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

• What's Happening at PLN?
  • Why We Ask for Support
  • Montgomery County Planning Board News
• Happening Along the Purple Line Corridor
  
  • Purple Line Corridor Coalition’s Housing Actions
• Construction Updates and Project Features
  
  • Fitch Assessment of Purple Line Schedule
  • Other Items That Caught Our Eye
  • Photos Around the Corridor

Share This Newsletter

Please feel free to share this newsletter - no permission from us needed! You can always find a link to our newsletter on our Purple Line NOW website which makes it easy to share with your friends, neighbors, constituents, customers, and employees.

WHAT'S HAPPENING AT PLN?

 Why We Ask for Support Each Month

Purple Line NOW was originally established to promote the approval and funding of the Purple Line project. We were so pleased when the project was finally approved after more than 20 years of advocacy and relieved the Purple Line would finally become a reality.

We have all learned since construction began that the challenges to complete the project have continued. We at Purple Line NOW understand that despite those challenges, the Purple Line will have an incredibly positive impact on the quality of life for commuters and travelers in our region. We have continued to work as a conduit between the community and builders so that questions and concerns can be addressed and to advocate for a final product that is a real asset for the communities it will serve.

To do that, we rely on your continued financial support.

We are so appreciative of each and every dollar that comes to us by way of a donation. We are a nonprofit organization that relies on donors to continue its mission and we cannot exist without your generosity each and every year. Your donation will be noted on our website and in all printed materials and at all events for a year following your contribution to Purple Line NOW. Curious as to when you last made a donation to us? You can check out our website or shoot us an email. If you don't see your name listed, we hope you will consider donating to our organization when you are able. Thank you, thank you.

Montgomery County Planning Board News

You may have been tracking a story regarding the turmoil that led to the departure of the entire Montgomery County Planning Board last year. As you may know, the Planning Boards for both Montgomery and Prince George's counties have had an important role to play in the building of the Purple Line, in particular working on connections beyond the right-of-way. This past week, the results of an independent investigation into the Montgomery County Planning Board's work environment exonerated the previous chair of the Planning Board, Casey Anderson. Mr. Anderson had worked tirelessly to prepare for the Purple Line during his tenure as Planning Board chair and we wish him all the best going forward. The new Planning Board will continue its critical role to prepare for the coming Purple Line.

HAPPENING ALONG THE PURPLE LINE CORRIDOR

Share Thoughts on Purple Line Corridor Coalition’s Housing Actions

The Purple Line Corridor Coalition (PLCC) includes a group of partners across Prince George's and Montgomery Counties. Our shared mission is to support racially and economically equitable growth near the Purple Line transit line. PLCC welcomes your thoughts on its draft Housing Action Plan: 2023–2027. This plan sets the big-picture direction for the coalition’s housing work. The coalition is updating its original housing action plan to ensure it reflects the needs and aspirations of Purple Line residents and communities today. The coalition is accepting comments on its draft Housing Action Plan: 2023–2027 until Sunday, April 30, 2023 by email or web form. Click here to learn more about the plan and to access the comment form in English & Spanish.

CONSTRUCTION UPDATES & PROJECT FEATURES

Fitch Assessment of Purple Line Schedule

It may be worth reading the Fitch assessment of the Purple Line's schedule, as part of their rating of the bonds offered by the concessionaire:

“[O]wner utility adjustments are experiencing delays and causing projected [ revenue service availability] date to be 258 days behind. This is a moving target as it excludes agreed upon mitigation measures that could recover the schedule to just 81 days delay, but also does not account for future delays until all utilities are relocated. Though a formal change order has yet to be executed, parties are working towards it and indicate that interim schedule relief may be granted despite a desire to not have to continuously revise the project schedule.

Fitch views positively the working relationship to-date between owner, PLTP [Purple Line Transit Partners], and the [design-build joint venture], both on the ground and at the executive level, which appears to be collaborative and with aligned incentives. In contrast to the past, the owner issued a directive letter to PLTP instructing it to carry out several mitigation strategies and included a price and payment schedule for the works that the owner will fund while a formal change order is enacted. Fitch believes all parties will continue to work together to resolve issues as they arise in a timely manner.”

This is not the official assessment from either the State of Maryland or the Concessionaire, but is a positive sign that the tiger teams mentioned at the Purple Line Community Advisory Team meetings are succeeding in finding ways to mitigate sources of delay and that leadership on each side and the mechanisms to foster good communication are all doing their part.

Other Items that Caught Our Eye

• We know that construction woes through UMD campus have been fierce, but this article gives six reasons why it may all be worth it!
• Happy to see that blasting has resumed again in Bethesda.

