Thank you for your feedback to our newsletter - we hope you continue to find the information useful and proactive! Along with the construction issues noted below, we have an exciting event coming up on Monday, July 23 in Riverdale Park (scroll down for more information).

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As always, if you have any feedback on how we can improve the newsletter, drop us a line at [email protected]. 

CONSTRUCTION NEWS TO KNOW

First Glimpse of the Plymouth Street Tunnel

This week, we are excited to bring you the first look at the Plymouth Street tunnel in Silver Spring! The construction team is excavating from the eastern portal on Arliss Street, next to the Giant Food parking lot, and moving west towards Wayne Avenue.

The Purple Line Transit Constructors (PLTC) team is using the New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM) to excavate the 40-foot-deep tunnel for the Purple Line. PLTC crews are working 24-hours-a-day, six-days-a-week to excavate and build the tunnel using specialized equipment that would make a toddler giddy including the Liebherr 950 knuckle-boom excavator, Epiroc E2-C 2-boom hydraulic drill jumbo, Normet twin-boom man-lift and Epiroc Scooptram ST-14 for hauling material out of the tunnel.

As of last week, the excavation was approximately 30 feet into the tunnel. To give you some perspective on how much work remains to be done, the tunnel will be roughly 1,400 feet once complete!

Demolition of Mega Super Market

On July 6, crews began demolishing the former Mega Super Market at the intersection of University Boulevard and Piney Branch Road. If you’re old enough, you may also remember this building as the home of Fontana’s Bowlarama, a duckpin bowling alley, which closed its doors in 1994.

The property is being demolished in order to accommodate the future Piney Branch Road station stop. The station will be located in the median of University Boulevard, directly across from where the Mega Super Market stood.

Work Begins on Wayne Avenue

A few days before Independence Day, PLTC began clearing trees at the site of the Silver Spring International Middle School on Wayne Avenue in order to reconfigure and reconstruct the parking lots at the school.

In addition to the parking lot reconstruction, PLTC will be locating a traction power substation (TPSS) on the property which will provide power to the Purple Line trains. TPSSs are used to convert electrical power supplied by Pepco to a form suitable for the trains. The TPSSs will be located approximately every two miles along the Purple Line route. Interestingly enough, PLTC’s design allowed for fewer TPSSs than were originally planned by the state.

Once the trees are removed, crews will begin excavating and grading the middle parking lot area at the school. The parking lots are expected to reopen before students return to school in the fall, and construction will resume in the summer of 2019.

Want More Construction News?

As you know, Purple Line NOW is a nonprofit advocacy organization - we are not the entity constructing the project (that would be the Purple Line Transit Partners), though we do work closely with them to keep abreast of the latest news. Our mission is to help get answers for you as questions bubble up. Send us an email at [email protected] and we'll connect you with the folks who can give you the information you need. In the meantime, if you haven't already done so, you should sign up for Purple Line construction updates from MTA - you'll receive timely and location specific information for your residence or place of work.

PURPLE LINE NOW NEWS AND EVENTS

Have You Reserved Your Seat for the Next Purple Line NOW Forum?

The next forum is at the Park and Planning Building in Riverdale Park on Monday, July 23, 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm. The event is free and open to the public and media, but you'll need to reserve your seat as space is limited to the first 100 folks. We are thrilled that the new CEO of the Purple Line Transit Partners, Fred Craig, will join us as a speaker, along with Prince George's County Council Chair, Dannielle Glaros, and Director of the Purple Line Corridor Coalition, Gerrit Knaap. 

PURPLE LINE NOW ACTION

Become a Sponsor

Please take a moment, especially if you haven't given this year, to become a sponsor of our Envisioning the Purple Line series. Your name or your business name will be highlighted at all of the fora in the Envisioning the Purple Line series, as well on our website, for one year following your donation. Sponsoring is easy - and we are appreciative of all donations, large and small. Here's the link to get you started: Yes, I'll help Purple Line NOW!

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