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Purple Line NOW News - May 25, 2023
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
- Happening Along the Purple Line Corridor
- Assistance for Small Businesses Along Purple Line Corridor
- Long Time Purple Line Advocates Gain New Positions in House
- Construction Updates and Project Features
- Items That Caught Our Eye This Month
- 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.
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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.
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HAPPENING ALONG THE PURPLE LINE CORRIDOR |
Assistance for Small Businesses Along Purple Line Corridor
The Latino Economic Development Center provides assistance to small business along the alignment by providing help with applying for grants and loans. You can find more information on their website. Montgomery County provides grants to local businesses directly impacted by the construction of the Purple Line Light Rail Project and have suffered revenue losses during the construction period. Please see the website for details.
Long Time Purple Line Advocates Gain New Positions in House
Purple Line NOW congratulates long time Purple Line advocates Delegate Marc Korman (D) and Delegate David Moon (D) on their new House of Delegates leadership positions. Del. Korman will become the new Chair of the House Environment and Transportation committee. He has long been doing the committee work on the effective delivery of the Purple Line and is responsible for the bi-monthly progress reports. Del. Moon will become the new majority leader, the third most powerful position in the House. Congratulations to both on their new positions! More information about their appointments can be found in Maryland Matters. (Gaines D., "Speaker announces shakeup in House leadership." Maryland Matters, 17 May 2023.)
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CONSTRUCTION UPDATES & PROJECT FEATURES |
Items that Caught Our Eye This Month
Road Closures for UMD Campus
In a tweet yesterday, the Purple Line team said that beginning today (May 25) crews will implement the first phase of closing Campus Drive on the University of Maryland campus, from Regents Drive to Union Lane. The work will continue over the summer. You can find more details here.
Blasting Continues in Bethesda
An additional notice from the Purple Line team at MDOT MTA reports that their crews will resume blasting and excavation work in the future elevator shaft to WMATA's Red Line in Bethesda on Elm Street at Wisconsin Avenue. Work will not impact traffic and will occur weekdays and weekends. Warning horns will sound before each blast.
Photos From Around the Corridor
Photo Courtesy: MDOT MTA
Photo Courtesy: MDOT MTA
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Purple Line NOW News - May 10, 2023
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
- Happening Along the Purple Line Corridor
- Affordable Housing Along the Purple Line Corridor
- Construction Updates and Project Features
- Items That Caught Our Eye This Month
- 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.
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HAPPENING ALONG THE PURPLE LINE CORRIDOR |
Affordable Housing Along the Purple Line Corridor
Learn more about the work being done to preserve and produce affordable housing along the Purple Line Corridor in a Center for Community Investment Case Study.
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CONSTRUCTION UPDATES & PROJECT FEATURES |
Items that Caught Our Eye This Month
Blasting in Bethesda
As we reported in the last newsletter, blasting has resumed in Bethesda. Here are two videos highlighting what the blasting looks (and sounds!) like:
- Purple Line underground blast rings loud in downtown Bethesda | FOX 5 DC
- Purple Line Update: Bethesda Blasting
Concrete Pour Coming
From Maryland's Purple Line team:
Photos From Around the Corridor
Photo Courtesy: MDOT MTA
Photo Courtesy: MDOT MTA
Photo Courtesy: MDOT MTA
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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.
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Purple Line NOW News - April 12, 2023
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.
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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.”
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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
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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.
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Purple Line NOW News - March 29, 2023
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.
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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:
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)
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.
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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
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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.
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