Photos From Around the Corridor

Photo Courtesy: MDOT MTA

Photo Courtesy: MDOT MTA

Photo Courtesy: MDOT MTA

STAY CONNECTED

Get Connected

Make sure you are signed up for timely alerts from Purple Line NOW via our Twitter and Facebook pages, and at our website Purple Line NOW.

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

• What's Happening at PLN?
  • Are You a Purple Line NOW Donor?
• Happening Along the Purple Line Corridor
  
  • Maryland’s WMATA Headquarters Open at New Carrollton
• Construction Updates and Project Features
  
  • 2026 Opening for Purple Line Confirmed
  • OMF Progress

Share This Newsletter

Please feel free to share this newsletter - no permission from us needed! You can always find a link to our newsletter on our Purple Line NOW website which makes it easy to share with your friends, neighbors, constituents, customers, and employees.

WHAT'S HAPPENING AT PLN?

Are You a Purple Line NOW Donor?

We are so appreciative of each and every dollar that comes to us by way of a donation. We are a nonprofit organization that relies on donors to continue its mission and we cannot exist without your generosity each and every year. Your donation will be noted on our website and in all printed materials and at all events for a year following your contribution to Purple Line NOW. Curious as to when you last made a donation to us? You can check out our website or shoot us an email. If you don't see your name listed, we hope you will consider donating to our organization when you are able. Thank you, thank you.

HAPPENING ALONG THE PURPLE LINE CORRIDOR

Maryland’s WMATA Headquarters Open at New Carrollton

In a Twitter video release, Maryland’s Governor Wes Moore celebrated the opening of the Metro Building at the New Carrollton station which will house a variety of businesses and organizations, along with the Maryland WMATA Headquarters, including 1,200 WMATA employees. According to a press release issued by WMATA, the ribbon-cutting ceremony that brought together the Governor along with many other elected officials, the building “marks the continued transformation of New Carrollton as a transit-accessible hub for office space, housing, and retail.”

CONSTRUCTION UPDATES & PROJECT FEATURES

2026 Opening for Purple Line Confirmed

In January of this year, the Washington Post reported that the project could sustain yet another hurdle, pushing opening day for passenger service into mid-2027. (K. Shaver. “Maryland’s Purple Line construction faces another seven-month delay.” Washington Post, 19 January 2023.) Just last week, however, we were delighted to learn that the project is instead on target to open in fall 2026! (G. Bixby. “Purple Line slightly less delayed, on target to open in fall 2026, spokesperson says.” MoCo360, 5 April 2023.)

OMF Progress

It has been amazing to watch the Operations and Maintenance Facility come to life over the past few years. On their Twitter feed, MDOT says that their crews have installed track in the wash bay and poured the concrete to embed the track. The facility will be used to service and store the 140-foot vehicles when they arrive.

Photos From Around the Corridor

Photo Courtesy: MDOT MTA

Photo Courtesy: MDOT MTA

Photo Courtesy: MDOT MTA

STAY CONNECTED

Get Connected

Make sure you are signed up for timely alerts from Purple Line NOW via our Twitter and Facebook pages, and at our website Purple Line NOW.

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

• What's Happening at PLN?
  • Are You a Purple Line NOW Donor?
• Happening Along the Purple Line Corridor
  
  • Community Advisory Team Meetings
  • Purple Line NOW Testimony to Montgomery County Planning Board
• Construction Updates and Project Features
  
  • Montgomery County Transportation & Environment Briefing on the Purple Line
  • Photos From Around the Corridor

Share This Newsletter

Please feel free to share this newsletter - no permission from us needed! You can always find a link to our newsletter on our Purple Line NOW website which makes it easy to share with your friends, neighbors, constituents, customers, and employees.

WHAT'S HAPPENING AT PLN?

Are You a Purple Line NOW Donor?

We are so appreciative of each and every dollar that comes to us by way of a donation. We are a nonprofit organization that relies on donors to continue its mission and we cannot exist without your generosity each and every year. Your donation will be noted on our website and in all printed materials and at all events for a year following your contribution to Purple Line NOW. Curious as to when you last made a donation to us? You can check out our website or shoot us an email. If you don't see your name listed, we hope you will consider donating to our organization when you are able. Thank you, thank you.

