We will have a recap of the January 10 Forum in College Park soon! Thank you to our amazing panel of speakers: College Park Mayor Patrick Wojahn, Fred Craig from the Purple Line Transit Partners, Bradley Frome from the Prince George's County Executive's office, Anna McLaughlin, from the University of Maryland’s Department of Transportation, and George Trujillo, from the University of Maryland University College.

It was an information-packed evening full of the latest breaking news on the project and lots of highlights about current and future development in and around College Park. The audience even had a chance to view a site demolition video set against the music of Metallica - you never know what you are going to find at a Purple Line NOW forum, that's for sure! If you were not able to join us that evening, the forum was taped and will be available on You Tube soon. Thank you to our volunteer, John Wetmore, for making that happen so everyone can participate! 

We are already planning the next forum, to be held sometime later this Spring. Stay tuned for location and topic.

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CONSTRUCTION NEWS TO KNOW

Update on Ellin Road Construction

If you are a regular reader of our newsletter, you may have spotted some new images from the reconstruction of Ellin Road, near the future New Carrollton station stop, in our Top Ten Stories from 2018. Well, we've got even more construction pictures from Ellin Road for your viewing pleasure this week!

It's been almost four months since the western half of Ellin Road was closed to traffic and the long-term detour went into effect. The photos, taken just after the new year, show the state of construction along the closed and open sections of Ellin Road.

The section of Ellin Road that is currently closed to traffic is being rebuilt from the ground up. As you can see in the photo below, the pavement has been milled - or removed - in preparation for additional construction work that will follow in the months to come, including utility relocation, installation of erosion/sediment control, and putting sub-structure elements for power and communication feeds for train operations into place.

The view looking west from intersection of Henson Oaks Drive and Ellin Road. Note the steep grade of Ellin Road leading to Veterans Parkway.

Construction progress was also visible along the stretch of Ellin Road that remains open to vehicular traffic. Crews are excavating a swath of land along the curb of the westbound lanes. The area being dug out is where the westbound Purple Line tracks will eventually be laid. Trains will run on opposite sides of Ellin Road beginning at Veterans Parkway until they reunite at the New Carrollton station.

Excavation work is underway along westbound lanes of Ellin Road. If you squint, you can make out the pedestrian bridge that connects the Metro station to New Carrollton office park.

At present, one lane from Henson Oaks to Emerson Place remains open while the excavation work is taking place; however, approximately one month from now, this stretch of road will also be closed and westbound traffic will be moved to the eastbound side, with one lane operating in each direction. Under normal conditions, Ellin Road does not carry a great deal of traffic, so the planned closure should not significantly impact commuters or residents. Last week, Purple Line Transit Partners provided a graphic of the section of road that will be closed beginning on or around February 21, 2019.

PURPLE LINE NOW NEWS AND EVENTS

Stay tuned for the recap of the January 10 College Park Forum, coming soon!

PURPLE LINE NOW ACTION

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