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

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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!

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