at-grade Georgetown Branch Trail crossing at Second Avenue is unsafe.

Some Purple Line opponents appear to be applying a double standard regarding CCT highway crossings. Take Back Bethesda was recently posting in outrage when a developer proposed closing the Bethesda Tunnel during Woodmont East II project construction. The major objection was that the trail detour across Wisconsin Avenue would be far to dangerous for Bethesda's children. The website makes full use of the Girl Scout Test, using pictures of children to drive home the idea that the trail must be safe for users of all ages.

The at-grade crossing of Wisconsin Avenue
on the alternate CCT route in Bethesda.
But some Purple Line opponents who protest that any at-grade trail crossing of Wisconsin Avenue is unacceptible also call for building the CCT on the Interim CCT alignment, which would have at-grade crossings of two state highways (16th Street and Colesville Road) and several other streets.

Now maybe it's just me, but I can't figure out how an at-grade trail crossing of Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda is NOT OK, but at-grade trail crossings of 16th Street and Colesville Road in Silver Spring are OK. Maybe the Girl Scouts can explain it to me.

You gotta draw the line....

2008-03-17T19:20:00.005-04:00

Ike Leggett presented his proposed FY09 Operating Budget today. His recommended Bikeways Maintenance Budget reminds me of a college friend many years ago who spent big bucks for a high end car. I asked him why he bought the leather seats and air conditioning, but did not have any exterior rear view mirrors. He said "You gotta draw the line someplace."

The proposed transportation Operating Budget increases funds for maintenance for roads from 18.7M$ for FY08 to 20.2M$ for FY09. The funding for maintenance for the 100+ miles of bikeways throughout Montgomery County that DPWT maintains was 100K$ in FY08, or about 1/2 of 1% of the roadway maintenance budget. It is proposed to go to 0$ in FY09. Yes, 0 as in zero.

The Georgetown Branch Trail (a.k.a. Interim CCT) between Bethesda and Silver Spring, pictured at right near the Rock Creek Trestle, is among the bikeways and sidepaths DPWT maintains that will have no dedicated funding for resurfacing, tree removal, erosion damage repair, mowing grass, etc. We can only hope bikeway surfaces stop deteriorating, trees stop falling across bikeways, bikeway shoulders stop eroding, and grass stops growing during FY09.

You gotta draw the line someplace.

90 years old and counting.

2008-03-15T15:45:00.010-04:00

The fate of the Talbot Avenue Bridge was discussed at the Purple Line CSX/Lyttonsville/Woodside focus group meeting on March 12. MTA Project Manager Mike Madden told the group of local residents that MTA intends to disassemble and remove the old bridge during Purple Line construction, but the bridge would be reassembled at its present location after the Purple Line trackbed is completed. This is, of course, IF the old bridge can survive the process of being taken apart and then being put back together again. The new Capital Crescent Trail would have its own new bridge over the CSX/Purple Line tracks about 100 feet south of the rebuilt Talbot Avenue Bridge.

See more of the bridge at my flickr photoset.
The Talbot Avenue Bridge was built in 1918. The center section was a railroad turntable bridge hauled to the site from Martinsburg and turned upside down to serve as a road bridge. It is a single lane bridge with a wood deck, and carries 1000-2000 vehicles every day.

The bridge requires frequent repairs. In 1996 the bridge was closed when it was discovered to be unsafe, and repaired. The bridge was closed again during weekday periods for about four weeks this winter to repair rust damage, and new steel braces were welded onto the existing braces to extend the bridge life for a few more years.

So why not just haul this rusting old bridge off to the junk heap, and build a new two lane bridge here? DPWT raised the issue of permanently closing the bridge when the bridge as closed as unsafe in 1996. Residents of North Woodside, mostly those living on Hanover Street and Grace Church Road, supported the idea and started a campaign to keep the bridge closed permanently except for pedestrian/cyclist traffic. They played the "Won't someone think of the children" card, arguing that the bridge traffic endangers neighborhood children. Street hockey goals and basketball hoops started to appear along Grace Church Road and Hanover Street curbs.

But many residents in Rosemary Hills and Lyttonsville wanted the Talbot Avenue Bridge reopened as soon as possible. They argued that the bridge provided important access out of their neighborhood and they were being badly inconvenienced by the bridge closure. They pointed out that this bridge was open when the North Woodside residents bought their homes, and if North Woodside residents wanted their children to be safe they should not encourage them to play in the streets.

This debate started to develop an ugly "other side of the tracks" undertone, since the North Woodside residents lobbying to keep the bridge closed were mostly white, while the Rosemary Hills residents wanting the bridge reopened were majority black. Then County Executive Doug Duncan ended this potentially explosive debate by declaring the long term status quo would be preserved. The bridge was repaired and reopened.

