Save The Trail Coalition

Testimony -- December 10, 2009

before the Montgomery County Planning Board

Bob Curtis, Edgevale Civic Association

I am representing the Edgevale Civic Association  representing 35 households of which 19 of those properties abutt the trail.  Like the Town of Chevy Chase and East Bethesda, the right of way adjacent to our neighborhood is only 66' wide. The original master plan described a single track trolley, but it has morphed into a double track rail system, even on the narrowest sections of  the trail.   

Several of our houses are only 20'  from right of way.   Our residents worry about our proximity to the trains and vibrations as they pass. .  The draft EIS states that there can be vibrations to the houses located this close.  And we worry about the sound of the trains passing every 3 minutes.  

Studies have shown that homes this close to trains will loose property value.  This will obviously be the case here.   And there will be a huge loss of quality of life in our area.

Right now, everyone has a gate and has access to the trail.  But with the Purple Line now planned for the south side of the Trail, we will loose our gates and our access to the trail.

Architects and Landscape Architects have for centuries fought to find and design green spaces in dense urban area's  in order for citizens to exercise and get a breath of fresh air.   Greenspaces are what make crowded metropolitan areas livable.    Once you take them out - you don't "EVER" get them back.   

People come from all over the Region and beyond to use this Trail.   What is at stake is 3 miles of a serene Trail surrounded by 17 acres of mature trees.   The trees will be cut down, and hikers and bikers will have to run and bike 7-10 feet from the moving trains.   It is irresponsible to destroy this "EXISTING" urban amenity that is an essential link in a web of regional Trails. 

It seems irresponsible to put the Purple line on the Capital Cresent Trail when it can be routed another way directly to the Medical Center Metro Station.   As it stand now the Bethesda connection doesn't connect directly to the Metro, but several blocks away.

There will be a huge loss of quality of life in our area.   We strongly oppose the Purple Line along the Trail, and even more as a double track. 

Sincerely,

Robert Curtis

Edgevale Civic Association

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