Spring Break
Silence on Purple Line draws concern
Ben Slivnick
Issue date: 5/12/07 Section: News
An 18-day silence since student leaders sent university officials a letter urging them to support plans to run a light rail line through the campus has local politicians fearing that the university's unclear stance could stifle momentum on the MTA's Purple Line project.
Aside from informal plans to meet with students this summer, university officials have yet to respond to students' calls for the university to back the Maryland Transit Authority's Purple Line. The proposed line - a lightrail transit way that would connect Maryland suburbs around the Beltway from Bethesda to New Carrollton - would run a scaled-down Metro-like train through Campus Drive and set up a station near the Stamp Student Union.
In a letter signed by leaders from six student organizations, they implored the university to "become an outright champion of the project just as the university community has come to expect." The university sent a separate letter to the MTA this March, protesting this above-ground arrangement because of safety concerns.
The silence since the student complaints has obscured the university's already ambiguous position on the issue.
"We're getting mixed messages," said state Sen. Jim Rosapepe (D-Prince George's and Anne Arundel), who campaigned on a pro-Purple Line platform this fall.
In public presentations, developers for the university's 38-acre East Campus project, Richard Perlmutter and Bryant Foulger, have repeatedly touted an on-campus Purple Line stop as a key tool to spur urban growth and clear the city's crowded roads.
Since Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) pledged to fund the Purple Line just after the election, the transit-way has gained momentum in local governments, and the project once thought doomed to nothing more than a new bus route appears ready to face the House of Delegates for funding next year, said Mark Madden, the MTA's Purple Line project manager. The project had been stalled in planning stages since 2000.
But with a price tag that could exceed $1 billion, questions remain about whether it will receive the necessary federal funding.
Aside from informal plans to meet with students this summer, university officials have yet to respond to students' calls for the university to back the Maryland Transit Authority's Purple Line. The proposed line - a lightrail transit way that would connect Maryland suburbs around the Beltway from Bethesda to New Carrollton - would run a scaled-down Metro-like train through Campus Drive and set up a station near the Stamp Student Union.
In a letter signed by leaders from six student organizations, they implored the university to "become an outright champion of the project just as the university community has come to expect." The university sent a separate letter to the MTA this March, protesting this above-ground arrangement because of safety concerns.
The silence since the student complaints has obscured the university's already ambiguous position on the issue.
"We're getting mixed messages," said state Sen. Jim Rosapepe (D-Prince George's and Anne Arundel), who campaigned on a pro-Purple Line platform this fall.
In public presentations, developers for the university's 38-acre East Campus project, Richard Perlmutter and Bryant Foulger, have repeatedly touted an on-campus Purple Line stop as a key tool to spur urban growth and clear the city's crowded roads.
Since Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) pledged to fund the Purple Line just after the election, the transit-way has gained momentum in local governments, and the project once thought doomed to nothing more than a new bus route appears ready to face the House of Delegates for funding next year, said Mark Madden, the MTA's Purple Line project manager. The project had been stalled in planning stages since 2000.
But with a price tag that could exceed $1 billion, questions remain about whether it will receive the necessary federal funding.
Submit a letter to the editor or post a comment below.
Viewing Comments 1 - 4 of 4
redline
posted 5/16/07 @ 9:41 AM EST
I love how the $1 billion price tag is a limiting factor when the Intercounty Connector costs $2.4 billion and yet that was pushed clean through despite mountains of opposition. (Continued…)
Bob Lemmings
posted 5/17/07 @ 12:01 PM EST
The purple line should not run through campus, the campus stop will add a lot more traffic of non-campus people who just want to use the campus stop. This will cause a lot more congestion for on campus traffic and will negatively impact staff and student alike. (Continued…)
JIm
posted 5/19/07 @ 10:16 PM EST
It has to be light rail otherwise it won't stop at Chevy Chase Lake and Ben Ross and the Chevy Chase Land Company won't make their $$$$. Build it as part of the Metro (underground) stop at the NIH/Navy Medical complex (internships for UMD students yo), and go west to Tyson's Corner. (Continued…)
Jim
posted 5/27/07 @ 8:02 PM EST
The Medical Center Complex (NIH, Navy Medical, Walter Reed) is going to be a huge employment center for years to come. If you had fast rail running from UMD to Med Ctr. (Continued…)
Post a Comment