Coming Events:

Help us save the trees from invasive weeds on the CCT.

The first Wednesday of each month, 8:30 to 10 am. rain or shine.

Help us save the magnificent native trees along the Capital Crescent Trail! Join Montgomery County Parks Certified Weed Warrior Supervisor, David Brooks, as we manually remove the invasive vines from trees along this well loved trail.

English ivy vines cover the trees, slowly killing the trees from the base upwards. The vines also harbor a bacterial leaf scorch that affects a wide variety of native and ornamental trees. Other invasive vines completely engulf the trees, shading them out and overburdening them with added weight, causing the trees to topple. Help us save them!!

Meet at the gravel parking lot at the intersection of Massachusetts Ave and Little Falls Parkway at 8:30 am. For more information or to let us know you will be coming, please contact Lynette.Scaffidi@montgomeryparks.org or 301-949-0223.

CCCT Monthly Meeting July 13 at the Bethesda Library.

The next regular monthly CCCT Board meeting will be on Monday, July 13 from 7-9 p.m., at the Bethesda Library, 7400 Arlington Road, Bethesda, MD.

The CCCT Board meets almost monthly at Bethesda or Silver Spring. The public is welcome to all meetings. The schedule for coming meetings is:

July 13, 2009, 7-9 p.m., Bethesda Library
August - no monthly meeting
September 14, 2009, 7-9 p.m., B-CC Services Center, Bethesda
October 12, 2009, 7-9 p.m., B-CC Services Center, Bethesda
November 9, 2009, 7-9 p.m., Bethesda Library
December - no monthly meeting

---

News:

CCCT Annual Meeting June 8.

The Coalition's annual meeting was held at the Elm Street Park in Bethesda on the evening of June 8. The weather cooperated, with light clouds and occasional sunshine, and none of the heavy rains that have dominated this season.

All of the CCCT Board Members were present to discuss trail issues with members. Special guests included Montgomery County Councilmembers Nancy Floreen and Roger Berliner. Councilmember Valerie Irvin was represented by her special assistant, Ben Stutz.

Departing board member Ernie Brooks (center) accepts a trail mile marker from board member Wayne Phyillaier on behalf of the CCCT as Chair Peter Gray looks on.

The highlight of the brief business part of the eat-and-greet was the announcement by Chair Peter Gray that the CCCT application for the River Road trail plaza project has received preliminary acceptance - see the following article for more information.

In other business, Peter Gray summarized the other accomplishments during the last year and outlined CCCT goals for the coming year. He also announced that the current board will be returning for next year, with one notable exception. Ernie Brooks will be leaving the board after 16 years of service to the CCCT.

Ernie Brooks joined the CCCT only a few years after it was founded, and has been a part of many of the advances on the trail since the beginning. He was there to help erect the mile markers when the first section of the CCT opened. He served as CCCT Chair for four years, and was the Chair when the CCCT helped dedicate the Rock Creek Trestle. More recently he has been our lead in addressing the Georgetown Boathouse issues. He will be missed from the Board, but he has promised to continue to help us with the boathouse issue as a regular CCCT member.

The River Road Trail Plaza advances as the CCCT application receives preliminary acceptance.

revised June 12, 2009

CCCT Chair Peter Gray makes the announcement.

CCCT Chair Peter Gray used the June 8 2009 Annual Meeting to announce that the Montgomery County Department of Parks and Planning has reviewed the CCCT application to build a trail rest area and plaza at River Road under the Public / Private Partnership program and has determined that the proposal has merit and appears to be acceptable in scope and scale. The plan will undergo further review including meetings between Planning staff and the Coalition. The plan calls for building on County land and will thus require acceptance by the County Executive and Council as well.

Under the plan, the CCCT would take the lead in managing construction, and would contribute up to $75,000. The Parks Department will contribute plantings and construction services. The Citizens Coordinating Committee of Friendship Heights (CCCFH), the Washington Episcopal School, and individuals will also be contributing to this community effort.

The plan for the plaza, developed by the CCCT, includes seating walls, a pergola, pathways, bike racks, sculptures, a mapcase, and a water fountain on the north side of the River Road trail bridge.

