While advocates of the 16-mile light-rail project cheered the apparent ramping up of construction, those who use the trail said their final goodbyes to a rare swath of green space in the otherwise densely developed Washington suburbs.

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The trail, which is also heavily used by bike commuters, will be closed for four to five years during the Purple Line’s construction, state officials have said.

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“I’ve really come to love it,” said Barbara Wax, 76, who took a short walk on the trail in Chevy Chase while checking out the new barriers. “I had a hip replacement a couple months ago, and it’s really been part of my recovery to have a nice place to walk.”

Wax said workers installing the barriers couldn’t tell her when the Purple Line construction crews will begin cutting down the towering trees lining the shady trail.

“The trees are what make this place so wonderful. It’s like a canopy all the way to Bethesda,” Wax said.

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Maryland transportation officials and a spokeswoman for the Purple Line construction team didn’t immediately respond to questions Tuesday about when trees would be cut and how people would be kept off the trail when they can walk past the barriers.

There also were no barriers yet along private property, including residents’ back yards, along the three-mile gravel trail.

The Georgetown Branch trail is an extension of the Capital Crescent Trail. The part of the Capital Crescent Trail between downtown Bethesda and Georgetown remains unaffected.