Mike Madden indicated at the March 12 focus group meeting that MTA does not want to open a new neighborhood battle here, and therefore proposes to maintain the status quo by reopening the old bridge as close to its original condition as possible unless Montgomery County requests a new motor vehicle bridge.

The Coalition for the Capital Crescent Trail (CCCT) supports the recommendation of the 2001 Trail Facility Plan and of MTA that the trail should cross CSX on a new trail bridge that is separate from the existing Talbot Avenue Bridge. The old one lane bridge cannot safely carry both the existing motor vehicle traffic and also the heavy trail traffic that will come when the CCT is completed into Silver Spring. CCCT's position will help it avoid getting into the middle of a new neighborhood fight over the motor vehicle bridge.

The CCCT and MTA are wise to avoid another neighborhood bridge dispute.

Why only 10' wide??

2008-03-13T12:52:00.003-04:00

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.

March 1 Future CCT Walk

2008-03-02T09:15:00.023-05:00

A walk to explore the future CCT in Silver Spring took place on March 1. This was the second of a series of monthly walks. The first walk was described here in a Feb. 2 post.

Over 30 people gathered at the walk start point at Colesville Road and Second Avenue. It was a blustery day, but good for hiking.

Those joining this March walk had more diverse interests than most on the February walk which focused largely on Woodside. An invitation had been given to the M-NCPPC Purple Line Master Plan working group, and some members came.

People came from East Silver Spring, Takoma Park, and Bethesda. District 18 State Delegate and Kensington resident Al Carr also came.

Many who participated were surprised to find paths and streets close to where they live that they never new existed. The next walk will be April 5, with details to be posted here soon.

I also am hosting a 10 mile long bike ride on March 30 to explore the future CCT and also the future Metropolitan Branch Trail in Silver Spring for those who would rather bike than walk. See details at another post on this blog.

Access to a real park.

2008-02-23T18:45:00.008-05:00

The future CCT can give Silver Spring and its neighborhoods direct and safe off-road access to Rock Creek Park.

The Georgetown Branch Trail goes to Rock Creek from downtown Silver Spring. It takes you to the park at Ray's Meadow where the Rock Creek Trail can be used to reach the nearby play lots, ball fields, horse stables, and picnic facilities in Ray's Meadow and Candy Cane City. But the Georgetown Branch Trail is only an on-road bike route in Silver Spring, with several dangerous crossings of busy streets. At Rock Creek the trail passes high above the Park on the trestle, with only an indirect connection down into the Park on neighborhood streets.

Source: CCCT, at www.cctrail.org

The CCT, if completed, will give Silver Spring a direct off-road connection to Rock Creek Park. Cyclists of all ages and abilities could reach the Park with a short bike ride from Silver Spring neighborhoods. The at-grade crossings of Colesville Road, Spring Street, and 16th Street would be replaced by trail bridges or underpasses. The trip to the park on the CCT would become a major part of the attraction.

Purple Line opponents are quick to complain that construction of the Purple Line will result in the removal of the CCT trestle now over Rock Creek. And they have a point - the trestle is a very attractive feature, and gives good views from high above Rock Creek. But Silver Spring is very poorly served by the trestle since it is hard to reach from Silver Spring. We knew when the trestle was built that it was not meant to be permanent. The trestle deck was built from modular sections so it can be disassembled and used elsewhere when the time comes to build the Purple Line.

The trestle will be replaced by a new trail bridge over Rock Creek if the Purple Line is built. A new shared use path will be built to connect from the CCT down to the Rock Creek Trail. All trail users connecting between the rebuilt CCT and the Rock Creek Trail will find the connection much easier and more direct than it is now. Trail users staying on the CCT to cross Rock Creek will still have a direct crossing on a trail bridge, although the bridge will be lower than the trestle is now. The rebuilt CCT will stay low enough to pass under Jones Mill Road in an underpass. Trail users will no longer have to wait at the pedestrian signal west of Rock Creek to cross Jones Mill Road at grade.

Purple Line and CCT at Rock Creek Park
Source: MTA at www.purplelinemd.com

I was out there advocating to build the trestle from the start, and I wish we could find a practical way to keep the trestle and also complete the CCT. I have posted a Show us what we are missing challenge for anyone to show how to complete the CCT into Silver Spring as a safe off-road trail without transit. I will take the grade separated CCT crossing of Jones Mill Road, the much better access from the CCT down into Rock Creek Park, and the completion of the CCT through my Silver Spring neighborhood as more than fair compensation for the loss of the view from the trestle.

