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Residents are encouraged to discuss the Capital Crescent Trail and other practical aspects of the Purple Line light rail project at a public hearing early next month.
The Planning Board will hold the hearing on Dec. 10 on the Purple Line Functional Plan, which is meant to serve as a regulatory document, direct potential right-of-way and guide future development around the project.
"It's the mechanism we use to protect the alignment," said Tom Autrey, a supervisor in the Planning Department's Transportation Planning Division.
The plan, which Autrey presented to the Planning Board on Oct. 29, includes details such as the aerial tracks that will extend over Connecticut Avenue, the station on the east side of Connecticut Avenue in Chevy Chase, and a new connection between the Capital Crescent Trail and the Rock Creek Trail east of Jones Mill Road. Additional bike facilities along University Boulevard in Takoma Park have also been added as a possibility since O'Malley's decision to support light rail.
The Purple Line light rail will connect downtown Bethesda to New Carrollton via Silver Spring over 16 miles, and is projected to cost about $1.7 billion. The project is now under consideration by the Federal Transit Administration as it was selected by Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) in August, over the objections of those who said it would not be a good solution to traffic woes and irreparably harm the Capital Crescent Trail.
Although the Maryland Transit Administration has discussed widening the trail where it runs adjacent to the Purple Line, such as where the trail runs along the northern border of the Town of Chevy Chase, Autrey said the Functional Plan does not take this into account. He said the feasibility of widening the trail may vary even between relatively small segments, and that additional analysis would be required from the MTA.
Those who wish to sign up to testify at the Dec. 10 hearing can do so starting Nov. 10 by calling 301-495-4600, or visiting www.daicsearch.org/planning_board/testify.asp.
The entire Functional Plan can be viewed at http://www.montgomeryplanning.org/viewer.shtm#http://www.montgomeryplanning.org/transportation/projects/
documents/purple_line_fplan.pdf.