Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Station at Wisconsin and Elm Street will be built in conjunction with Red Line Metro south entrance.
Maryland Transit Administration officials on Tuesday unveiled new renderings for the Bethesda station on the Purple Line, a 16-mile light rail planned to connect Bethesda with New Carrollton. The new designs include a five to seven foot sidewalk alongside the light rail through the Wisconsin Avenue tunnel. The sidewalk option was developed after Montgomery County Council members determined it would be too expensive and too risky to route the Capital Crescent Trail above the light rail inside the tunnel. Instead, council members chose to support an option to route the trail at grade across Wisconsin Avenue. “I know it’s a disappointment to people but I think the sidewalk at least gives them an option,” said Mike Madden, MTA Purple Line …
Monday, December 17, 2012
Group meets with MTA officials Tuesday.
The Maryland Transit Administration is planning a Tuesday neighborhood work group focused on the planned Purple Line's Bethesda station. MTA officials will present current plans for the station and ask residents for their feedback. “The Purple Line team will present this information, but our hope is to have an informal setting that will allow for an open dialogue about the Bethesda station and the surrounding area,” wrote MTA in an announcement. Bethesda's Purple Line station is planned to be constructed in conjunction with a new south entrance to Bethesda's Red Line Metro station, MTA officials have said. The new entrance would add a total of six high-speed elevators between the street level at Wisconsin Avenue and Elm Street, the Red …
Friday, November 2, 2012
Detectives are asking anyone who may recognize the man pictured in the sketch to contact police.
Montgomery County police detectives have released a composite sketch of a suspect in an Oct. 21 sex assault on the Capital Crescent Trail. Police said a 21-year-old woman was knocked unconscious, dragged into the woods and possibly sexually assaulted after jogging on the trail between MacArthur Boulevard and Massachusetts Avenue. In releasing the sketch Friday, police described the suspect as a white male with a thin build and a pale complexion, about six feet tall, with short, brown hair. Police said a white male was seen riding a bicycle in the area and may have information regarding the case. They also released a sketch of a bicycle similar to the one that was seen. Police are asking anyone who may know the man pictured in the composite…
Friday, October 26, 2012
Stabbing was not another random attack, police say.
A scuffle between homeless men led to a stabbing on the Capital Crescent Trail Friday afternoon, according to Montgomery County Police. Three men, who are known to police, got into a physical altercation, according to police spokeswoman Officer Britta Thomas. One man was stabbed and another was injured. The third man, whom police named as a suspect, fled on foot and was taken into custody a short time later by police. The stabbing happened near the intersection of Woodmont and Bethesda avenues, near Bethesda Row. A portion of the trail is blocked near the intersection, Thomas said. Concerns about safety on the trail have been heightened in the wake of three robberies and assaults near the Wisconsin Avenue tunnel and a recent sexual assault…
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Maryland-National Capital Park Police officers are patrolling the trail at least five extra times a day since a woman was assaulted Oct. 21.
Maryland-National Capital Park Police are stepping up patrols on a six-mile stretch of the Capital Crescent Trail after a woman was assaulted on the trail Oct. 21. The woman said she was jogging on the trail between Massachusetts Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard in Bethesda when she stopped to allow deer to pass. She was struck on the head from behind, and awoke in the woods a short time later, Montgomery County police said. The woman said she believed she may have been sexually assaulted, according to police. Maryland-National Capital Park Police have stepped up patrols for three miles on each side of the incident site, according to Lt. Bill Kellogg, a park police spokesman. The “directed patrol” spans more than half of the 11-mile trail, …
Monday, October 22, 2012
Second District police officers responded on the trail Sunday evening.
Update, 9:35 a.m.: A 21-year-old woman told police she was knocked unconscious, dragged into the woods and possibly sexually assaulted while she was jogging on the Capital Crescent Trail Sunday evening. Police responded at the trail around 7:13 p.m., according to police spokeswoman Angela Cruz. The woman said she had been jogging on the trail near the 4900 block of Brookeway Drive in Bethesda, between Massachusetts Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard, when she stopped to allow deer to pass. That’s when she said she was struck in the head from behind and knocked unconscious, Cruz said. The woman awoke in the woods a short time later and was able to return to the trail and call for help. A jogger helped her to the 4900 block of Brookeway Drive…
Friday, October 12, 2012
The MTA has designed a sidewalk to accompany the proposed Purple Line through the tunnel under Wisconsin Avenue, and county council members have suggested a county gas tax to help pay for the Purple Line.
If the Purple Line gets built, it could be accompanied by a 5- to 7-foot sidewalk in a tunnel under Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda Now reported. Maryland Transit Administration representatives presented designs for the proposed sidewalk to the Montgomery County Council's Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy and Environment Committee earlier this week. "...[The] sidewalk would not be big enough for bikers to continue using the tunnel trail, but ... would allow bikers on the trail to walk their bikes to the trail connection on the other side of Wisconsin Avenue," MTA Purple Line Project Manager Mike Madden said, Bethesda Now reported. "Councilwoman Nancy Floreen (D-Garrett Park) praised the MTA for their efforts but asked the agency to …
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Police are investigating whether a juvenile arrested in a Sept. 29 assault in the Capital Crescent Trail tunnel is linked to a similar assault July 20.
Two of the three recent attacks in the Capital Crescent Trail tunnel may be linked, according to Montgomery County police, and investigators have made two arrests in a July 6 tunnel assault thought to be unrelated. On Oct. 4, county police arrested a juvenile male in a Sept. 29 assault and attempted robbery in the tunnel during which a boy was approached by a group of teens and punched in the head and face, Patch reported. Police say that case may be linked to a July 20 tunnel robbery during which a victim was assaulted by a group of four teens and punched in the face, according to Capt. David Falcinelli, commander of county police’s second district. "We believe the Sept. 29 and the July 20 incidents are linked in some manner and we're …
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
A juvenile attempted to rob one juvenile and assaulted another on Saturday, Sept. 29, marking the third assault this year in the tunnel, which runs beneath Wisconsin Avenue. Police have stepped up surveillance in the area.
Update (Friday, Oct. 5): On Thursday, Oct. 4, Montgomery County Police Department "detectives arrested and charged a 16-year-old male from Rockville with the attempted robbery and 2nd-degree assault of the two juvenile victims," according to a county police statement. Police had received a tip from the community about a possible suspect, the statement added. In all, three juveniles were victims in this assault: "two 16-year-old males from Bethesda, and another juvenile," according to the police. They "were walking on the trail [on Saturday, Sept. 29, at about 8:50 p.m.] when they were approached by a group of approximately five to six teenage males. The male suspect grabbed one of the victims and demanded money. The other victim attempted …
Monday, August 6, 2012
Still no arrests in the reported Capital Crescent Trail strong-arm robberies.
The following information was supplied by the Montgomery County Police Department. The mention of arrests or charges does not indicate a conviction. The Montgomery County Police Department has released a summary of major crimes occurring in the second district between July 16 and July 25. The following crimes in Bethesda were included in the summary: July 18 July 19 July 20 July 22 July 23
Steve O
3:28 pm on Thursday, January 3, 2013
Of course cyclists will ride through. Not when it's crowded with peds and transit riders, but late at night and Sunday mornings and anytime there is enough space to do so. Any officials who think otherwise are fooling themselves. The trail can be built (as promised) if more creative thinking is used. See my posts on this topic here: http://ht.ly/gwmCu more ›