This project provides for the funding of the Capital Crescent trail, including the main trail from Woodmont Avenue in Bethesda to Silver Spring as a largely 12-foot-wide hard surface hiker-biker path, connector paths at several locations, a new bridge over Connecticut Avenue, a connection from 47th Street through Elm Street Park to the surface trail adjacent to the Purple Line, a new underpass beneath Jones Mill Road, planning and design for a new tunnel beneath Wisconsin Avenue, Phase 2 of the Capital Crescent Surface Trail Project along 47th Street which was previously included in CIP No. 500119, supplemental landscaping and amenities, and lighting at trail junctions, underpasses, and other critical locations.

Construction completion of the main trail along the Purple Line alignment is expected by Spring 2027 per MTA's revised schedule. Construction of the 47th Street surface trail will be completed in FY25. The Elm Street Park connection from 47th Street to the Capital Crescent Trail will be completed in FY27.

Added $140K for PDS in FY27 for one more year of project management based on MTA's revised completion schedule. Added $2.6M for the surface trail connections along 47th Street ($900k) and Elm Street Park ($1.7M). Shifted costs for the tunnel to a new Capital Crescent Trail Tunnel (CIP #502512) project.

This trail will be part of a larger system to enable non-motorized traffic in the Washington, DC region. This trail will connect to the existing Capital Crescent Trail from Bethesda to Georgetown, the Metropolitan Branch Trail from Silver Spring to Union Station, and the Rock Creek Bike Trail from northern Montgomery County to Georgetown. The trail will serve pedestrians, bicyclists, joggers, and skaters, and will be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), the Bethesda CBD Sector Plan, and the Purple Line Functional Master Plan. The project will help the County achieve its Vision Zero goals to reduce deaths and serious injuries on County roadways to zero.

In March of 2021, the schedule was adjusted to shift funding from each year to the next year from FY21 through FY25 to further reflect the expected construction progress and estimated billing schedule based on the Purple Line's plan to re-solicit a new general contractor to complete the project. In FY25 funding for the construction of the tunnel under Wisconsin Avenue was shifted to a separate CIP project (CIP #502512).

A pedestrian impact analysis has been completed for this project. The County Executive asserts that this project conforms to the requirement of relevant local plans, as required by the Maryland Economic Growth, Resource Protection and Planning Act.

Maryland Transit Administration, Maryland Department of Transportation, State Highway Administration, Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, Bethesda Bikeway and Pedestrian Facilities, Coalition for the Capital Crescent Trail, CSX Transportation, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. Special Capital Projects Legislation [Bill No. 32-14] was adopted by Council by June 17, 2014.