Construction to connect the Metropolitan Branch Trail with the Silver Spring Metro station could be delayed for another six years.
Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett dropped the $12 million set aside to link the path with the under-construction Silver Spring Transit Center from his capital budget. The project is now planned for 2018 with a different design because of a conflict with county preservationists over the original route.
Though the trail was supposed to be completed in six years, “affordability and competing priorities” have caused the proposed delay, county spokeswoman Esther Bowring said.
The popular walking and biking path runs eight miles between Silver Spring and Union Station, with regional planners hoping to connect it to the area’s trail network, including the Capital Crescent Trail and the Anacostia Trails System.
But Montgomery Preservation Inc. opposes a portion of the trail that would run under the canopy of the historic B&O Railroad station in Silver Spring. The station is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
This means that if the funds do become available, the path would be at the same level as Georgia Avenue and East-West Highway, a safety concern for cyclists and pedestrians.
Montgomery County Councilman Hans Riemer, D-at large, said the group has gone back on its word to allow the trail to run through the station.
“It’s unfortunate because they have received the broad community support to preserve the station partly on the basis that the future trail would run across the station,” he said.
But in cash-strapped Montgomery, it’s likely Leggett put off the trail funding to free up the money for other projects.
“I think the primary reason is that the executive didn’t feel this was as high of a need and that the money can be used in other areas,” he said.
Bowring said the county will continue to work with the nonprofit preservation group about the route.