Election night landslide in Woodside

2008-02-06T08:20:00.000-05:00

Woodside residents came out to vote on February 5, and the Purple Line won in a landslide.

The February 5 meeting of the Woodside Civic Association (WCA) focused on the Purple Line. The MTA project team briefed the WCA on the current project status and design.

MTA Project Manager Mike Madden briefs WCA at the Feb. 5 meeting.

WCA took up a resolution to support the Purple Line light-rail with trail immediately following the MTA briefing. The resolution passed by unanamous vote.

Most of the resolution addresses the benefits to Woodside from the light-rail and proposed transit station at 16th Street, as it should. But a significant part of the resolution addresses finishing the CCT:

".......WHEREAS the proposed hiker-biker trail will provide a significant improvement to the recreational trail system for our residents, ensuring a safe way of traveling by bike or on foot to Rock Creek Park and other destinations, and
WHEREAS failure to proceed with the joint use transit/trail project may leave residents of Silver Spring with no off-road connection to the Georgetown Branch and Capital Crescent Trails..."

"....WCA affirms its support for the completion of the hiker-biker trail along the 3rd Avenue right-of-way between 16th Street and Spring Streets, and supports moving forward with segments of this trail connection wherever possible so that the neighborhood gains some improvements to the trail and so that regrading and
replanting along the impacted area can proceed as quickly as
possible."

Woodside featured in first "Future CCT Walk"

2008-02-02T21:05:00.004-05:00

Over 30 residents from Woodside, North Woodside and Woodside Park accepted the Invitation to walk the future CCT, and took a guided tour of one mile of the future trail on February 2. The walk was led by Webb Smedley and me for the Woodside Civic Association. The tour covered the section of the future CCT from behind the District Courthouse at Apple Avenue to the Talbot Avenue Bridge at North Woodside.

Many guests on the tour were surprised to see how well the Trail can fit along the east side of the CSX corridor, with significant parts of the Trail being in the trees. The Woodside residents were generally very supportive of both the Trail and the Purple Line light-rail. The benefit the Trail can bring to Woodside by giving safe off-road trail access to Rock Creek Park and beyond is especially attractive to Woodside residents, compared to the unsafe on-road access along the Georgetown Branch "Trail".

This was the first of a series of monthly trail walks along the future CCT east of Rock Creek through this spring. Watch this blog for announcements of the future walks. If you have a special interest area on the planned CCT east of Rock Creek, feel free to contact me at phyilla1@gmail.com . We can tailor one of the future walks to that interest, or set up a special walk or bike tour for you.

The "Save the Trail" folks have been giving walks of the CCT for years. But their walks never look at the CCT east of Rock Creek. We hope to put more balance into the "Save the Trail" vs. "Finish the Trail" Purple Line debate by showing the part of the CCT that has been largely forgotten - east of Rock Creek.

Crossing 16th

2008-02-01T13:34:00.001-05:00

Woodside and North Woodside were built as one neighborhood. But 16th Street was later built through the middle as a six lane state highway. Now the two communities are connected by only one signalized crosswalk at Second Avenue. The crosswalk's angle to 16th Street makes it 140' long, and the many vehicles turning right from southbound Second Avenue threaten pedestrians in the crosswalk. This unsafe design makes it a worthy competitor to the http://www.crossinggeorgia.org/ at Forest Glen for the honor of being the local "crosswalk from hell."

Crossing 16th will become much safer for pedestrians and cyclists when the CCT is completed. The CCT concept is for the Trail to pass under the 16th Street Bridge at the CSX corridor.

The "preferred" Master Plan trail alignment would continue alongside the CSX corridor. But an alternate Trail alignment is possible that would go up the west side of 16th Street to Lyttonsville Road. If that alignment is built instead of (or as well as) the preferred alignment then pedestrian and cyclist traffic coming to and from North Woodside by the Second Avenue sidewalk could also conveniently access this new 16th Street crossing for trips to the Spring Center or to downtown Silver Spring.

This grade-separated crossing of 16th Street requires right-of-way from CSX at the west side of the bridge, so we need the Purple Line to get the right-of-way for the trail even though the Purple Line will most likely be on the opposite side of the tracks here.

A light-rail station will be built at 16th street at one of the two alternative locations shown in the map. Good pedestrian access to the station will need a wider sidewalk across 16th Street on the side of the bridge nearest the station (room to widen the existing sidewalk can be created by narrowing the wide bridge median). An A.D.A. compliant sidewalk access ramp can connect from the CCT to this bridge sidewalk. Both Woodside and North Woodside would then have safe pedestrian access to the Purple Line station without having to cross 16th street.

