We are planning an event in Riverdale Park for July (the date will be set soon, so watch this space!) at the Park and Planning Headquarters in Riverdale Park. More details will be sent soon, so watch your email for our invitation with the slate of speakers and how to reserve your seat.

Today, we need your help. In order for us to continue this informative series, we rely on your donations.

Your sponsorship of this signature series is an ideal opportunity to connect with project stakeholders, as well as key leaders and community organizers. If you support the Purple Line - this is a terrific way to let the community know it!

As you know, Purple Line NOW operates on a bare bones budget - and we spend every dime we raise to make sure the project is the best it can be by providing educational opportunities along with many other efforts for those communities along the Purple Line route. These efforts include testifying before local, state, and federal entities as well as providing regular information regarding the progress and any major developments through our website,Twitter, and Facebook.

Please take a moment, especially if you haven't given this year, to become a sponsor. 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. 

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!

With sincere thanks for helping us keep our own train running!

Construction Set To Begin on Purple Line Tunnel in Long Branch

Plus Lyttonsville Place Bridge to close in mid-June, street closures coming to downtown Silver Spring
BY Andrew Metcalf

BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

Read about thirty years of working to plan and fund a cross-suburb light rail line - courtesy of Nick Brand, Gus Bauman, and Ben Ross.

We wanted to bring you a few updates on the Purple Line project, now in full swing and moving along according to schedule!

• Purple Line NOW welcomes Fred Craig, the new CEO of the project concessionaire, Purple Line Transit Partners. As you may have read in a recent Washington Post article, Mr. Craig has called the project “transformational” for the region:

“Connecting to the Metro lines leverages both systems phenomenally. Right now if you want to go from one end of the Red Line to the other, you’d have to go all the way downtown and all the way back out. I’d bet that’s an hour-and-a-half trip. With the Purple Line, you’ll go across and go back up. It probably cuts that trip time by two-thirds … It also gives a tremendous amount of transit options to people. Quite often you’ll find that the underemployed or unemployed are not in the same location as the jobs. You see people with a three-seat ride to get to their job because they have to ride a bus and then another bus and another bus. These are people who can sometimes least afford all that time because they have young children or have got to get them to school. So what we’re trying to do is provide opportunities for people to get to some of those better paying jobs and in some cases get job access at all.”

• Montgomery County Council T&E committee held a work session on the Purple Line on March 22. You can view the session here: MC County T&E Committee Work Session. New PLTP CEO Fred Craig reported that the Community Advisory Teams (CATs) continue to meet regularly, and their feedback and input has been very helpful. You can view materials related to each meeting here: CATs Meeting Materials. The concessionaire also reported that they have had significant participation from “disadvantaged business enterprises (DBEs) and local Montgomery County small businesses.”

Along those lines, if you own a business along the Purple Line corridor that is being impacted by Purple Line construction, send Purple Line NOW an email at [email protected] so we can add you to a list that we will house on our website in an effort to remind our supporters that you are still open for business and need customers! Or, if you've moved due to construction impacts, we'll let our followers know where they can find you. 

You can check on the construction schedule at this link: Purple Line Construction Calendar. If you follow the link, you can sign up for those construction alerts to be sent directly to you by email.

• Tree removal operations in forested areas along the route have concluded for the season (April through September) in accordance with federal law that protects migratory birds' nest.
• Did you know that the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) has agreed to preserve and reuse the steel girders from the historic Talbot Avenue bridge? According to an article in The Washington Post (Part of historic Maryland bridge will be preserved along Purple Line trail), the girders will be "installed on a vacant state-owned parcel about two blocks from the bridge, near Talbot and Michigan avenues. They will form short walls on both sides of the Capital Crescent Trail to give runners and cyclists the feel of crossing a bridge."
• If you haven’t heard, later this summer the 16^th Street Post Office in Silver Spring will be temporarily relocated to the Silver Spring Library (a future stop for the Purple Line!) We’ll let you know the date of that relocation when we have it – here’s a short article on the plans: 16th Street Post Office to Temporarily Relocate.

If you are receiving this email, you are already signed up for blasts via our website, but do take a moment to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter, where the information we received is disbursed as soon as we get it.

Our Board of Directors and our expansive team of thought leaders are working hard to make sure we are on top of the latest developments and keeping a watchful eye on any bumps along the way. Have a question about the project? Email us at [email protected] and we’ll put you in touch with someone who can provide the answers.

As always, we exist because of your elbow grease and financial support. Please consider a donation to Purple Line NOW – your support allows us to continue our work. Thank you!