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

• Highlights from the Greater Lyttonsville/Woodside Community Advisory Team Meeting
• Art-In-Transit Update
• Photos from Around the Purple Line Corridor

Happy Veterans Day to all of the men and women who have served in the United States Armed Forces! We here at Purple Line NOW honor your sacrifice and service.

PURPLE LINE NEWS AND EVENTS

Community Advisory Team Fall Meeting Schedule

These are the remaining Community Advisory Teams (CAT) meetings for this fall:

• November 17, Silver Spring, 6:30 pm
• December 1, University Boulevard, 6:30 pm
• December 8, Bethesda, 6:30 pm
• December 15, Riverdale Park/Glenridge/New Carrollton, 6:30 pm
• December 17, Long Branch, 6:30 pm

Please Help Us Continue Our Work!

You'll be receiving an email in the next few weeks asking you to consider giving to Purple Line NOW (or renewing your annual contribution). As you know, we don't hold fundraisers, but instead rely on contributions from individuals and businesses to help us bring you information about the project via our newsletter and public fora, which are always free to the public. We attend meetings, like the one you'll read about below, and stay on top of as much construction news as we can to bring you the latest as the project chugs along toward completion.

We hope you will consider supporting Purple Line NOW at whatever level you are most comfortable - all donations are very much appreciated! The black DONATE button below will take you directly to our donation page. 

We will publicize your name (or your organization’s name) on our website and at our events as a way of thanking you and letting the community know how much you care about seeing this project finally become a reality. We appreciate all donations, small or large. Thank you, thank you! 

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CONSTRUCTION NEWS TO KNOW

Greater Lyttonsville/Woodside Community Advisory Team Meeting

Many of our board and team members belong to a Community Advisory Team (CAT) for their area and regularly attend the CAT meetings when they are held. As we have done before, we will be bringing you some highlights from each of the meetings, which have begun this past week for the fall schedule. We encourage you to view the entire presentation at the MTA MDOT website.

If you would like to read an overview of where the project stands and what the short-term and long-term plans are moving forward, please see the October 28, 2020 edition of Purple Line NEWS, where we provide an overview a briefing from MTA MDOT.

The Greater Lyttonsville/Woodside CAT meeting was held last Thursday, November 5, 2020. The stations covered in this segment include Lyttonsville and 16th Street/Woodside.

Gary Witherspoon, MDOT MTA Public Outreach & Communications Deputy Project Director, Matthew Pollack, Executive Director, Transit Development and Delivery, and Vernon G. Hartsock, Acting Project Director submitted the presentation.

Matthew Pollack is a Professional Engineer (PE) with over 30 years of light and heavy rail experience. Matt was raised in Montgomery County and currently lives in Prince George’s County. Vernon Hartsock is the Acting Project Director, with 28 years of MDOT MTA experience, and oversaw the design and construction of numerous MDOT MTA capital projects.

The team reported that outside of the P3 Agreement, some of the project activities are continuing:

• Polk Street Maintenance Facility
• Ken-Gar wetlands restoration
• Paint Branch stream restoration
• Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission’s 66” waterline relocation

In the meantime, as the team is evaluating construction activities and which ones might resume, MDOT MTA is “coordinating the work gaps presented by the departure of the PLTC.” 

• Project funding is in place.
• The long-term plan is still under development.
• Community collaboration remains critical to project success.

The group has encouraged the community to provide input, attend meetings, and send in questions, so they not only know where problem areas are located, but also, as they move forward, what priorities respective communities would like to see.

In the past two months, MDOT MTA and the contractors have been working together to continue:

• Manufacturing light rail vehicles and other key project components, including electrical components, and special trackwork;
• Completing final construction designs for stormwater management and intelligent transportation systems across the alignment.

As mentioned, starting with a select few locations, they are also "directing the resumption of on-site construction along the alignment." They said that, "as contractors come online, the volume of work will increase." Here are some of the contractors the presentation highlighted and what they are currently doing:

• Pessoa Construction Company – Water and sewer utility relocations and concrete work
• Henkels & McCoy – Gas and overhead power relocations
• M. C. Dean – Systems and electrical work
• Empire Landscaping – Erosion and sediment control maintenance
• Traffic Engineering Services – Maintenance of traffic support

In the short-term (over the next six months), plans are to continue watermain relocations and retaining wall construction. In the long term, throughout the next year, crews will be continuing work to relocate utilities, construct crash walls, and work on the Talbot Avenue and Lyttonsville Place bridges.

Watermain Relocation -- Wayne at Fenton in Silver Spring

Questions can be submitted to MDOT MTA until tomorrow (November 12) for this particular CAT meeting by emailing them to [email protected]. If you miss this deadline or have questions about other areas of the project, feel free to send them to us here at Purple Line NOW ([email protected]) and we will do our best to get an answer for you or connect you to the right people.

Art-In-Transit Update

According to the presentation, 16 of 22 art-in-transit contracts have been fully executed. Eight of the 16 are in Montgomery County, for the following stations listed:

• Connecticut Avenue
• Lyttonsville Station (2 artists)
• Silver Spring Metro
• Silver Spring Library
• Dale Drive
• Long Branch
• Piney Branch

Photos from Around the Purple Line Corridor

Sewer Relocation -- Kenilworth Avenue

Asphalt Resurfacing -- Riverdale Road

Conduit Ductbank Installation -- Veterans Parkway

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