The Capital Crescent Trail used to pass under Wisconsin Avenue through a tunnel. That space now belongs to the Purple Line's Bethesda terminus station, which takes up all of it. When Montgomery County asked, the Maryland Department of Transportation said a trail tunnel cannot be fit into the space that is left.
So the trail through downtown now runs at street level, with painted crossings, bike signals and a few turns. The pieces opening over the next several months all connect to that street route. None of them replaces it.
The tunnel is now a train station
A replacement trail tunnel has been on the county's wish list for years. The Montgomery County Department of Transportation has finished an initial 35% design. The cost has not held still. In January 2026, Bethesda Magazine reported that the projected cost had risen above $82.5 million, up from an earlier $55 million estimate. The same report said the tunnel was left out of the County Executive's proposed FY27–32 capital budget.
The Coalition for the Capital Crescent Trail has watched the tunnel closely. As costs climb, the Coalition writes, a replacement looks "less and less likely." It suggests the tunnel may only come when a building next to Elm Street on the east side of Wisconsin is redeveloped. That is how the western part of the tunnel got built, as part of the project that produced The Wilson and The Elm.
For anyone who walks, runs or rides through downtown, the street crossings are the plan.
The route that already exists
The county built the surface route before the old tunnel closed for good. Phase I of the Capital Crescent Surface Trail, a set of protected bike lanes, is already built. It covers everything from the Bethesda Avenue trailhead to and across Wisconsin Avenue. Heading east from the trailhead at Ourisman Plaza, the county's mapped route goes like this:
- Ride along the north side of Bethesda Avenue between Woodmont Avenue and Wisconsin Avenue.
- Cross Wisconsin and continue east along the south side of Willow Lane to 47th Street.
- Turn north on the shared-use path in front of Elm Street Park.
The Coalition describes bicycle crossing lanes and signals at Bethesda and Woodmont avenues and at Wisconsin Avenue. It calls the route one that "feels safe, including for less experienced bicyclists." That design matters more now that the route is long-term. The Wisconsin crossing is where most of the downtown stretch gets decided.
What the Purple Line adds through December
On foot, the picture just north of the bike route is tighter. The Purple Line project's long-term pedestrian detour on Wisconsin Avenue has been in place since November 14, 2022, and is listed through December 2026. The Wisconsin crosswalk between Elm Street and Waverly Street is closed. A signalized crosswalk at Elm is still available.
Pedestrian access between Wisconsin Avenue and Elm Street is also closed. The posted detour takes walkers across Wisconsin at Elm Street and at Waverly Street, west on Hampden Lane to Woodmont Avenue, and then onto Elm Street.
Much of the reason sits underground. At the Elm Street site, crews are waterproofing, placing concrete and building a cavern and shaft from the bottom up, with some concrete pours at night. Work also continues on a lobby connection just below Elm Street. Shifts run from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and from 5 p.m. to 7 a.m. on weekdays and weekends as needed. The Georgetown Branch Interim Trail, which the county set up for public use during construction, is listed through December 2026 as well.
47th Street and Elm Street Park are the hinge
The link between the surface route and the new trail heading east is Capital Crescent Surface Trail Phase 2, a 10-foot-wide shared-use path along 47th Street. It links Willow Avenue to the Elm Street Park Promenade at Elm Street. MCDOT describes it as the connection between the bike lanes at Bethesda and Wisconsin and, eventually, the northbound Capital Crescent Trail being built with the Purple Line. The county's project page shows photos of path sections marked complete as of August 6, 2026. According to the Town of Chevy Chase, Phase 2 also includes a park entry plaza, sidewalk upgrades, lighting and new trees.
Next door, Phase 3 of the Elm Street Urban Park renovation began on September 4. This phase carries the trail through the park to meet the future Purple Line Trail and Capital Crescent Trail beneath the Bethesda Crossing building. The park north of Elm Street is closed while the work goes on. For families who use that end of the park, the Town points to Leland Park at 4300 Elm Street, the nearest playground and basketball court.
The finished northern section is planned with:
- Two playgrounds with cork surfacing, one for ages 2 to 5 with an enclosed harness swing and an accessible spinner, and one for ages 5 to 12 with climbing towers, a rope tunnel and hammocks
- A fitness zone for ages 13 and up, built around a balance feature called the "Ocean Ring"
- Wide trail crossings, clear sight lines, and fencing between the play areas and the trail
- A renovated Elm Street pedestrian promenade with lighting, seating and a drinking fountain
That fencing and those wide crossings show what the park is becoming. Elm Street Park is being redesigned as a trail corridor as well as a neighborhood park, because this is where the surface route from Bethesda Avenue meets the off-street trail toward Silver Spring.
East of Elm Street, the date moved to spring 2027
The off-street trail beyond the park is the piece residents have been waiting for, and its schedule has moved.
| Report | What it said about the new trail |
|---|---|
| Bethesda Magazine, September 23, 2025 | Purple Line officials aimed to complete trail construction in spring or summer 2026 |
| Maryland Matters, via WTOP, October 2026 | Trail 74% complete. The Elm Street to Connecticut Avenue leg is expected to open by spring 2027 |
The two reports describe different milestones: finishing the whole trail in one case, opening a single leg in the other. Both point the same way, though. Some of the trail toward Connecticut Avenue is about a season away, and the rest comes after. Compare the trail with the rail line in the same October update. The Purple Line was 92% complete and the trail was 74%.
Crews are still building the Purple Line and the trail along the old Georgetown Branch corridor between Elm Street Park and Rock Creek Park. They are also working in the Jones Mill Road underpass area, where the job includes utility relocations and retaining walls. Both are listed as running through fall 2026. When the trail is done, the Purple Line will hand ownership and management to MCDOT.
The trains are already moving. Purple Line crews are running a light rail vehicle on test trips between the Lyttonsville Operations and Maintenance Facility and Bethesda Station. Most testing happens between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., but a vehicle could move at any hour. At an October meeting of the County Council's Transportation and Environment Committee, MTA's Ray Biggs said passenger service is still contractually due December 30, 2027. When Committee Chair Evan Glass asked whether April 2028 was more realistic, Biggs said the final date depends on safety testing. As Maryland Matters reported, he called the process "dynamic."
A trail leg opens by spring 2027, trains follow late in 2027 or after, and the crossing at Wisconsin Avenue stays at street level throughout.
The trailhead end of the trip
The Bethesda Avenue trailhead is still where most downtown trips start, and the Coalition's access guide lists what is nearby. Griffin Cycle, at 4933 Bethesda Avenue, is about two blocks west of the trail. Its 2026 gift guide invites customers to stop by the Bethesda shop for bikes, gear and accessories. The guide lists a water fountain at the trailhead rest stop a few hundred feet south of Bethesda Avenue. It also says the trail has no public restrooms directly on it. The nearest public-use portable toilet it names is in the Bethesda Outdoor Pool parking lot, farther south at Little Falls Parkway.
For winter, the snow policy Montgomery Parks gave the Coalition in January 2021 described a three-person plow-and-brush crew working roughly 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. during snowstorms, no ice-melting products on the trail, and cones to mark icy spots. Once the new segments open and MCDOT takes them over, maintenance on the Silver Spring side may follow a different plan. MCDOT has said it is already working through maintenance, lighting and safety details for that handoff.
The surface route also changes what a downtown address means for trail access, now and for years to come. If the trail is part of your daily routine and you are weighing a move within Bethesda, or preparing a home near Elm Street Park or Bethesda Row for sale, Sarro Georgatsos Group can walk you through how these crossings and openings fit the blocks you are considering. Contact Us.