This is a view of the 16th Street Bridge from the south side of the CSX tracks, near Suburban Towers. The CCT would pass under the bridge behind the row of columns.

Going under 16th Street will not be scary as it appears to be now. Trail construction will do much to clean up the area, and the trail itself will be wide with a fairly good sight line. The trail will remain 6+ feet higher than the CSX tracks, will be over 25' from the tracks, and will have a fence and retaining wall between the trail and tracks. The frequent trail traffic and the presence of the light rail station directly across the tracks will put eyes on the bridge to discourage loitering or bad behavior.

When is a trail not a trail?

2008-01-27T18:01:00.001-05:00

Woodside residents see the hiker/biker logo on the many "Georgetown Branch Trail" signs posted all along Second Avenue and Grace Church Road. Our neighbors in Rosemary Hills and Lyttonsville see the same logo on the signs along the several streets between Talbot Avenue and Stewart Avenue. Nice signs. But WHERE IS THE TRAIL?

There is no off-road bike path along any of these streets. There are no bike lanes. Some streets do not even have sidewalks. So why do we call this a trail??

The signs are needed for the growing number of cyclists trying to follow the many turns on the bike route between the end of the Interim CCT in Lyttonsville and downtown Silver Spring.

But we need more "truth in advertising" in the Georgetown Branch signs and maps and call it what it is, no more than an on-road bike route.

Show us what we are missing.

2008-01-13T21:17:00.001-05:00

Purple Line opponents assert that we can finish the CCT into Silver Spring now, without transit. Mier Wolf, former mayor of the Town of Chevy Chase and Chairman of the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Coalition, has repeated that claim very recently in a letter to the Bethesda Gazette, with no explanation as to how this can be done.

Those who assert we can complete the CCT without the Purple line should show us a plan to back up this assertion. Are they claiming that the right-of-way needed to build the Trail along the CSX corridor can be obtained without being part of a transit deal with CSX? If so, they should show some evidence that they can do what no one has succeeded in doing to date - i.e. get the CSX Corporation to negotiate a r.o.w. for the trail alone. Are they asserting a good trail alignment exists that does not use any CSX right-of-way? If so, they should show us what that alignment is. Where will the major roadways like 16th Street and Colesville Road be crossed? How will the connection to the MetBranch Trail be made in the S.S. Transit Center? Let us see their trail plan so we can judge whether their trail would be direct, safe and off-road to a standard appropriate for a major regional trail like the CCT.

I outline at www.silverspringtrails.org why I believe the CCT must use an alignment along the CSX corridor to be off-road, have safe crossings of busy streets, and connect seamlessly with the MetBranch Trail. What have I been missing?

We're still waiting after all of these years.

2008-01-09T08:02:00.000-05:00

The Capital Crescent Trail (CCT) is planned to provide a safe, direct, off road trail between downtown Silver Spring and Bethesda, and to connect seamlessly to the Metropolitan Branch Trail to form a regional "bicycle beltway". It has been more than 10 years since the CCT opened in Bethesda and Chevy Chase neighborhoods. But Silver Spring still is still waiting for the CCT, and progress on completing the regional trail network is stalled.

This map is a portion of the Montgomery County Silver Spring Bikeways Map. The dashed green line shows the preferred Master Plan alignment for the future CCT and MetBranch Trail.
This blog will explore what the CCT will be like in Silver Spring and what is keeping us from completing the CCT. This will provide a forum to discuss some of the issues outlined in my www.silverspringtrails.org website. Comments are welcome, but please keep comments directed toward issues related to finishing the Trail into Silver Spring. No abusive comments will be accepted. The Purple Line transit/trail project presents many issues to many neighborhoods and people have strong opinions. This blog will be useful only if we stay on topic, and show each other respect.

Wayne Phyillaier

Keeping it in balance.

2008-01-08T07:58:00.000-05:00

Either building the Purple Line in order to complete the Capital Crescent Trail into Silver Spring or not building the Purple Line in order to save some of the park character of the Capital Crescent Trail in Chevy Chase would be having the tail wag the dog. The Purple Line ridership estimates show four times as many people would board the Purple Line in a single day than now use the Interim CCT in the Georgetown Branch Corridor in an entire week. The Purple Line decision should be made based upon all of the many important issues, not just on the impact on the CCT.

The focus of the www.silverspringtrails.org website and of this companion blog is limited to issues that effect the trails. I believe the Purple Line light-rail should and does stand on all of the issues, including the many issues not discussed on this blog. I encourage you to explore all of the issues before making your decision about the Purple Line.