Opponents of the Inner
Purple Line claim that the light rail line will "destroy the
trail." This is simply false. The Capital Crescent
Trail between Bethesda and Georgetown will not be touched in any
way. Indeed, only by building the Purple Line can the entire trail
be completed as originally planned by extending it into downtown
Silver Spring.
In November 2008, the Washington Area Bicycle Association issued
a strong endorsement
statement that "urges all cyclists to speak up in support
of the Purple Line light rail option" and denounces what WABA
calls "the Save the Trail myth". Here
is a history of Purple Line opponents' creation of this myth.
The Purple Line Will Not Affect the Trail
Between Bethesda and Georgetown
The Capital Crescent Trail is the heavily used paved trail now
running from Bethesda to Georgetown. This trail will not be
touched by the Purple Line in any way. The Inner Purple Line will be
built on the other side of downtown Bethesda along a former railroad
right-of-way bought by the county 15 years ago. Had it not been for
the plan to build a rail line, the land would never would have been
purchased, and we would have no trail today.
Bruce Adams, who as a member of the County Council cast the
crucial swing vote to build the interim gravel trail that now goes
through Chevy Chase, writes that "Of course the rail won't
destroy the trail. From the very beginning, the plan has been
to have the rail and trail side-by-side between Bethesda and Silver
Spring. For trail supporters to attempt to block the rail line by
arguing that it will destroy the trail is just not playing
fair." [Gazette, Feb. 5, 2003]
The Inner Purple Line Will Extend the
Trail
When the light rail line is built, the paved trail will extend
east from Wisconsin Ave. as far as the Silver Spring Metro station,
running alongside the new tracks. The old railroad
right-of-way is 60 - 100 ft. wide in Chevy Chase, leaving room for
two tracks, a trail, and a vegetated buffer between the
transportation facilities and adjoining houses. The extension
of the paved trail will replace a shorter interim gravel trail,
called the Georgetown Branch Trail, which now goes part way to
Silver Spring. Instead of stopping to walk across busy highways,
trail users will cross Connecticut Avenue on a bridge and go under
Jones Mill Road through a tunnel.
The Washington
Area Bicycle Association has clearly explained the effect of the
Inner Purple Line on the trail: "Claims are being made by
opponents of the Inner Purple Line that the trail will be destroyed.
However, if the design process continues to address cyclists' needs,
the Trail can co-exist with a light rail. The woodsy character east
of Bethesda will be mostly lost, but the section east of Rock Creek
will be vastly improved if current design proposals are
realized."
The former president of the Coalition for the Capital Crescent
Trail, Wayne Phyillaier, has made a detailed
analysis of the compatibility of trail and light rail. Phyillaier
writes that the allegations that the Inner Purple Line will destroy
the trail "are unfounded and are destructive to the goal of
completing the CCT [Capital Crescent Trail]. Instead of asking
'Can the CCT be safe to use alongside the Purple Line?', perhaps we
should be asking `Can the CCT be safe to use WITHOUT the Purple
Line?'."
