The newest date for getting back on the old Georgetown Branch is spring 2027, and it covers only one piece of the trail. At an October 5 meeting of the Montgomery County Council's Transportation and Environment Committee, officials said the rebuilt Capital Crescent Trail is 74% complete and that the leg from Elm Street to Connecticut Avenue is expected to open by spring 2027. Maryland Matters reported the update in a story shared with WTOP.
The Elm Street to Connecticut Avenue leg runs right through Chevy Chase. At the same meeting, the opening date for the Purple Line trains was described as "dynamic." So the trail looks set to come back before the trains do, one leg at a time. The first leg ends at Chevy Chase Lake, which kept filling its storefronts while the trail was closed.
The return dates so far
Each date below came from an official or a published report at the time, and each later one pushed the finish line back.
- September 2017. The Georgetown Branch Interim Trail closed for Purple Line construction. Greater Greater Washington wrote that Maryland had announced the trail would close "for up to five years," with the official detour on Jones Bridge Road.
- September 2025. Purple Line Senior Project Director Ray Biggs II told the council committee that more than 62% of the trail between Bethesda and downtown Silver Spring was finished, with completion expected the next summer. Bethesda Magazine covered the hearing.
- August 2026. An MCDOT bicycle-projects update still gave Capital Crescent Surface Trail Phase 2, a 0.25-mile piece, an estimated completion of summer 2026.
- October 2026. The trail is 74% complete. One leg, Elm Street to Connecticut Avenue, is expected by spring 2027.
The County's capital budget page for the Capital Crescent Trail project lists spring 2027 for finishing the main trail. The Purple Line project's own closure notice still lists the interim trail as closed from "September 2017 – December 2026." That end date falls months before the spring 2027 target.
The trail went from 62% to 74% complete between September 2025 and October 2026. That's 12 percentage points in about a year, with 26 still to go. That gap helps explain why the latest update named a single leg and not the whole route to Silver Spring.
What 74 percent looks like on the ground
The County's project description lists a main trail from Woodmont Avenue in Bethesda to Silver Spring. It's mostly a 12-foot paved path, with a new bridge over Connecticut Avenue, a new underpass beneath Jones Mill Road, a link from 47th Street through a rebuilt northern section of Elm Street Park, and the separate 47th Street Phase 2 path. Those pieces are at very different stages.
| Piece | Where it stands | Most recent source |
|---|---|---|
| 47th Street path, Willow Avenue to the Elm Street Park promenade | MCDOT photos captioned "completed," dated 6/8/26 and 8/6/26. No formal opening date published | MCDOT Phase 2 project page |
| Elm Street to Connecticut Avenue | Expected by spring 2027 | Maryland Matters, October 2026 |
| Elm Street Park to Rock Creek Park | Under construction | Purple Line project update |
| Jones Mill Road underpass | Utility relocation and west-side retaining wall work listed through fall 2026 | Purple Line project updates |
| Wisconsin Avenue pedestrian detour | Listed November 14, 2022 through December 2026 | Purple Line project update |
| Tunnel beneath Wisconsin Avenue | Planning and design funded. Construction money moved to another capital project in FY25. No build date | County capital budget page |
The 47th Street path is the part closest to finished, and it shows how carefully the official wording is chosen. MCDOT describes it as a 10-foot shared-use path linking Willow Avenue to the Elm Street Park Promenade, and its photo captions call it completed. The project page doesn't give a public opening date, though, and the Wisconsin Avenue notice still says pedestrians between Wisconsin Avenue and Elm Street are routed around the work zone. Construction signs at each entrance are the best guide to what's actually open. The published pages are slow to catch up.
East of Connecticut Avenue, the Jones Mill Road underpass is the piece to watch. Work there is listed through fall 2026. Until it's finished, the stretch from Elm Street Park to Rock Creek Park stays a construction zone, and the trail can't link Chevy Chase to the Rock Creek Trail the way the old gravel path did.
The trail and the train now run on separate clocks
The trail is being rebuilt as part of the Purple Line project, and the October update put the two on different schedules.
At the committee meeting, chair Evan Glass said the first question he gets about the line is when it will open. MTA's Ray Biggs said, as Maryland Matters reported:
"The contractual date does remain Dec. 30, 2027."
Glass asked whether April 2028, a date he said was "floating around," might be more realistic. Biggs answered that the final date depends on safety testing and called the process "dynamic." "That can go either way," he said, "but as we get closer and closer, that date will become more sure." No new official date has been announced. December 30, 2027 is still the contract date.
The two schedules are moving at different speeds. Overall Purple Line construction was 82% complete in September 2025 and 92% complete by October 2026. The trail is still at 74%. The trail is further behind on construction, but it doesn't need months of safety testing before people can use it, so an early leg can open whenever it's ready. If the spring 2027 target holds, people will be walking between Elm Street and Connecticut Avenue for several months before trains run next to them, and longer if testing pushes the opening toward April 2028.
Biggs also covered fares. The line will take SmarTrip, CharmPass and cash, and officials hope to add the tap-to-pay system WMATA uses. He pointed residents to the @PurplelineMD social media account as the fastest way to get updates.
Where the first leg comes out
The Elm Street to Connecticut Avenue leg ends near the future Connecticut Avenue station, about a block from the Chevy Chase Lake development on Connecticut Avenue. Chevy Chase Lake kept leasing storefronts while the trail was closed, so the first walkers off the new leg will reach a shopping center that has filled in considerably.
Here's the recent run of openings there:
- Dok Khao set a soft opening for July 31, 2025, according to Bethesda Magazine.
- Ro Sushi Co. was reported open in October 2025.
- Sarah's Handmade Ice Cream has been open since late February 2026 and held its grand-opening weekend April 4 and 5, Bethesda Magazine reported.
They join Elena James and Playa Bowls, which Bethesda Magazine's January 2026 roundup listed among the development's eateries.
Two spaces are still waiting. The Chevy Chase Lake retail directory lists Osteria Divina and Femi Salon as "coming soon." MoCo Show reported the Osteria Divina sign in December 2025, and no opening date has been announced.
If the spring target holds, the first rebuilt leg will end at a block where Dok Khao, Ro Sushi Co. and Sarah's are already serving, months before the station beside it opens. The next dates to watch are the Purple Line closure notices that still list December 2026, and how far the Jones Mill Road underpass gets this fall.
If you're thinking about what the trail's return means for a home near Elm Street Park or Chevy Chase Lake, or for one along the corridor you plan to sell before the trains start, Graciela Haim & Heinen Group follows these project updates closely and can talk through the timeline with you. Schedule a Free Consultation and we'll go over what the latest dates mean for your street.