The proposed plaza is described in the CCCT application as follows:

"The CCCT proposes a Public Private Partnership with the M-NCCPC for the purpose of construction of a Plaza area at the intersection of the Trail and River Road on the northwest and northeast sides of the intersection where there currently exists a bench and a parking area adjacent to the trail at the beginning of the bridge over River Road. The Coalition proposes a PPP along the lines described in paragraph 1.3.3 of the Policy for Public Private Partnerships. The "North Plaza" will include two curved concrete seating walls covered with stone veneer, one on each side of the asphalt Trail at the base of the bridge ramp over River Road. A steel Pergola, composed of five vertical posts and attached horizontal beam, secured behind the western seating wall, will symbolize a Gateway to River Road. This Gateway feature will also help demarcate the Plaza area. Also on the western side packed earth with sand and gravel and a curved pathway marked with stone pavers will be bordered by grass. The pathway will include LED lighting built-into the path itself. This pathway will be built over the area formerly used for parking and that space will require remediation prior to building the pathway. The eastern side of the Trail will feature grass and a stone paver walkway. Along the pathways on both sides, will be an alee of trees, including existing trees plus Crepe Myrtles to match the ones at the north end of the paved Trail in Bethesda. Boulder bollards and other seating, bike racks, two earth-mound Turtle sculptures, up to four Cherry Trees, a Kiosk/Mapcase, and a water fountain are also part of the overall plan for this Plaza."

"The North Plaza will be part of an ongoing effort by the County and the Citizens Coordinating Committee for Friendship Heights ("CCCFH") to redevelop the River Road corridor and will help tie the Trail to that effort and the Westbard commercial corridor. The Plaza will be open for use by all users of the Trail in order to provide a place adjacent to the Trail and that commercial corridor where users can rest, get water to drink and review a map of the Trail."

"The total cost of the project, excluding funds for use of design professionals to execute a final design or plan, equal $145,970 approximately."

The CCCT has already supported the development of the Conceptual Site Plan needed for the project.

The Conceptual Site Plan. More drawings are shown in the Site Plan (this is a 4 MB pdf).

The CCCT will bear the largest portion on the project cost, but other area stakeholders are also committed as described in the CCCT partnership application:

"The Coalition's treasury currently has over $170,000, and has committed to contribute up to $75,000 to help realize the plan. In addition, the Commission has mandated that the Washington Episcopal School make a significant contribution towards execution on the plan, and the Coalition has the support of the CCCFH, an umbrella organization covering over 14 civic associations surrounding the proposed location. .... The Coalition and CCCFH are prepared to solicit in kind contributions from their respective memberships and the businesses in the Westbard corridor for benches and other amenities; indeed the Coalition already has begun to solicit individual contributions for seating areas in the Plan. In addition, there is a fund of about $2500 in memory of George Edwards being held by the Montgomery Parks Department for improvements to this site."

The CCCT has been planning and advocating for this major trail amenity for 10 years. We will soon see planning give way to construction. We hope to have construction well underway in 2009. Stay tuned for more information about opportunities to contribute.

Trail construction underway at the Bethesda Tunnel

May 6 update:

The main construction of the drain ditch liner was completed today, and the work crew was beginning to clear its equipment away at mid-day. The job foreman offered this information:

• The work was done under contract to Montgomery County, as part of the County sediment control program. This was not part of the public amenity package for the nearby hotel as I reported below.
• They are not planning on resurfacing the trail in this area, and are not aware of any plans to do so.

May 2, 2009

The drainage ditch that runs alongside the north side of the Interim CCT east of the Bethesda Tunnel has been under reconstruction during the last two weeks.

Workers installing a concrete liner in the drain ditch east of the Bethesda Tunnel on April 30, 2009.

A work crew has been removing silt and debris from the ditch and installing a concrete liner. The work area extends from the east end of the Bethesda Tunnel to about 500 feet west of the East-West Highway underpass. This area had a chronic drainage and erosion problem. Storm water runoff from the numerous paved parking lots that border the north side of the trail has been overwhelming the drainage ditch and overrunning the trail, causing the trail to be rutted and muddy. The work on the drainage ditch appears to be almost complete.

