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Residents are encouraged to discuss the Capital Crescent Trail and other practical aspects of the Purple Line light rail project at a public hearing early next month.

The Planning Board will hold the hearing on Dec. 10 on the Purple Line Functional Plan, which is meant to serve as a regulatory document, direct potential right-of-way and guide future development around the project.

"It's the mechanism we use to protect the alignment," said Tom Autrey, a supervisor in the Planning Department's Transportation Planning Division.

The plan, which Autrey presented to the Planning Board on Oct. 29, includes details such as the aerial tracks that will extend over Connecticut Avenue, the station on the east side of Connecticut Avenue in Chevy Chase, and a new connection between the Capital Crescent Trail and the Rock Creek Trail east of Jones Mill Road. Additional bike facilities along University Boulevard in Takoma Park have also been added as a possibility since O'Malley's decision to support light rail.

The Purple Line light rail will connect downtown Bethesda to New Carrollton via Silver Spring over 16 miles, and is projected to cost about $1.7 billion. The project is now under consideration by the Federal Transit Administration.

Those who wish to sign up to testify at the Dec. 10 hearing can do so starting Nov. 10 by calling 301-495-4600, or visiting www.daicsearch.org/

planning_board/testify.asp.

The entire Functional Plan can be viewed at http://www.montgomeryplanning.org/viewer.shtm#http://

www.montgomeryplanning.org/

transportation/projects/documents/

purple_line_fplan.pdf.