The Capital Crescent Trail's New Way Through Downtown Bethesda Is the One You'll Be Using for Years

The Capital Crescent Trail used to go under Wisconsin Avenue through a tunnel, and that tunnel is now the Purple Line's Bethesda station. Montgomery County does plan to build a replacement tunnel. In the county's FY27 capital budget, though, every dollar of its $82.5 million cost falls in the "beyond six years" column. So until then, you cross downtown at street level: Bethesda Avenue, Willow Lane, 47th Street and Elm Street Park. That route is close to finished, and the park at its end is being rebuilt to fit it.

The trail along the Purple Line is due in spring 2027, according to the county, and the Elm Street Park work runs into 2027 as well. The tunnel has no construction money in the budget for any year through FY32.

The crossing, block by block

The trail now runs on two county projects joined end to end. Montgomery County's Department of Transportation describes the route like this:

1. Start at the trailhead plaza by Ourisman Honda, at Bethesda Avenue and Woodmont Avenue.
2. Ride the two-way separated bikeway on the north side of Bethesda Avenue east to Wisconsin Avenue.
3. Cross Wisconsin and continue on the south side of Willow Lane to 47th Street.
4. Turn north on the new shared-use path on the east side of 47th Street. It runs to the Elm Street Park promenade at Elm Street, which is where it will meet the Purple Line's trail.

Steps one through three are the first phase, which is already part of daily traffic on Bethesda Avenue. Step four is what the county calls the Capital Crescent Surface Trail Phase 2. On August 6, the county photographed finished path at 47th and Elm, at Willow and 47th, heading north on 47th, and at a new Capital Bikeshare e-bike parking spot. In its September 16 update, Montgomery Parks said the 47th Street segment was about 90 percent complete and expected to finish in October 2026. That target was close when this post went out, so watch for barriers and flaggers near 47th and Elm for a while yet. The county's work hours on this project are Monday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Why the tunnel lost to the park

The county studied both a new tunnel and a surface route, and the Planning Board approved concept plans for each in October 2021. The Montgomery Parks project page for Elm Street Park explains what happened next:

"Because funding for the tunnel option was delayed beyond the current funding cycle, MCDOT elected to proceed with the surface route option through and alongside Elm Street Park."

The tunnel has not been dropped. Its county project page describes a passage about 1,000 feet long. It would start on the west side of 7272 Wisconsin Avenue, run through that building's lower parking level, and go under Wisconsin Avenue and Elm Street to Elm Street Park. The FY27 budget sheet lists it at "Final Design Stage." It also puts bid documents, utility relocation and construction "beyond six years," with nothing funded in FY27 through FY32.

So a tunnel is designed and left unfunded, and the surface route that was supposed to fill in for it gets new curbs, new sod, loading zones on 47th Street and a whole park renovation. The street route is where the county is putting its money.

Elm Street Park is being rebuilt around the trail

Elm Street Park is a two-acre park at 4600 Elm Street. It sits inside the Town of Chevy Chase, and Montgomery Parks maintains it. The new trail goes through its north end, so that part of the park is being rebuilt. MCDOT is paying for both the trail and the park work. This third phase started in September 2026 and is scheduled to finish in 2027.

According to Montgomery Parks, the design came out of a public meeting and survey held in fall 2024. One stated priority was "enhanced safety at the trail intersection," and you can see it in the plan. Parks describes wide trail crossings with clear sight lines and fencing between the play areas and the path. The plan also includes:

• A playground for ages 2 to 12, with an enclosed harness swing, a low-floor cone spinner, in-ground bouncers, a treehouse with a 4-foot slide, and a communication board
• A play area for ages 5 to 12, with 8-foot and 15-foot climbing towers, a rope tunnel and hammocks
• A fitness zone for ages 13 and up, including the "Ocean Ring," a balance piece that also works as a place for teens to hang out
• A rebuilt promenade with new paving, lighting, a drinking fountain and hookups for community events

The south end of the park, with its gazebos, lawns and mature trees, is mostly outside the trail's path. Protecting trees and open space there was another priority from the survey.

East of Elm Street, the detour is still the detour

The surface route leads to a trail that isn't open yet. East of Bethesda, the Capital Crescent Trail is still closed for Purple Line construction. The Purple Line contractor's live updates list active trail work between Elm Street Park and Rock Creek Park, along with test runs of trains between the Lyttonsville maintenance yard and Bethesda Station.

Until it opens, the official route to Silver Spring is the Georgetown Branch Interim Trail detour, and it is much less direct. From Bethesda Avenue and Woodmont, you go north on Woodmont, then east on Montgomery Avenue across Wisconsin. Turn onto Pearl Street, which becomes Maryland Avenue, and take Jones Bridge Road across Connecticut Avenue. From there it's Susanna Lane into Rock Creek Park, then Freyman Drive, Terrace Drive and Grubb Road, Spencer Road, and Rosemary Hills Park. You finish on Michigan, Maine and Kansas avenues at the Stewart Avenue cul-de-sac.

On foot, there's one more detour right at the station. The crosswalk on Wisconsin Avenue between Elm and Waverly is closed. Pedestrians use the signalized crossing at Elm Street or the one at Waverly Street, then Hampden Lane over to Woodmont. MTA lists that closure through December 2026.

Each project and phase has its own date, and several run well into 2027:

The Coalition for the Capital Crescent Trail, the volunteer group that has pushed for the trail since 1986, still says the trail east of Bethesda will reopen "tentatively in Fall 2026." The county's capital schedule gives a separate milestone. It expects construction of the main trail along the Purple Line to finish in spring 2027.

The rail line has no firm opening date either. At an October 6 County Council committee meeting, Bethesda Today reported, MTA's Ray Biggs said the contractual date is still December 30, 2027. He called the actual passenger opening "dynamic" and said it depends on safety testing. April 2028 came up as a possible date, but MTA did not confirm it. Eight days later, Bethesda Today reported that construction was 92 percent complete. The same article said the rebuilt Spring Street Bridge at the Silver Spring end, which gives access to the future 16th Street-Woodside station, was "substantially complete" but had no reopening date. The Purple Line's Updates & Detours page says overnight crews would work in the Spring Street Bridge area from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. for about three weeks, starting on or about October 19, and that the work includes painting.

What comes next to Elm Street Park

A bigger park is planned next door. Bethesda Market Park would turn two surface parking lots into a park on top of a planned underground garage, next to the Bethesda Farm Women's Market. With Elm Street Urban Park, it would add up to about four acres. The plans include a stage, a lawn, an amphitheater, a water feature, and small and large dog parks. Parks says it chose different equipment for Elm Street Park so the two parks won't duplicate each other. Bethesda Market Park is still in preliminary planning, though. Montgomery Parks' August 18 update lists design and construction dates as "TBD."

That leaves the order clear. The 47th Street path is nearly finished. The Elm Street Park renovation runs into 2027. The trail along the Purple Line is due in spring 2027, according to the county. The tunnel under Wisconsin Avenue is more than six years out. For now and for a good while, the Capital Crescent Trail gets through downtown Bethesda on a bikeway along Bethesda Avenue and a path along 47th Street.

The Jeanne Phil Meg team keeps track of how projects like the Purple Line and the Capital Crescent Trail reroute daily life across the DMV, block by block. If you're wondering how the new trail route, the station or the Elm Street Park work affects a home you own or are considering near downtown Bethesda, we're glad to talk it through. Contact Us.