"Our over-reliance on cars and $4-per-gallon gasoline has led us to dig a really deep hole for ourselves. The Purple Line is the ladder that helps us climb up out of this hole toward the light of rational land use, friendly commutes and a stable climate." Mike Tidwell, director of CCAN

Dear Members of the Montgomery County Delegation: I am writing in response to an email sent to you on January 30th, 2007 by Ms. Pam Browning, a prominent opponent of the Purple Line in Chevy Chase. Ms. Browning offers to take legislators on a tour of the trail in Chevy Chase. I would first like to make a similar offer to take you on a tour of the interim trail in Silver Spring. This is not a section of the bicycle beltway that Ms. Browning is familiar with or seems to care about. For her and her colleagues, the Capital Crescent Trail ends at the eastern border of Chevy Chase. I am Chair of the Coalition to Build the Inner Purple Line, which is committed to seeing the Georgetown Branch hiker biker trail completed as a part of the Purple Line project all the way into Silver Spring. Our Coalition views the transit improvement and completion of the Capital Crescent Trail as complementary elements of a diversified transit plan. For me, Ms. Browning and her associates' effective blocking of the extension of the hiker biker trail into Silver Spring through their opposition to the joint use project got me activated on this issue. The interim trail should not even be called a trail, and when my oldest son, now 25, was learning to ride a bicycle many years ago, he was almost killed crossing 16th St. on this so-called trail. Ms. Browning’s persistent opposition to the completion of this trail and transitway is outrageous, as is her continued reference to a petition drive in view of the fact that many of the most prominent trail supporters refused to sign her petition. The three leading trail advocacy organizations most responsible for advancing the trail since its inception all reject Ms. Browning’s assertion that the trail and rail are not compatible. The Washington Area Bicyclist Association actively supports joint transit and trail use in this corridor, The Rails-to-Trail Conservancy has found many examples of trails successfully sharing space with rails and promotes rails-with-trails as a valuable trail design option, and the Coalition for the Capital Crescent Trail continues to take no position to oppose transit rail in the Georgetown Branch Corridor alongside the CCT in view of the fact that transit rail is needed to complete the CCT into Silver Spring.. It is ironic that one of Ms. Browning’s recommendations is that the Purple Line be routed “partially along the beltway to Medical Center in Bethesda”, an alignment that would cost twice as much (according to Montgomery County and the Maryland Transit Administration) and have severe negative impacts on Rock Creek Park and its namesake river. It is also illogical for her to decry development while arguing for an unaffordable underground metro line. Such an option would require major upzoning to be cost effective in the eyes of the Federal Transit Administration – a drastic change that is in no way consistent with applicable master plans or market realities. We urge you to support the development of a quality Purple Line operating quietly in grass tracks flanked by trees and hedgerows, and operating safely alongside a hiker-biker trail between Bethesda and Silver Spring. It is a project that will provide enormous benefits to commuters caught in traffic as well as families looking for a safe place to ride their bikes or walk their dogs. If you would like to see the eastern half of the interim trail that Ms Browning does not want you to see, contact me at 301/651-8890. Sincerely, Webb Smedley www.purplelinenow.com

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