More construction along the trail may be coming soon. This is part of the area improvements associated with the development of a nearby hotel, described in a March 18, 2009 Gazette article Officials want amenities added to Elm Street Park:

"The project is part of a hotel development at the Air Rights office building at the intersection of Waverly Street and Montgomery Avenue in Bethesda. The developers at Air Rights, the Donohoe Development Co., are paying for and building the park improvements as part of a county requirement."

"Other off-site amenities related to the hotel development include repaving the Capital Crescent Trail in the tunnel under Wisconsin Avenue and building a rock garden there; brick paving on Waverly Street near the development; landscaping and seating areas at the corner of Waverly Street and Montgomery Avenue; and a future public art project on Waverly Street, according to Donohoe representative Steve Van Dorpe. Another amenity, a pedestrian and bike access point from Pearl Street to the trail, is the subject of negotiation between the county and a private landowner."

The trail has remained open during during construction, except for brief closures when trucks were moving on the trail. A short closure will likely be required when the trail is repaved at the east end of the Bethesda Tunnel. Please be alert when using the trail in this area.

New Woodmont East II Plans go to the Planning Board

April 30 update:

The Planning Board took up the Woodmont East Site Plan this afternoon. Pat Baptiste presented testimony for the CCCT covering:

• The crossing of Woodmont and Bethesda Aves on a direct line with the trail r-o-w: The Planning Board continues to agree with the CCCT position that the connection should be direct. But the Board did not want to put the developer in the position of having to come back to them if DOT continues to refuse to allow that connection. The wording they settled on was to require the preferred crossing "if possible". Board Chairman Royce Hansen expressed the view that DOT would hold firm to requiring the crossing to be adjacent to Bethesda Avenue.
• The plan allows closing the trail through the site for up to 5 days at a time after coordination with MNCPPC and DOT: CCCT requested that we be included in the loop for such action. The Board was concerned that there might be many such 5 day closings. The developers representatives said that the main times this would be necessary was when the tower crane was taken up and taken down, and only briefly for material delivery, etc. There was also discussion of a detour route during the closings, with the requirement that there be signage. We are to be notified at least five days prior to any non-emergency closings.
• The width of the switchback ramps (to be built with the Purple Line) will be between 13 and 14 feet.
• The timing of the Reed Street closure and the recording of the trail easements needs to occur at the same time, to avoid a situation where Reed Street is abandoned but the developer does not go forward with the project and does not record easements required as part of the project plan.

The Plan was approved.

April 23, 2009

A new preliminary plan and site plan for the Woodmont East II project has been submitted to the Montgomery County Planning Board. The new plans are available online at the Planning Board website as a pdf file, here (caution, this is a large file). The Planning Board will take the new plans up for consideration at their April 30 meeting, as Agenda Item #9.

The new plans have improved considerably from those submitted last year and summarized on this website here. The new illustrative concept looks very similar to the older concepts, but there are important differences.

Woodmont East II Plan submitted for the April 30, 2009 Planning Board Review.

The developer is now proposing building an office building instead of a hotel on the south east side of the site. Access to the underground parking garage would be changed, to be from the underground parking garage of the adjacent office building on the east side instead of from Bethesda Avenue. Plans for the 143 foot tall residential building that will front onto Elm Street on the north side of this site are unchanged, but the office building will be built first and the residential building may follow years later. These new features greatly reduce the impact construction will have on the Capital Crescent Trail.

During Project Construction -

• The Bethesda Tunnel will remain open. This is not changed from the previous plan.
• The Trail will follow a direct alignment from the tunnel portal to the Woodmont Avenue sidewalk, keeping to the north side of the plaza area. There will be no need for the Trail to detour to Elm Street. The previous plan required a years-long trail detour along Elm Street and down Woodmont Avenue.
• The Trail will be closed occasionally for construction. All closures will require advance notice and approval by M-NCPPC and DOT, closures will only be approved if no reasonable alternative exists, and no closures can last more than 5 days. Trail users must use the alternate trail route along Bethesda Avenue, Willow Street, and through Elm Street Park during these closures.
• An interim pedestrian crosswalk will be provided across Woodmont Avenue near the location of the existing crosswalk.

