The Montgomery County Planning Board approved the final draft of the Purple Line Master Plan at its April 8 meeting. The final draft incorporated all of the changes approved by the Planning Board at its March 4 work session, reported here.
The only issue that received additional Planning Board discussion on April 8 was whether the trail should be switched to the south side of the Purple Line tracks. The Town of Chevy Chase continues to assert the trail will be better if on the south side, and Town Councilmember Pat Burda was invited forward at the meeting to press their case directly to the Planning Board. But Purple Line Project Manager Mike Madden testified that MTA had already done a systematic engineering study of the trade-offs between a north-side and south-side trail and had presented the results showing the trail would fit better on the north side to the community three years ago. M-NCPPC planner Tom Autrey reported to the Planning Board that he and other M-NCPPC planners had walked the trail the previous day with Town representatives, including Pat Burda, and that M-NCPPC planners remained convinced the trail should be on the north side. Planning Board Chair Royce Hanson said he had walked the trail at the Town earlier this week to see the issues for himself. The Planning Board members expressed their respect for the Town’s concerns, but agreed with the overall finding of MTA and M-NCPPC planners the trail should be built on the north side. The final Master Plan draft approved by the Planning Board is available at the M-NCPPC website at Purple Line Functional Plan.
The Master Plan Draft will now be transmitted to the County Council for deliberation and adoption. The Council can make changes to the Plan. The Council will likely hold a public hearing in June. The Council has already approved the Purple Line locally preferred alternative (LPA) by unanimous vote, so it is unlikely the Council will make major changes to the Master Plan before it gives final approval.
The Planning Board made the right decision for the Trail yesterday in spite of all of the noise the Town of Chevy Chase was making. But the Town was given more deference than it deserved during both this and the March work session. Pat Burda was invited to come forward and present the Town’s position at both Planning Board work sessions, and no other Trail stakeholders were given that opportunity even though other stakeholders were present in the room. Other neighborhoods and trail groups would have welcomed the opportunity to address the Planning Board at the work sessions, if they had known they could do so after the public hearing and after the public comment period had closed. M-NCPPC planning staff only walked that small part of the Trail at the Town with Town representatives the day prior to the last work session. What about the rest of the trail, and the other neighborhoods along the Trail? Was the East Bethesda Citizens Association, which is on record in opposition to switching the trail to the south side, given opportunity to also be present at the trail walk so they could show the planners their issues? Were Riviera House residents and other neighbors on the north side of the corridor opposite the Town given equal consideration to show their issues? What trail user groups were given equal consideration to walk the trail with M-NCPPC planners – WABA, CCCT, MoBike??
If the County Council chooses to deliberate on the north-side vs. south-side trail issue, I hope the Council will keep in mind that only a small part of the Trail borders the Town of Chevy Chase. Other neighborhoods are equally important stakeholders. The Town speaks primarily for the town residents and not for trail users. The Town has a right to be heard, but the Town should not be presumed to speak for us and should not be given deference over other stakeholders. The Trail is much larger than the Town.