 video by Steven Vance |
Have we gentle folks in Montgomery County become wimps? While we battle it out over whether it is possible for the Capital Crescent Trail to safely share the Georgetown Branch Corridor with the Purple Line light rail transit, we have this video from a cyclist riding alongside light rail in Phoenix:
video-bicycling-next-to-phoenix-valley-light-rail-train
Now don’t get me wrong – I’m not advocating for a narrow bike path immediately adjacent to light rail with no safety separation. I much prefer the plan for the Capital Crescent Trail:
Source: Purple Line AA/DEIS at www.purplelinemd.com
But the video from Phoenix does illustrate two key points:
- Cyclists can and do feel safe riding close to light rail vehicles.
- The noise from light rail vehicles is far from “deafening” as certain Purple Line opponents have been heard to assert (notice the light rail needs a bell).
I made the video. Thanks for linking to it.
Here’s some more information:
There’s a 6 inch high curb adjacent to the 8 inch wide outer/right stripe. The train is then at least 3.5 feet away (the picture above looks like at least 6 feet based on the position of the rider).
The train is VERY quiet. As a photographer waiting for an oncoming train to photograph, the bell is your only indication it’s coming.
The traffic volume in the adjacent travel lane is very low. The train cannot travel higher than the speed limit of the street (I think it’s 45 MPH here, but speed limits and bike lanes in the Phoenix Valley is another issue).
There are other places where the bike lane closely interacts with the light rail: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26860514@N08/2847080575/
All well and good, except that the diagram of the “typical profile for the Trail alongside the Purple Line” is grossly inaccurate, especially where it would run at the edge of the Town of Chevy Chase. The right-of-way is much narrower there, and there can be none of the tall trees that currently line and overarch the trail. In addition, there are houses on either side of the Trail which would be very negatively affected by the rail line. There is also the matter of the tunnel under the Air Rights building. According to the plans, the Trail would have to run through the tunnel in a cage ABOVE 2 sets of rail cars. It is not the Purple Line per se that is the problem, it is the now accepted route and end point, which logically should be Medical Center, not overbuilt downtown Bethesda.
Veda:
I think you exaggerate when you say the profile is “grossly inaccurate”.
The width of the right of way at the edge of the Town of Chevy Chase is 66 feet. The profile shown will fit into 66 feet. Do the math!
The trail is in a narrow 14′ wide cage in the Bethesda tunnel now. Yes, it will still be in a cage when rebuild over the Purple Line there, but the latest profile for the trail in the tunnel shows it will at least be a wider cage than it is now.
I disagree that the Medical Center should be the end point for the Purple Line. Bethesda is the desired destination of a larger number of future riders, and that will remain so even after BRAC is figured in. If downtown Bethesda is “overbuilt”, then all the more reason to have more transit in Bethesda to take some pressure off roads and parking there.
We can honestly disagree about where and how future growth should occur. My main issue with “Save the Trail” comes when they try to portray transit as too dangerous and loud to be near a trail, or when they try to argue that you can’t physically fit it into a 66′ right-of-way.