Happy Holidays!

We wish everyone a happy and safe holiday season. After a year of challenges and hurdles, we look to 2021 to usher in a brighter future full of progress and good health. Stay tuned for the Top Ten Purple Line stories coming in January!

In today's edition of Purple Line NOW News, here's what you'll find:

• Double Your Donation to Purple Line NOW - Matching Gift Campaign Continues!
• Highlights from the Bethesda Community Advisory Team Meeting
• Highlights from the Riverdale Park/Glenridge/New Carrollton Community Advisory Team Meeting
• Highlights from the Long Branch Community Advisory Team Meeting
• Photos of Progress Along the Purple Line Corridor

PURPLE LINE NEWS AND EVENTS

Please Help Us Continue Our Work!

Thank you to all who have given since we announced last month that we have a very generous donor who will match your donation, dollar for dollar -- from $25 up to $1,000 -- until the goal of $5,000 is reached! To date, we have raised $1,325 toward that goal! We hope you have a moment over the holiday to consider joining our generous donors.

For example, if you give a gift of $25, your donation will count as $50. If you give $1,000, your donation will count as $2,000. Any and all donations are welcome, small and large.

Purple Line NOW needs, on average, about $20,000 a year to accomplish the work mentioned above and continue its vigilance in helping to make this project a reality. 

If you don’t see your name on the list, we hope you will consider Purple Line NOW as you make your holiday giving plans. And, if you do see your name on the list, but your annual donation is expiring, we hope you’ll take the opportunity to renew your donation during this period when your generosity will be doubled by the challenge grant!

It is because of this grant, and your participation in it, that we will be able to continue our services throughout the coming year, even as the pandemic has tightened everyone’s purse strings.

We are grateful that work is beginning anew throughout the Purple Line corridor and that a settlement has finally been reached between the State of Maryland and the Purple Line Transit Partners. Although there are still significant hurdles to scale, we are encouraged to see crews working hard to get things started again.

A reminder: Purple Line NOW does not receive underwriting grants from any source, government (local or otherwise), nor are we a membership organization (we do not ask for annual dues). We operate solely on donations from individuals and businesses like you who care about the Purple Line and whose generosity allow us to continue our work each year. Remember, with your donation, your name (or your business name) will be listed on our website, as well as in event literature and signage for a year following your donation.

You can easily donate by clicking on the button below.

DONATE TODAY

CONSTRUCTION NEWS TO KNOW

Community Advisory Teams

The final three virtual Community Advisory Team meetings were held earlier this month. Although the video presentations have not yet been posted on the MDOT MTA website, the Power Point is available if you would like to learn more. Below, you will find a brief recap of the updates the presentations provided.

Gary Witherspoon, MDOT MTA Public Outreach & Communications Deputy Project Director; Matthew Pollack, PE, PMP, Executive Director, Transit Development and Delivery; and Vernon G. Hartsock, PMP, Acting Project Director hosted the meetings.

Bethesda Community Advisory Team Meeting

The Bethesda/Chevy Chase CAT meeting was held on December 8, 2020. The stations in this segment include:

• Bethesda Metro
• Connecticut Avenue

As we mentioned before, the team is currently bringing contractors on board, and starting with a select few locations, MDOT MTA is directing the “resumption of on-site construction along the alignment.” As contractors come online, the volume of work will increase.

In the next three to six months, for this segment of the project, the goals are to:

• Complete Connecticut Avenue LRT bridge substructure concrete
• Complete Connecticut Avenue CCT bridge substructure concrete
• Begin construction of parapets on Developer CCT bridge
• Complete construction of Sleaford Road underpass walls
• Complete noise walls along the GBT
• Jones Mill underpass backfill and utility work

Over the next six to twelve months, crews plan to:

• Complete Rock Creek embankments and stream improvements
• Begin construction of Lynn Drive underpass
• Continue bridge construction at Connecticut Avenue and Rock Creek

As with all the CAT meetings, the MDOT MTA team takes questions from CAT members, but also invites anyone with questions to send them in following the presentation. When the question-and-answer list is posted, we will link it for you in a future newsletter.

Riverdale & Glenridge/New Carrollton Community Advisory Meeting

This CAT meeting was posted on December 15, 2020. The stations in this segment include:

• Riverdale Park-Kenilworth
• Beacon Heights-East Pines
• Glenridge
• New Carrollton Metro

In the short term, over the next three to six months, the team plans to:

• Continue utility relocations on Kenilworth Avenue, Riverdale Road, Veterans Parkway, Annapolis Road, and Ellin Road
• Construction of New Carrollton parking lot
• Complete Traction Power Substation (TPSS) at Patterson Avenue
• Wall construction at the Glenridge OMF
• Glenridge OMF utility work, grading and storm drainage

Goals for the longer term, over the next six to twelve months, are:

• Wall construction continues
• Continue utility relocations throughout CAT area
• Storm drain / sidewalk construction on Kenilworth Avenue
• Construction of Riverdale Station aerial deck
• Glenridge Mall bridge construction
• BW Parkway bridge completion
• Complete grading from Riverdale Road to Ellin Road and continue test track construction

Long Branch Community Advisory Team Meeting

The meeting was posted on December 17, 2020 and stations in this segment include:

• Manchester Place
• Long Branch
• Piney Branch Road

Throughout the line, for the past quarter, MDOT MTA and the contractors have been working together to continue:

• Manufacturing light rail vehicles and other key project components, including electrical components, and special track work;
• Completing final construction designs for storm water management and intelligent transportation systems across the alignment.

Over the next year, crews plan to complete the east portal slab/walls and continue with utility relocations (water, sewer and electrical) on Piney Branch.

Before we close out a year that has been challenging on all fronts, we will leave you with a few photos of progress around the Purple Line Corridor. 

Stay Connected!

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