The Washington Post reports that the tunnel under Wisconsin Ave. linking the paved and unpaved sections of the Capital Crescent Trail will remain open during construction of a new building at the Woodmont East property located at the intersections of Elm St. and Woodmont Ave.
This news was confirmed at the Planning Board meeting today. The lawyer for the developer confirmed that they agreed to keep the tunnel open during construction, though trail advocates are still fighting to make sure that the detour exit from the tunnel is safe and easy (i.e. comes out on Bethesda Ave. near the trail rather than on Elm St. which requires biking down Woodmont Ave).Developers planning a 12-story hotel and residential building in downtown Bethesda have agreed to keep a nearby tunnel for the Capital Crescent Trail open during construction, a move that cyclists and other trail users say was necessary for their safety.
The joint venture of Rockville-based Federal Realty Investment Trust and Chevy Chase-based JBG had planned to close the trail just east of an 800-foot-long tunnel that runs beneath Wisconsin Avenue near the Bethesda Row shopping and restaurant district.
. . .The tunnel connects the popular path between Silver Spring, via East Bethesda and Chevy Chase, and the Bethesda Row area before the trail continues toward Georgetown. Although construction on the building would not begin until 2009, county planners found out how important the tunnel connection is when developers proposed closing it while the project is being built.
"We realized we needed to look at that aspect much more closely," said Rose Krasnow, development review chief for Montgomery County's planning agency. She said the agency received hundreds of e-mails protesting any closure.
Debates over the Woodmont East project are far from over. Community members met with Councilman Roger Berliner to voice their support for a park at that location, one of the few remaining bits of open space in downtown Bethesda. The project requires Council approval due to the existence of easements for the Purple Line and for Reed St.
The developers debate the size of the Purple Line easement with the County but say that they are willing to give the County the land it needs in exchange for abandoning Reed St. and giving them permission to build. Park proponents aptly reply that the developers are offering nothing since they don't have the rights to the land they propose to "give" to the County.
I doubt that the developers will give up fast--they haven't hired an expensive attorney from Holland and Knight in order to scale back the project and the profits. On the other hand, the number of people lining up to testify at today's Planning Board meeting from around the area (Edgemoor, Chevy Chase, East Bethesda, Coquelin Run, and DC) and the large numbers who showed up to meet with Councilman Berliner to advocate for a park also suggest that park advocates won't give up easily and have strong community support.
