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Along Spring Street on the edge of Silver Spring's business district, a narrow path opens momentarily then disappears into the woods below. Freshly surfaced with woodchips, this trail provides pedestrians a connection between the Woodside neighborhood and the revitalized downtown.

Additional trails form a mish-mashed network linking Woodside, North Woodside and Woodside Park with downtown and the nearby Metro on Colesville Road. At least one is paved; others are in various states of development, created by footsteps or the work of residents. Trail advocates hope a formal network will eventually replace these informal trails, allowing more people to leave their cars at home.

"The majority of the time, residents feel [paths] make the neighborhood more walkable, make it more active," says Marilyn Seitz, a Woodside Park resident and member of the Silver Spring Citizens Advisory Board. Her neighborhood's paved path links Alton Parkway and Spring Street near Fairview Park, an example of a neighborhood that lobbied for walkable features.

"That park has a history of its own. It was a parking lot … a labor of love turned it into a neighborhood park," Seitz says.

A prominent route awaiting similar conversion is a new Georgetown Branch Trail in Silver Spring that would connect with the Capitol Crescent Trail, a route that extends from Bethesda to Georgetown in Washington, D.C. Languishing for years, the new trail's future is now tied to the Purple Line, a planned rapid-transit route between New Carrollton and Bethesda.

Seeing little progress on a permanent trail, Woodside's Webb Smedley took on the job himself. In April, he began defining where his neighborhood's portion of the Georgetown Branch Trail would go.

"We waited for 20 years for this project to move forward. Our part of the Silver Spring-to-Bethesda segment has been waiting," says Smedley, the Woodside Civic Association president. "We've tried to create something that is attractive, that can't be perceived by anybody as a negative."

Anatomy of a trail

Smedley's trail begins at Third Avenue and Noyes Lane, running between the CSX tracks and the current interim Georgetown Branch Trail. His trail needs improvement to become more useful, but outclasses the interim Georgetown Branch Trail, an on-street route mostly on busy Second Avenue. Prezco, an umbrella civic organization, has signs dotting the road reading "Drive Safe, Walk Safe." Heed the warning: at 16th Street, cars escaping Washington whiz by at 50 mph.

The new trail, which would duck under 16th Street, needs the Purple Line's approval for completion, trail advocates say. The trail would run beside the light-rail or bus rapid-transit line.

"On the Third Avenue right of way, the county owns the land," says Wayne Phyillaier, a Woodside resident on the boards of the Capitol Crescent Trail and Purple Line NOW!, a group advocating for light rail. "The problem is where we get into CSX."

Montgomery County owns the right of way from Bethesda to Stewart Avenue in Lyttonsville. From there, CSX owns the right of way to the 16th Street bridge. From the bridge to the future Paul S. Sarbanes Silver Spring Transit Center, the county owns the land. Different ownerships make the project difficult, says Chuck Kines, bikeways planner for the Montgomery planning department.

"It would be an easement or purchase," Kines says of land acquisition. "CSX wants to use the land in the future, which makes them unlikely to sell it. The county wants the trail to be built with the transit line."

Bob Sullivan, a CSX spokesman, says the railroad is always willing to review rail-to-trail requests.

"The first concern always is safety. Where a sale of land may be required, CSX generally seeks to obtain fair market value for the asset. The company would be willing to review a specific request relating to the Georgetown Branch Trail, but cannot make any other observations without first reviewing plans," Sullivan says.

As for Smedley's example of the trail's future, Kines is encouraged.

"It is a people's choice trail that is not part of the formal trail network," he says. "It does provide a nice walking connection in the Woodside neighborhood."

With Maryland's once-quiet inner suburbs evolving into thriving commercial corridors lined with residential high-rises and office buildings, Smedley and Kines see an opportunity to integrate pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods with the Purple Line.

"The county feels the trail is a significant part of the county strategy to get people to [Silver Spring and Bethesda] without using a car or park and ride," Kines says. "It's critical."

Uncovering a network

Smedley's trail is flanked by fresh plantings and towering ivy-covered trees. "Purple Line/Greener Future" signs dot neighborhood streets, which would be largely unaffected by the Purple Line. Residents further along the planned line on Wayne Avenue, a road that would face reconstruction, display "No Train on Wayne" signs.

Smedley's alignment begins on Third Avenue and continues through woods near Ballard Street. It spills back alongside Third Avenue, finishing atop a steep hill on Spring Street. Graffiti and empty bottles litter the underpass of the Spring Street Bridge. The traffic on the trail is light, partially because it is new, but perceived safety may also factor.

"I'm careful after dark … going down those trails after dark, your ability to see what's on the trail is not good," says Harry Sanders, a Woodside resident and co-founder of the Action Committee for Transit, as well as the president of Purple Line NOW!

Seitz recalls "a couple incidents" on her neighborhood's path near Fairview Park. At night, she recommends sidewalks over neighborhood trails.

"We've had a homeless problem in that area for longer than I've lived [here]," Smedley says of the Spring Street bridge. "If you look at trail planners, when you develop something like this, when it becomes populated, [safety] becomes less of a concern."

Phyillaier notes the success of Bethesda's trails.

"If the [trail] is completed through [Silver Spring], suddenly you've got a regional trail," Phyillaier says. "There is a perception that these [trails] are just dangerous places. When they are opened up, with trail traffic and proper design, they aren't."

Paths of varying utility are nearby. At Third Avenue and Noyes Lane, near Smedley's route, a rough path connects 16th Street with Woodside. This Metro-owned land allows access to 16th Street's sprawling Spring Center strip plaza. When a felled tree disrupted the path months ago, Metro hired a contractor to remove it, maintaining the connection.

"The one that connects Noyes to 16th Street, I often go up," Sanders says. "There are people that would rather cut that off, but I believe we are an open neighborhood."

Alongside the Woodside Mews condos, a path links Lyttonsville Road with Grace Church Road, snaking past a centuries-old tree into North Woodside. Pedestrians can continue to the interim Georgetown Branch by using the Talbot Street bridge, but the bridge recently reopened to car traffic, making it a more adventurous excursion.

The reintroduction of bridge traffic reinforces the idea that car-free travel in Montgomery County is more enticing when formal trails, less affected by changing traffic patterns than informal paths, are built.

"We need a dedicated trail corridor," Kines says. "With the county investment in the Silver Spring Transit Center, this is the real missing link. It is vital."

A walkable future

Using past projects as examples, the future of a completed Purple Line and trail network between Bethesda and Silver Spring is unclear and likely years away. Still, there is hope.

"This will make it possible to live car-free in the inner suburbs of Maryland," Smedley says. "That's the whole need, to enable people to live well without having a car."

Commuters and pedestrians in Silver Spring neighborhoods use an informal network of trails and paths to get to and from the Silver Spring Metro station and downtown Silver Spring. We'd like to know of other connections in the area. What paths do you use and why do you use them? What are the pros and cons of these trails? Send your comments, along with your name, a phone number where you can be reached during the daytime and the name of the street you live on to talkaboutit@gazette.net and we will run the responses in a future edition of The Gazette.