The section of the right-of-way from Bethesda to Silver Spring opened later than the section from Bethesda to Georgetown did, primarily because of a debate over what to do with it and a series of lawsuits. A year after the right-of-way was purchased, Gov. William Donald Schaefer (D) offered $70 million to build a trolley line on it and later a combined transit/trail corridor was added to the county's master plan. This led to several contentious battles between those who supported transit and those who did not, with those who supported a trail left in the middle. There were also lawsuits over the ownership of the line with adjacent homeowners, the Chevy Chase Land Co. and Columbia Country Club all suing the county. The county won all the suits and pursued construction of an interim trail while transit options were considered.