HAPPENING ALONG THE PURPLE LINE CORRIDOR

Community Advisory Team Meetings

In late winter, the Community Advisory Team meetings were held and those presentations can be viewed online. Some of the questions and answers for those meetings have recently been posted, as well, for their respective stations:

Bethesda Chevy Chase Station

Silver Spring (includes SS Transit Center, SS Library, and Dale Drive Stations)

Long Branch (includes Manchester Place, Long Branch and Piney Branch Road Stations)

University Boulevard (includes Takoma/Langley Transit Center and Riggs Road Stations)

College Park (includes Adelphi Rd.-UMGC-UMD, Campus Drive UMD, Balt. Ave-College Park-UMD, College Park Metro, and Riverdale North-UMD stations)

Riverdale Park (includes Riverdale Park/Kenilworth Ave. and Beacon Heights/East Pines stations)

Glenridge (includes Glenridge and New Carrollton Metro stations)

We will post the links for the remaining CAT Q&As when they are available.

Purple Line NOW Testimony to Montgomery County Planning Board

Purple Line NOW gave oral and written testimony earlier this month to Montgomery County Planning Board at the Pedestrian Master Plan Public Hearing. You can read our testimony here.

CONSTRUCTION UPDATES & PROJECT FEATURES

Montgomery County Transportation & Environment Briefing on the Purple Line

On March 20, 2023, the three members of the Montgomery County Council Transportation & Environment Committee (Councilmembers Evan Glass, Marilyn Balcombe, and Kate Stewart) were briefed on the status of the project by members of the Purple Line team, Hugo Fontirroig, Deputy Project Director for Maryland Transit Solutions, Doran Bosso, Chief Executive Officer for PLTP, and Matthew Pollack, Purple Line Executive Director, Maryland Transit Administration.

You can watch the entire presentation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoz9Pqs1dmU

Mr. Pollack gave a brief overview of the status of the project, noting the benefits of east/west transit across two counties that the project will provide, “giving us transit development as well as economic development.”

Construction began ramping up last fall, and now, as of January 2023, everywhere along the alignment.

The timeline, for now, remains the same, with passenger service scheduled to begin late 2026, though there are still issues that could impact the schedule. They have formed a “Tiger Team” of experts who have been meeting since last October to look at any mitigating issues and work through issues as they arise. Mr. Pollack did say however, that there are no guarantees at this point that revenue service will not be “pushed out into the future.”

Twenty-six of the 28 vehicles are already built and ready to ship. They are scheduled for delivery fall 2023, but will likely arrive in early 2024.

The test track will need to be in place before their delivery -- the track will be a slightly less than one mile stretch along Veteran’s Highway which will feed into storage tracks and will not cross over any roads. After their delivery, both vehicle testing and operator testing will need to take place which will take a little over a year, at which time, the hope is to have all of the tracks laid, end-to-end, so that real time testing can begin soon after.

The cars will be the largest single-rail vehicles in the country when they are put into service, and each will hold a total capacity of 400 with 80 seats, and have flexible space with folding seats for bicycles and wheelchairs, along with low floors and wide doorways.

While they are being stored in Elmira, New York, they are getting “exercised” regularly as well as maintained.

The team then turned their attention to giving various updates for specific stations along the corridor, noting that construction is now visible from nearly every position on the route. Updates were given for the Bethesda station, the Connecticut Avenue station, Talbot Avenue, Silver Spring and Library stations, Georgia Avenue and Bonifant streets, Wayne Avenue, Sligo Creek Trail, and Plymouth Tunnel.

The Councilmembers each asked a series of questions, with Chair Glass thanking the committee for their dedication to listening to the community and committing resources where issues arise. He was especially appreciative of the attention to pedestrian safety.

Councilmember Stewart noted the dangerous road conditions along University Boulevard near Campus and asked the team to take a second look at ways to make the roads there safer during construction.

Councilmember Balcombe asked for more signage and way-making help.

Photos From Around the Corridor

Talbot Avenue Bridge
Photo credit: Barbara Sanders and Donna Nelson

Talbot Avenue Bridge
Photo credit: Barbara Sanders and Donna Nelson

Photo Courtesy: MDOT MTA

Photo Courtesy: MDOT MTA

0	STAY CONNECTED

Get Connected

Make sure you are signed up for timely alerts from Purple Line NOW via our Twitter and Facebook pages, and at our website Purple Line NOW.

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

• What's Happening at PLN?
  • MDOT MTA Purple Line Team Visits Purple Line NOW
  • A Big Thank You to Our Donors!
• Happening Along the Purple Line Corridor
  
  • Community Advisory Team Meetings
• Construction Updates and Project Features
  
  • Brief CAT Overview
  • Photos From Around the Corridor

Share This Newsletter

Please feel free to share this newsletter - no permission from us needed! You can always find a link to our newsletter on our Purple Line NOW website which makes it easy to share with your friends, neighbors, constituents, customers, and employees.

WHAT'S HAPPENING AT PLN?

