News
2/16/12 – “What List?” Prompts Purple Line Concerns
2/16/12 “What List?” Prompts Purple Line Concerns The Washington Post today reports that many Montgomery and Prince George’s County residents are angry that state transportation officials are actively suppressing opposition to the planned Purple Line by failing to provide updates on the hundreds of properties that the light rail project may condemn. The state claims [...]
2/8/12 – “Now I know I was wrong.” A former Purple Line supporter speaks.
I have discovered that for many years I have been wrong about what could happen in my own backyard. The Purple Line, a light rail track is planned, which would eliminate the eco-friendly biking/hiking trail behind my condo building. I believed, for the public good, the “evidence” that building the light rail was the right thing to do, but now I know I was wrong.
2/7/12 – The Purple Line, Greenhouse Gases and the Environment
The Purple Line as planned is “green” in name only, as the net increase in the world’s major greenhouse gas – CO2 – is over 22,000 metric tons a year. To put it this real terms, that’s equivalent to adding 3,900 automobiles on the road for an entire year.
2/2/12 – Pols magic act… disappearing trails!
Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett eliminated funding for the planned Metropolitan Branch Trail between Silver Spring and the District. Local bike activists are shocked (shocked, I tell you). Wrote one “For a county that sells itself as environmentally conscious and progressive, this decision is nothing short of a betrayal.” As if it hadn’t happened before.
1/26/12 – How Can The Purple Line Be Built With No $$$ To Pay For It? (WMAL Radio)
Montgomery County executive Ike Leggett says he will not allocate funding to construct a Purple Line Metro connecting Bethesda and New Carrollton until the state commits to a construction timeline. Under Leggett’s six-year capital improvement budget proposal, there is no funding earmarked for the Purple Line or rebuilding the south entrance of the Bethesda Metro Station.
1/26/12 – Purple Line Condemned Properties Listed
January 26, 2012 Purple Line Condemned Properties Listed Over 500 properties are among those the state estimates it will condemn to build the Purple Line. Is yours among them? Check out the attached list to see. NSD-Property Acquisitions 5-7-2010 modified pursuant to PIA
1/26/12 – Maryland releases list of properties condemned by Purple Line (Wash Post)
The spreadsheet lists about 500 parcels, including about 170 that would be condemned temporarily during construction before being restored and returned to the owner, said Henry Kay, head of project development for the Maryland Transit Administration.
1/18/12 – Capital Crescent Trail a treasure to be preserved (MoCo Gazette)
This trail has everything I need and I know I am not alone in that feeling. It provides quiet time amidst the trees — a protected green space in the heart of our busy and stressful county. The trail is perfect, except for one thing. It will soon be drastically changed if business interests that want to develop Chevy Chase Lake have their way.
1/12/12 Purple Line would affect 342 properties, Md. says (Washington Post)
“It creates a lot of hysteria for people, who naturally are very concerned,” said Montgomery County Council member Valerie Ervin (D-Silver Spring), whose district is in part of the proposed route. “We don’t have any information to say these homes on this street are going to be taken. They should tell people as soon as possible so people can make decisions.”
12/29/11 – O’Malley announces $69 million in Purple Line spending (Washington Examiner)
The Purple Line’s rising price tag — officials estimated the project would cost $1.5 billion two years ago — has critics second-guessing the need to spend millions of dollars in state funds on a rail project that will require millions more in federal funding to complete. “The state needs to look at their priorities,” said Ajay Bhatt, president of the Friends of the Capital Crescent Trail, a group that opposes the light rail. “They’re basically throwing money away over the next two years on a project that they can’t afford.”
Some local officials, including Chevy Chase Councilwoman Patricia Burda, would prefer an express bus line, an option she said comes with a more realistic price tag. “With all the projects that are on the table right now, and the state of the state and the counties’ finances, this seems like it’s good money after bad,” Burda said.