Letter: RAISE Grant for the Capital Crescent Trail Tunnel

WABA wrote this letter in support of a federal grant to build a safe, grade-separated crossing for the Capital Crescent Trail at Wisconsin Ave in Bethesda

You can view this document in PDF form here.

Letter of Support for RAISE Grant for CCT tunnel - February 13, 2023

February 13, 2023

The Honorable Peter Buttigieg Secretary
U.S. Department of Transportation 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20590-0001

Re: RAISE Program Grant Application by Montgomery County, Maryland for the Capital Crescent Trail Tunnel Project

Dear Secretary Buttigieg:

I am writing to express the support of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association for the application by Montgomery County, Maryland for a Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant for construction of the Capital Crescent Trail Tunnel in Bethesda, Maryland.

Since the first segment of the Capital Crescent Trail opened in 1994, the multi-use trail has grown into one of the most used routes in the Washington, DC region as a vital transportation, recreation, and public health resource for hundreds of thousands of people. Before the existing tunnel and interim Georgetown Branch Trail closed in 2017 to make way for the Purple Line light rail line, the Capital Crescent Trail in Bethesda saw an average of over 15,000 weekly trips and up to 90,000 monthly trips in the summer. It was an active and low-stress route to schools for hundreds of elementary and high school students, a low carbon daily commute for thousands of workers, a popular off-street refuge for solo and group recreation, and a pleasant connection to two bustling retail and entertainment centers.

When the Purple Line Rail project is complete, the new and improved Capital Crescent Trail will run alongside it, linking Georgetown, Bethesda, and downtown Silver Spring, each a major population and commercial center. New bridges over major roads, new neighborhood connections, and direct links better connect residents, workers, and travelers to the nearly 1,000 mile Capital Trail Network, providing attractive transportation and recreation options for current and new trail users from around the region, easily adding thousands of new daily users.

Capital Crescent Trail Tunnel will add a safe, attractive route for trail users. However, without a tunnel for bicyclist and pedestrian use, every trail user will be rerouted to cross MD355/Wisconsin Avenue at grade. They will face the unavoidable risk of crossing Wisconsin Avenue’s six lanes and 40,000 daily cars and trucks. On the best of days, crossing here will require careful adult supervision of kids, wading through crowds, and waiting for a traffic signal that prioritizes moving cars instead of people. On the worst of days, exposing this many people to the multiple lanes, traffic volume and speed, and highway context of state-controlled Wisconsin Avenue will inevitably result in crashes and injuries. Further, pedestrians and bicyclists crossing at grade will slow surface traffic in an already congested area.

High-quality, accessible, and continuous trails are critical to our region’s transportation and sustainability goals, Vision Zero commitments, economic competitiveness, and public well-being. Trails provide low stress access to open space and reliable transportation for people of all ages and abilities. Funding the tunnel under Wisconsin Avenue will deliver on a generation of planning and promises with a truly accessible trail between Silver Spring and downtown Bethesda. We urge the support of the RAISE grant application to fund construction of the Capital Crescent Trail Tunnel project.

WABA empowers people to ride bikes, build connections, and transform places. We envision a just and sustainable transportation system where walking, biking, and transit are the best ways to get around. The Capital Crescent Trail Tunnel has the potential to be a transformative option for the safety and comfort for residents and visitors, helping to encourage healthy transportation and recreation, increase local economic development, and support the environment. We encourage you to select Montgomery County’s proposal, which promises to benefit thousands of residents across the region.

Julie Meyers
Acting Executive Director
Washington Area Bicyclist Association

More about Complete State Roads: Montgomery County

WABA’s Complete State Roads initiative aims to remake state highways in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties as complete streets, boosting safety and mobility for people who walk, bike, roll, or use transit as well as for drivers and their passengers.

The Complete State Roads–Montgomery County report is available at waba.org/stateroads and you can watch a presentation delivered about it at WABA’s 4th Great Montgomery County Bike Summit in 2023.

As part of the Complete State Roads initiative, WABA backed the development of legislation for introduction in the 2024 Maryland legislative session.

More about Complete Streets

Complete Streets are streets designed to accommodate all users, and that prioritize historically underinvested modes of transportation like transit, walking, and biking. An incomplete street might lack adequate sidewalks, low-stress bike infrastructure, or safe and comfortable access to transit.

Effective Complete Streets policies change the way a jurisdiction plans and builds transportation infrastructure—sidewalks, low stress bike infrastructure, and transit should be included in any new or rebuilt street by default, rather than as an add-on when there's space or demand.

While most regional jurisdictions have a Complete Streets policy of some sort, they lack teeth and permit transportation departments to continue to build streets that put cars first and squeeze other modes into the margins.

More about Montgomery County Budget

Montgomery County's budgeting process, both for its annual budget and its 6-year Capital Improvement Program, takes place in the spring. WABA works with grassroots advocates and partner organizations to build support on the County Council for funding individual projects and to ensure that the relevant agencies (usually Parks, Planning, Transportation) have the resources required to grow and maintain the County's active transportation network.

Current priorities include funding the Montgomery County Equitable Bikeways proposal, completion of the Capital Crescent Trail from Bethesda to Silver Spring, and developing an e-bike purchase rebate program.

More about Advocacy

WABA fights for a region where biking, walking and transit are the best ways to get around.

We educate policymakers and organize grassroots advocates for to speak up for safer places to bike and walk; and for laws and policies that protect people who are walking and biking, reduce dangerous driving, and facilitate changes to the built environment.