Upon Completion of the office tower construction, and until any Purple Line construction -

• The CCT will be in a 64 foot wide "mews" from the tunnel portal to the Woodmont Avenue sidewalk (this mews was 50 feet wide in the prior plan).
• The trail will be 12 foot wide on a pavement with texture and/or color that will differentiate it from the adjacent pedestrian circulation and cafe seating areas.
• The building "bridge" between the (former) hotel and the planned residential building that was above the mews and Trail in the previous plan has been removed.
• The new office building will only have one door on the mews side, an emergency exit, to preclude pedestrian conflicts between the office building and the Trail in the mews area.
• The Trail will turn south at the Woodmont Avenue sidewalk, and will follow the sidewalk to reach a new crosswalk at Bethesda Avenue. The sidewalk will be 20 feet wide in this area to accommodate both the Trail traffic and the local pedestrian activity at the plaza.
• The Trail will cross Woodmont Avenue in a new "splayed" crosswalk that is south of the existing crosswalk location and adjacent to Bethesda Avenue.
• It is recommended that there be a "decorative" iron fence between the Woodmont Ave. sidewalk and the street, to discourage trail users and pedestrians from taking the direct path across Woodmont Avenue.
• The County Permitting Office recommends that the crosswalk have a stamped asphalt surface that simulates brick pavers to increase awareness that this is a major crossing.

With construction of the Purple Line -

• The Trail will be shifted toward the south side of the mews, and closer to the north facade of the office tower, to accomodate the Purple Line tail tracks. It is currently expected that the tail tracks will extend 110 feet from the tunnel portal, to not impede pedestrian circulation in most of the mews and plaza area.
• The Trail will enter a switchback ramp near the tunnel portal to be elevated above the Purple Line before entering the tunnel. A 28 foot wide space has been reserved in the office tower for the switchback ramp. The Trail will be 10 foot wide on the switchback, with an unobstructed "shy space" on either side that will be slightly less than the 2 foot width elsewhere along the Trail. The ramp will have the maximum ADA allowable grade.

CCCT is preparing to testify to the Planning Board at the April 30 hearing. Testimony will address two features, among others:

1. The change from the previous plan to now require no long term Trail detour during construction is most welcome. CCCT asks that any temporary closures of the Trail be brief and be very infrequent. The alternate Trail route along Bethesda Avenue and Willow Street should be used as little as possible.
2. The proposed permanent alignment of the Woodmont Avenue crosswalk is much worse than the existing crosswalk alignment and should not be accepted by the Planning Board. The proposed crosswalk is well south of the straight Trail "desire line" and results in a very indirect Trail crossing. It also forces all trail users to use the Woodmont Avenue sidewalk to create significant conflict between cyclists and heavy local pedestrian circulation at the plaza area. It is evident to the project planners that this crosswalk is in a location that is undesirable to users, hence the recommendation that a "decorative" iron fence be installed to force people to use the crosswalk instead of following a straight crossing. There are over 500 uses of the Trail each hour in this area during many periods. This crosswalk merits special design considerations. The permanent crosswalk should give a direct trail crossing on an alignment similar to the existing crosswalk.

Good project plans for Woodmont East II are important to the future of the CCT in this critical location. CCCT will continue to follow this closely. But trail users should not expect to see the construction equipment appear soon. The developer is not planning to begin construction for at least a few years.

A new Bethesda rest kiosk is under construction

June 10, 2009 update

Construction has been completed and the dedication ceremony for the memorial to Linda Weiner was held on June 6, 2009. See the Bethesda Gazette article about Linda Weiner and the memorial dedication.

April 9, 2009 update

Construction has begun at the rest stop and kiosk at the Bethesda Trailhead. Everything in the rest area has been removed and will be replaced with a granite memorial and a new seating area for trail users. The water fountain and map case will be returned to new positions in the rest area after the memorial is completed.