MDOT MTA Team Visits Purple Line NOW

We were delighted to host members of the MDOT MTA Team at our January Quarterly Board meeting and to hear a thorough status update about the project straight from the folks who are in charge and grateful for the answers they provided to our (many) questions!

Photo Courtesy: MDOT MTA

A Big Thank You to Our Donors!

We want to take a moment to highlight all of our donors in this issue -- many of these generous folks have supported us annually for many years and some are new to Purple Line NOW. We are grateful for each and every one.

If you do not see your name on the following list, please let us know! Following a donation, with your permission, we list you on our website and in all event literature for a year following your gift.

Because we operate year round and our budget is tiny, if you have not had a chance to make a donation or renew one from last year, we would be grateful for your consideration. You can click the PURPLE button below to easily make an online donation.

Thank you to all of our donors -- we would not exist without your generosity!

FEATURED DONORS
Chevy Chase Land Company
THE MALLOY AND SANDERS FAMILY

SUPPORTING DONORS
Tina, Don, and Jessie Slater
Eric Talbot

ENGINEERS
The Greater Bethesda Chamber of Commerce
Isiah Leggett
John Robinson
Nancy and Rob Soreng

CONDUCTORS
Ashlie Bagwell
Mary Lanigan
Christine Scott and JohnR Llewellyn

COMMUTERS
John Carroll, Jeff Cronin, Mike DeLong, Gary Fahle, Andrew Fellows, Peter Gray, Gerrit Knaap, Jodie Kulpa-Eddy, Dan Marcin, Anita Morrison, David Murnan, Ray Nosbaum, Andrew Scott, Webb Smedley, William Strang, 

PASSENGERS
Tsedal Bahta, Margaret Chasson, Teena Curry, Patrick Dougherty, Elaine Emling and Michael Jenner, Jose Galdamez, John Hoyt, Geneva Jones, Ronald Wange, Jerry Withers

HAPPENING ALONG THE PURPLE LINE CORRIDOR

Community Advisory Team Meetings

The recent round of Community Advisory Team Meetings (CATs), which began February 2, have concluded. Please see a brief overview of the meetings below and make sure to check the MDOT MTA website for more information.

CONSTRUCTION UPDATES & PROJECT FEATURES

Community Advisory Teams Overview

The CAT Team meetings have concluded for the Winter/Spring. Each meeting's presentation is posted on MDOT MTA website shortly after the meeting. As of this morning, except for Greater Lyttonsville/Woodside -- which was just held and should be up shortly -- all were posted, so be sure to visit your CAT's presentation to learn the latest about what is happening in your corner of the corridor as it pertains to Purple Line work. The renderings for many of the stations are incredible!

These meetings are specific to communities along the right-of-way, but following each meeting, as we noted, the presentations will be posted for anyone interested to view. We will let you know when the Q&A portion of the meetings are posted. 

The meetings last month began with an update on the project schedule. Maryland has acknowledged the schedule risk described by the analysts working for the concessionaire, reported by the Washington Post last month. Such risk is not uncommon in projects that operated in dense areas the size and complexity of the Purple Line. Maryland and the concessionaire are meeting regularly to find ways to address challenges, a process to bring together key personnel on both sides called "Tiger" teams. 

For example, Matt Pollack, Executive Director for the Purple Line team at the state reported that these teams were working to overcome problems by finding maintenance of traffic approaches that allowed for more utility relocation work to be conducted in parallel. However, the larger collaborative process has not yet produced a revised schedule estimate.

The good news is that the presenters were also able to report visible signs of progress for the line, including:

• Work progressed on five bridges, including light rail and Capital Crescent Trail (CCT) crossing of Connecticut Avenue.
• Opened the Sleaford underpass in Chevy Chase.
• Opened the reconfigured bus loop at the College Park-UMD Station.
• Began construction of four stations: Glenridge, Riverdale Park North-UMD, Silver Spring Library, and Silver Spring.
• Completed production of 26 of 28 light rail vehicles.

Each CAT meeting also gave a detailed summary of upcoming work around each respective part of the track. An important request: If you see inappropriate obstruction of sidewalks, violations of the  American with Disability Act, or blocked driveways that are not part of the official construction efforts, please send a picture to MTA which will "starts the clock" on their response efforts. The concessionaire is graded and has financial incentives based on how quickly they respond to fix any such incidents.

Photos From Around the Corridor

These photos come from a reader and taken from the rooftop of 8401 Connecticut. Progress!

STAY CONNECTED

Get Connected

Make sure you are signed up for timely alerts from Purple Line NOW via our Twitter and Facebook pages, and at our website Purple Line NOW.