CCCT Annual Meeting Monday, June 10

The annual CCCT general membership meeting and picnic will be at the Elm Street Park in Bethesda on Monday June 10, 6:00 p.m. Rain or Shine!

All CCCT members and supporters are welcome to come to enjoy a casual evening in the park and to meet our CCCT Board and other trail advocates. We will have free food and drink, and children are welcome. We will have a brief business meeting to give a summary of our activities and goals, and to elect our board for the next year. This will be a good opportunity to share your ideas and concerns for the CCT with the Coalition Board Members.

The Elm Street Park is between Willow Lane and Elm Street, just one block east of Wisconsin Avenue. It is adjacent to the Interim CCT/Georgetown Branch Trail, with direct trail access from the east end of the Bethesda Tunnel. There is a public surface parking lot adjacent to the south side of the park on Willow Lane, behind the Montgomery Farm Women's Co-op Market at 7155 Wisconsin Avenue.

NPS releases Boathouse Feasibility Study

May 26, 2013

Illegal parking at the Georgetown Trailhead

The National Park Service has issued a feasibility study to assess several options for new boathouses and boat launch sites at the Georgetown Trailhead. Some study recommendations protect the trail, including the recommendation that any boathouse at the upriver location be much smaller than had been proposed earlier for the Georgetown University Boathouse. But all options considered have the potential to worsen conflicts between trail users and motor vehicles in this area if access and parking is not carefully managed.

See our report NPS Boathouse Feasibility Study for a summary of the issues and CCCT's response.

Changing plans for the Bethesda Tunnel.

It has been just over a year since we passed on the bad news that the Trail would not remain in the Bethesda Tunnel with the Purple Line light-rail, because it was judged that building both together in the tunnel under the Apex Building would have too much cost and too much risk of destabilizing the building. Instead the CCT is now planned to follow a route along Bethesda streets and to cross Wisconsin Avenue at-grade. See our summary of that decision at Council weighs options for the Bethesda Tunnel.

Several ideas for alternative CCT and pedestrian routes across Wisconsin Ave. have advanced over the last year to try to compensate for the expected loss of the Bethesda Tunnel route: 1) a new plan for a sidewalk through the tunnel; 2) the plan for an alternative CCT surface route along Bethesda Avenue; and 3) a new proposal to tear down the Apex Building and build a new, separate tunnel for the CCT.

Alternative CCT routes at Wisconsin Avenue

For more on the current status of these altermative routes, see our full report HERE.

Free Bells, Whistles, Bike Rodeo April 20, 2013

On the Bike Rodeo Course

WHAT: Bells and Whistles and Bike Rodeo on the CCT

WHEN: April 20th from 11:00 to 2:00pm Saturday, April 20

WHERE: Washington Episcopal School Parking lot next to the CCT at River Road.

HOW: CCCT volunteers and Montgomery County Park Police installed bells on bikes and handed out whistles to runners and roller-bladers. Park Police conducted a "Bike Rodeo"

WHY: SAFETY - Bells and whistles warn others and increase awareness of trail users presence. Bike Rodeo participants learn the proper way to wear a helmet, perform hand signals, how to ride safely and have fun riding through a cone course.

For more information: Greg@cctrail.org

In praise of a reliable workout buddy

A beautiful ode to the Capital Crescent Trail has been written by regular trail user Lenny Bernstein and published in the Washington Post Wellness Section on Feb. 26, 2013: In praise of a reliable workout buddy. From the article:

"...I've walked, run and biked every inch of the CCT hundreds of times over the years - in the dark and at dawn, in 95-degree summers and 10-degree winters, alone and with groups of more than 100. I know the location of every water fountain, pothole, access point and secluded emergency pit stop. I plan my workouts around them. We all do.

Yet the trail is also a major commuter artery, a rush-hour bike highway whose traffic increases every year. That dual purpose makes the CCT a rare and valuable asset among the nation's 1,768 rail trails, which cover more than 20,000 miles."

CCCT Chair Ron Tripp and Rails-to-Trails Conservancy spokesman Jake Lynch also offer their insights on the history and value of the CCT. From Jake Lynch:

"When you try to estimate ... what a trail like this is worth, ...that sort of value is priceless. You can't put a price on it."

This article is a good read for everyone, whether new to the trail or a long time trail veteran.

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

Some past website stories are at:
2011-12 Archived News
2010 Archived News
2009 Archived News
2008 Archived News
2007 Archived News
2006 Archived News
Trestle Archived News