A truck on the Trail on April 9. The Trail was closed for only a few minutes.

Construction is expected to be completed by May 15. The entire rest area will be closed off by a chain link fence during construction, but the trail will remain open except for brief periods when trucks must use the trail. These brief closures will usually be mid to late morning, during weekdays, to minimize the impact on trail commuters.

The project is being funded privately by a family in memory of an avid trail user. Project plans were approved by the M-NCPPC and the Montgomery County Parks Department as providing quality public art to the CCT.

City Sports becomes a "Friend of the Trail"

March 22, 2009

City Sports of Bethesda has become a Friend of the CCT by "adopting" one mile of the Trail for litter control.

City Sports has approached CCCT and the Montgomery County Parks Dept. with an offer to adopt a part of the Trail. Brian Kennedy of City Sports met with Montgomery County Parks Supervisor William Gillette on March 19, and has summarized their offer in an email to CCCT Chair Peter Gray:

"City Sports of Bethesda proposes to adopt the portion of the Crescent Trail from milepost 3.5 to 4.5. Our main objective is to help procure the trail from trash and rubbish on a monthly basis. We would like to dedicate one of our weekly Run Club events at the beginning of each month to pick up trash and waste. We traditionally get between 5-10 folks about for Run Clubs on a weekly basis who would be willing to help with this service."

"In exchange for the monthly service, City Sports would ask to be included as "Friends of the Trail" on Capital Crescent Trail website and e-newsletters."

CCCT welcomes City Sports as a "Friend of the Trail". Their Bethesda store is at 7121 Arlington Road, Bethesda, MD 20814

Purple Line light rail advances

February 7, 2009 update

On February 2 the County Executive and Council sent a joint letter to the Maryland Secretary of Transportation recommending the Light Rail option for the Purple Line, including the conditions listed below.

January 31, 2009

The Purple Line took another step forward on January 27, 2009 when the Mont. Co. Council voted 8-0 to recommend the Purple Line medium investment light rail transit (LRT) be the "Locally Preferred Alternative". This follows very similar recommendations in January from the County Council Transportation and Environment (T&E) Committee, County Executive Ike Leggett, and the Montgomery County Planning Board. The Purple Line LRT concept is described in the Alternative Analysis/Preliminary Environmental Impact Statement (AA/DEIS) at the MTA website at www.purplelinemd.com/aadeis.

The impact of the Purple Line on the future Capital Crescent Trail between Bethesda and Silver Spring was discussed more intently in the deliberations of the Council T&E Committee and of the full Council than any other issue. The Council's endorsement of the Purple Line as LRT in the Georgetown Branch corridor included conditions and recommendations that addressed many of the issues CCCT had raised earlier in its comments at the November MTA public hearings on the Purple Line AA/DEIS. The Council recommends that:

1) The Medium Investment LRT alternative should be modified to keep the CCT in the Bethesda Tunnel, as is shown in the High Investment alternative.
2) The light rail tail tracks should extend no further than 100' west from the Bethesda Tunnel's western portal, to avoid interference with the existing retail and the planned Woodmont Plaza.
3) More public access points to the Trail should be identified than are now shown in the DEIS.
4) The Trail should be expanded from the proposed 10' width to a 12' width (with 2' shoulders on each side). Further, a trail wider than 12' and a landscaped buffer wider than the typical 10' should be considered where the right-of-way permits (i.e. between the western end of the Columbia Country Club to the east end of Rock Creek Park).
5) Grass tracks should be used in the Georgetown Branch corridor.
6) Even though the Georgetown Branch corridor is not technically designated as a park, strong measures should be taken to limit tree loss to only that absolutely necessary for construction, and tree loss should be remediated by replanting trees elsewhere in a manner similar to that required for official parks.
7) MTA should examine the feasibility and cost of using LRT vehicles with hybrid diesel engines, instead of electric motors, to eliminate the need for overhead wires to allow a more full tree canopy to be established over the transit and trail after construction.
8) The Council recommended, by a 5-3 vote, that MTA investigate the possibility of single tracking the Purple Line in areas adjacent to the Trail, to reduce the number of trees that must be removed.

