Interim Pedestrian Crossing Between Pearl Street, Capital Crescent Trail Moves Forward

A project to build an interim pedestrian connection between the and Pearl Street in Bethesda is moving forward, and local officials are voicing their support for the project.

Currently, in order to access the trail from Pearl Street, pedestrians have to scale an embankment that drops about five feet. The embankment is often used as makeshift stairs by pedestrians and bicyclists trying to access the trail, students going to and from and commuters who walk to the Metro from the .

"Right now it's just a bunch of rocks and tree roots, and it's really quite treacherous," said Patricia Burda, community liaison for the Town of Chevy Chase. "I would twist my ankle in a second."

The pedestrian connection would resemble a wooden ramp or bridge to ease access, and would be an interim solution in anticipation of a more permanent connection once the planned Purple Line and an improved Capital Crescent Trail is built in that area, according to Edgar Gonzalez, deputy director for transportation policy for Montgomery County Department of Transportation.

On Jan. 3, County Councilmember Roger Berliner (D-Dist. 1) wrote a letter addressed to Art Holmes, director of the MCDOT, advocating for the project to move forward.

"I hope that you can act on this project soon so that our citizens will not have to wait until the completion of the Purple Line and the new Capital Crescent Trail before enjoying a safe crossing at this location," Berliner wrote.

According to Gonzalez, DOT is already moving forward with the interim crossing project and working with the property owner to acquire right of way. DOT hopes to have the project completed before November of this year, and hopes to hold a public meeting sometime in April, Gonzalez said. Since some federal funding hasn't yet been secured for the Purple Line and a timeline is still unclear, DOT has chosen to move forward with the interim project rather than wait on plans for the Purple Line to solidify, Gonzalez said.

The interim crossing was initially proposed when the existing Hilton Garden Inn at the Air Rights Center was being developed, according to Elza Hisel-McCoy, a planning coordinator with the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission. The developer set aside money to foot the bill, but the county wasn't able to acquire right-of-way from an adjacent property owner in order for the project to move forward, Hisel-McCoy said.

Then, in December, Air Rights developer Donohoe Development Company returned to the Montgomery County Planning Board to seek approval to build an 11-story, nearly 150,000-square-foot office building on the Air Rights site at 7300 Pearl St. Community members renewed their push to have the connection built as a condition of the new project, Burda said.

"This was something that was really important to the community that never got worked out," Burda said. "We really wanted to make sure this got built."

The Planning Board approved the office building project. According to planning documents, the developer is required to put $565,000 towards non-auto transportation improvements around the development before they're issued building permits for the building, with the interim pedestrian connection listed as a priority project.