Safe Passage in Tunnel Threatened by Purple Line!
Bethesda Avenue Trail Route:
a plan to close the Tunnel?
Or just a remarkable waste
of taxpayer dollars?
Five out of the six Purple Line options proposed by the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) threaten the Trail and the safe Tunnel connection under Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda.
Only one of six Purple Line proposed alternatives would leave the Tunnel open to Trail users as it currently exists:
That one proposal is the lowest cost alternative, and it would run Bus Rapid Transit along Jones Bridge Road instead of along the Capital Crescent Trail between Jones Bridge Road and Bethesda.
The other two Bus Rapid Transit options – the medium and high cost options -- would run buses alongside the Trail and alongside Trail users in the Tunnel.
The buses would continue on through the Tunnel to Woodmont Avenue -- running next to Gifford’s Ice Cream and Mon Ami Gabi! The 50’ wide “open space” between the 12 story building (now planned as offices instead of a hotel) would be shared with buses.
Of the three light rail options, only the most costly option would keep the Tunnel open for the Trail.
However, this high option light rail would ramp Trail users up on a cat-walk, suspended above the trains and catenary wires in the Tunnel.
This high end option puts the light rail cost at $1.8 billion. Since the Trail in the Tunnel adds significantly to the cost of the light rail -- without improving ridership or travel times –it would be highly likely that if this plan were chosen at the outset of planning, it would be jettisoned as the project proceeded, as costs became prohibitive and cuts were needed.
The low and medium cost light rail options take the Trail out of the Tunnel and route it at grade across Wisconsin Avenue (at one of the most dangerous intersections in Bethesda) and along Bethesda Avenue. The mature shade trees along Bethesda Avenue would be cut down.
Meanwhile, the County is moving ahead with plans to build this dangerous alternative Trail route on Bethesda Avenue, crossing at grade at Wisconsin Avenue. County officials claim they are proceeding with the plan because it is in the Bethesda Master Plan.
But Trail advocates point out that the Bethesda route was planned in the mid 1990's -- before the Tunnel was opened -- and it is not necessary now. With the County budget cutting services, it is a remarkable waste of taxpayer money to build this route.
And if there are plans to close the Tunnel – the Public has a right to know!
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