Repairs Being Made to Capital Crescent Trail

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AS PEOPLE WHO FREQUENT the Capital Crescent Trail worry about what might happen to their beloved rails-to-trail route if the Purple Line ever gets built, there's a much more immediate threat to the path. And fortunately, it's getting immediate attention, but there are some temporary inconveniences trail users will have to endure this fall in the meantime.

One portion of the trail, which runs from Montgomery County into the District via the B&O Railroad's former Georgetown Branch, has been undermined by erosion, and left to deteriorate. The section in question, in the Palisades near Chain Bridge, could slide down onto the Clara Barton Parkway below.

Part of the trail is being temporarily detoured as repairs are made over the next 90 days or so. And trail users are warned that construction trucks may be using the trail itself to access the trouble spot.

Oddly enough, Arlington County, which sits across the Potomac River from the trail, is involved in the repair project. Why? The deteriorating slope not only supports the trail, but also a water main that supplies the county. You might remember that in March 2006, a section of pipe beneath the Chain Bridge ruptured, causing much of Arlington County to lose water pressure.

» "News & Events" [Capital Crescent Trail]

EARLIER:
» "Burst Pipeline Disrupts Service" [WaPo]
» "Purple Line Haze: Twenty Years of Debate" [Just Up the Pike]

Photo of the Capital Crescent Trail near the Dalecarlia Tunnel by Michael Grass/Express