WABA Urges Support for Purple Line Light Rail

It is time for Bicyclists to speak out about
the Purple Line and the Capital Crescent Trail

A Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Purple Line, a proposed transit way connecting Bethesda to New Carrollton, has been released and the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) is accepting public comments until January 14, 2009. There is much about the Purple Line plans for bicyclists to like, but the design concept needs to be improved. WABA urges all cyclists to speak up in support of the Purple Line light rail option that will likely help complete the Capital Crescent Trail from Bethesda into Silver Spring.  Click here for WABA's Take Action page.

Capital Crescent: An Incomplete Trail
The Capital Crescent Trail has been built as an interim off-road trail for 3 miles, from Bethesda to west Silver Spring. The interim trail, also known as the Georgetown Branch Trail, has a crushed stone surface with busy at grade crossings at Connecticut Avenue and Jones Bridge Road and no direct connection to the Rock Creek hiker/biker Trail. The interim trail ends abruptly in an industrial park in Silver Spring, and cyclists must follow an on-road route into Silver Spring. The interim trail must be paved and be completed into Silver Spring to be as inviting and useful to cyclists as is the permanent trail west of Bethesda.

The existing off-road trail will be rebuilt to a high standard
The Purple Line DEIS outlines plans to rebuild the existing trail alongside the Purple Line between Bethesda and Silver Spring. As planned, the rebuilt trail would be a 10’ wide paved asphalt trail with at least a 2’ clear space on both sides. All of the Purple Line options except the “low investment” options would have a trail bridge over Connecticut Avenue and an underpass at Jones Mill Road. The trail would cross Rock Creek on a new bridge separate from the transit bridge, and there would be a direct, off-road trail connection to the Rock Creek hiker/biker trail. The trail would be separated from transit by an approx. 10’ wide planted buffer over most of this length.

The trail would remain in the Bethesda tunnel, elevated above the transit, if the “high investment” light rail is built. The DEIS indicates the trail would not remain in the tunnel for the lower cost Purple Line options. However, the Maryland Transit Administration has indicated it is open to considering keeping the trail in the tunnel for other options if there is strong public support. An alternate off-road trail route is proposed around the Bethesda Tunnel along Bethesda Avenue and Elm Street Park for all Purple Line options, regardless of the status of the tunnel route.

The Save the Trail Myth
Purple Line opponents are spreading the myth that the rebuilt trail will have a width less than 10’ in places because the Georgetown Branch Corridor is too narrow to support a full width trail and the Purple Line. The DEIS and an examination of the corridor show this is just not true.

The Trail Will be Completed into Silver Spring
The DEIS includes concepts to build a new 1.4 mile long off-road trail extension from current end of the Georgetown Branch Trail to Transit Center in downtown Silver Spring where it is planned to link seamlessly to the Metropolitan Branch Trail. This would connect the northern missing link in the Bicycle Beltway.

Trails Can Co-exist with Rails
It is important that bicyclists reject the assertions that the trail and transit are incompatible and that having transit near the trail will devastate the trail. Efforts to build a trail network will be severely undercut if decision makers become convinced trails should never be built alongside transit. For example, we cannot expect local government to complete the Metropolitan Branch Trail alongside the CSX and Metro Red Line between Silver Spring and Union Station if politicians are only hearing that trails cannot share the same corridor with rails.

What You Can Do To Help

Take action today!  Purple Line public hearings will take place at four locations in November. You can sign up at the door to speak. Locations and dates are listed at the MTA Purple Line website http://www.purplelinemd.com/aadeis. Written comments can be submitted until January 14, and carry as much weight as testimony given at the hearings. Email your statement to purpleline@mtamaryland.com or send written comments to Diane Ratcliff, MTA Director of Planning, 6 St. Paul Street, 9th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21202.

Be sure to mention the following in your comments:

Build the Light Rail Option
WABA believes that the trail improvements that will come with the Purple Line -- especially the construction of the long-planned segment into downtown Silver Spring and the protected intersection crossings that will come with a light rail line -- make this a win-win project for both trail users and the people who will ride the new transit line

Keep the Trail in the Tunnel
By keeping the trail route in the Bethesda Tunnel, the current location of the Georgetown Branch Trail, the new trail would avoid an at-grade crossing of Wisconsin Avenue. MTA should change the designs of all light rail options to support a trail within the Bethesda Tunnel.

Widen the Proposed Trail
The proposed trail along the Purple Line is planned to be only 10 feet wide, which is too narrow for the anticipated number of users the rebuilt trail would see. The trail design profiles presented in the Purple Line DEIS show that it is possible to build a 12’ wide trail within the corridor with only a minimal cost increase and impact on the trail buffer space.

Built Two Trail Routes: Through the Tunnel AND Along Bethesda Avenue

In addition to the trail route through the Bethesda tunnel, trail users also need the alternate surface route along Bethesda Avenue and Elm Street Park to have access to local Bethesda destinations. Both routes should be built because they serve different needs.