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

• What's Happening at PLN?
  • In Case You Missed the 100th Issue!
  • Can You Consider a Donation to Purple Line NOW?
• Purple Line in the News
• Happening Along the Purple Line Corridor
  • Upcoming Forum Alert
• Construction News & Project Features
  
  • Highlights from the CATS

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?

Make sure to scroll down to the "Happening Along the Purple Line Corridor" section to see our big announcement about the next forum!

In Case You Missed It!

Our commemorative 100th edition was chock full of memories. In case you didn't catch the special email that went out with the link, you can still catch it here. Thanks to all who contributed by sending in memories, photos, and ideas!

Would You Consider a Donation to Purple Line NOW?

Each month, we rotate onto our Donors List those who have made a financial contribution to Purple Line NOW in the previous month. If that includes you, your name will stay on that list for a full year following your contribution. Thank you, thank you! Our budget is skinny and we do a whole lot with a little!

**If you do not see your name on our Donors List, we hope you will consider helping us continue our work!** 

We use every donation we receive to continue our newsletter, continue offering regular webinars, continue being a strong liaison to help connect you to people who can solve your issues, and continue our strong advocacy for the project in every way possible. If you would like to know more about who we are, why we are asking for donations, and what we do with your gift once it arrives on our doorstep, you can read all about it in our November newsletter.

Thank you so much for your consideration! Unless you tell us otherwise, your name will be listed on our website and in publications for a year following your donation.

THE PURPLE LINE IN THE NEWS

Goffman, E. "Montgomery and Prince George’s counties seek to expand housing affordability toolbox along Purple Line." Greater Greater Washington, 8 July 2022.

HAPPENING ALONG THE PURPLE LINE CORRIDOR

Upcoming Forum Announcement

Purple Line NOW's next forum will happen in late September and feature representatives from MDOT MTA, Purple Line Transit Partners (the concessionaire), and Maryland Transit Solutions (the new builder). We will have a date and open the sign up portal for attendees soon. This will be a virtual forum and, as always, is open and free to the public and press. We will announce that date soon, so watch this space!

CONSTRUCTION UPDATES & PROJECT FEATURES

Highlights from the Community Advisory Team Meetings

We finish up with a short summary of the summer’s final three Community Advisory Team (CAT) meetings. For this edition, we focus on the Silver Spring, Long Branch, and University Boulevard CATs, but you can see summaries of other CATS in our newsletter archives or view the entire presentation from the Purple Line team on their website.

As with the other sessions, presenters for each CAT began with a quick update of the entire line, plans for the future, and a quick look back to what has been accomplished. Again, see our previous newsletters for that overview of the entire alignment.

Silver Spring

The Silver Spring CAT meeting was held on June 21, 2022 and presented by Matthew Pollack PE, PMP, Executive Director; Gary Witherspoon, Deputy Project Director - Public Outreach; Mike Gales, Area Manager; Dwain Sanders, Operations Manager; Carla Julian, Stakeholder Manager.

The stations in this segment include:

• Silver Spring Metro
• Silver Spring Library
• Dale Drive

Work over the past six months along this portion of the alignment included pothole and roadway resurfacing, erosion and sediment control, as well as mowing and site clean up along Ramsey Street. Sewer relocation was completed, but other utilities including, water, gas, power, and telecoms relocations continued.

Along Georgia Avenue, crews continued relocating utilities, which included underground and overhead relocations.

On Wayne Avenue, from Fenton Street to Dale Drive, Dale Drive to Manchester Place, and Sligo Creek Parkway to Plymouth Tunnel, utility relocations are continuing.

Looking ahead six months, they hope to complete water, gas, and underground relocations along Ramsey Street, Georgia Avenue, Bonifant Street, and Wayne Avenue. As we have been told, the entire project includes a massive utility relocation effort and now that we are in the nitty-gritty of construction, we see those relocations continuing all along the alignment.

Crews hope to begin utility relocations and stormwater management facilities along the CSX tracks as well as resuming work at the Silver Spring Transit Center, along with commencing work on the mezzanine.

On Bonifant Street, they hope to advance utility relocations that were not completed by MTA, and along Wayne Avenue, they will begin construction on the storm drain outfall into Sligo Creek as well as the construction of a 54’ watermain along the west side of Wayne Avenue.

Traffic will be limited to the south side of the existing bridge at Sligo Creek Bridge (over Wayne Avenue) while they begin bridge demolition of the north side bridge. Please see full presentation for diagrams of the new traffic patterns.

Long Branch

The Long Branch CAT Meeting was held on June 28, 2022 and the presenters were:

Matthew Pollack PE, PMP, Executive Director, Transit Development and Delivery; David Abrams, Director of Communications; Mike Gales, Area Manager; Manuel Merino, Area 3 Manager; Carla Julian, Stakeholder Manager.

The stations in this segment include:

• Manchester Place
• Long Branch
• Piney Branch Road

Work over the past six months included continued utility relocations, as well as sidewalk repair and reconstruction, and site cleanup and mowing.

At Piney Branch Road, the road was resurfaced and sidewalk repair and reconstruction was completed.

Looking ahead over the next six months, overhead telecom relocations at Arliss Street and Piney Branch Road will continue. At Manchester Place Station, crews will continue the construction of the station structure and at Plymouth Tunnel, they hope to complete the concrete base for the tracks in the tunnel. They also will begin the installation of mechanical systems.

At Arliss Street, crews will begin construction of stormwater facilities, the construction of a retaining wall along the Giant property, and on Piney Branch Road, they will begin construction of Long Branch stream fish passage.

Manchester Place Rendering

University Boulevard

The University Boulevard CAT meeting was held on June 23, 2022 and the presenters were: Matthew Pollack PE, PMP, Executive Director; Gary Witherspoon, Deputy Project Director - Public Outreach; Kevin Oberheim, Construction Manager; Manuel Merino, Area 3 Manager; Carla Julian, Stakeholder Manager.

The stations in this segment include:

• Takoma-Langley
• Riggs Road
• Adelphi Road - UMGC - UMD

Work over the past six months along University Boulevard included continued utility relocations and along Northwest Branch Bridge, crews continued bridge construction including widening, curbs, sidewalks, and drainage swales. They also installed new pedestrian signals at West Park Drive to prepare for future traffic switch, paved the bridge approach, and installed railing and deck grooving.

In the next six months, they hope to compete the remaining utility relocations along University Boulevard and begin stormwater drainage system installation at the following intersections:

• Carroll Avenue
• New Hampshire Avenue
• Riggs Road
• West Park Drive

At the Northwest Branch Bridge, they will be switching pedestrian traffic to the new bridge on the north side of University Boulevard to prepare for construction on the south bridge.

Takoma-Langley Station Rendering

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.