The T&E Committee and full Council expressed the strong view numerous times during their discussions that the trail must be an integral part of the project, and that there could be no consideration of treating the transit and trail as separate entities in the project. MTA staff reiterated that the State has always regarded the trail as integral, and they will be built together. The State will continue to encourage the County to seek other funding sources (such as federal Transportation Enhancement Trail funding programs) to pay for some of the trail related expenses in order to make the project more cost competitive under the federal transit "New Starts" program, but building the trail has never been contingent on getting separate funds.

Two trail design issues have drawn special interest since the AA/DEIS was released - the width of the Trail, and the design of the Trail at the Bethesda Tunnel.

There has been a large increase in support for a wider trail. When CCCT first raised this issue at our March 2008 meeting with MTA, MTA and the M-NCPPC planning staff showed little interest. But since that meeting the Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA), Purple Line NOW (PLN), the Coordinating Committee on Friendship Heights (CCCFC), and the East Bethesda Citizens Association (EBCA) all submitted testimony to MTA in support of a wider trail, even though their positions on the Purple Line itself are very different. Now the Planning Board, County Council and County Executive are on record in support of a wider trail.

The proposed design of the trail with the Purple Line at the Bethesda Tunnel also appears to be improving since the AA/DEIS was released. MTA indicated during the Jan. 22 worksession with the Council T&E Committee that their study of the structures at the Bethesda Tunnel was now more complete, and they were finding that it would be feasible to remove the cross beams that are under the floor of the tunnel. That means that it is feasible to lower the elevation of both tracks in the tunnel, instead of only the south track as was first believed. Having both tracks at the same level makes it feasible to move the Bethesda Station platform further east in the tunnel, which in turn shortens the distance that the tail tracks must extend from the west portal of the tunnel.

The County Council recommended that the Purple Line tail tracks not extend more than 100' from the Bethesda tunnel portal. That would mean light rail cars would never be in front of the cinema or Giffords Ice Cream.

MTA believes the Council recommendation that the tail tracks extend no more than 100' west from the tunnel portal is feasible. It is approx. 300' from the sidewalk on Woodmont Avenue to the tunnel portal, and 2/3 of this distance would be clear of any interference from the tail tracks. If the tail tracks are restricted to extend no more than 100' from the tunnel portal, then one of the most objectional features of the Purple Line in the future Woodmont Plaza area will be eliminated.

Being able to lower both tracks in the Bethesda tunnel also allows the trail to not be limited to be over only the south track. This removes another objectional feature of the earlier proposed Purple Line design. The newer concept for the trail in the tunnel overhead is much wider than shown in the old concept sketch shown here. The ramps that would elevate the trail to the overhead at both ends of the tunnel remain as difficult as before, however. The proposed ramp design at the west end that is planned with the Woodmont II development project remains especially undesirable, being a switchback ramp barely 10' wide with no "shy space" and with very tight turns.

Governor O'Malley is expected to make a final decision on which Purple Line alternative will be the "locally preferred alternative" this February or March. It is widely expected that the Governor will respect the decisions of the County Councils and Executives of both Montgomery and Prince George's Counties that the locally preferred alternative should be Medium Investment LRT on the Georgetown Branch. The Purple Line project will be submitted to the federal government this summer or fall for consideration for funding under the transit "New Starts" program, along with the Corridor Cities Transitway project and Baltimore's Red Line project. Federal funding is very competitive and uncertain. The earliest that construction could begin would be 2012.

The CCCT continues to neither oppose nor endorse the Purple Line, so long as the Trail remains in the corridor as a good quality trail continuous into Silver Spring. The Purple Line presents difficult trade offs to trail users. It would remove much of the park character of the trail in Chevy Chase, but also would complete the trail into downtown Silver Spring. The CCCT will continue to work to ensure that if the community decides to proceed with the Purple Line then the best possible trail will be built alongside transit.

---

More news is available in our Crescent Newsletter, available online at our Newsletter webpage.

Some past website stories are at:
2008 Archived News
2007 Archived News
2006 Archived News
Trestle Archived News