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

• What's Happening at PLN?
  • An Exciting Announcement is Coming!
• Happening Along the Purple Line Corridor
  • Final Two Community Advisory Team Meetings Scheduled
  • Beyond the Rails Grant Opportunity
  • NCSG Welcomes New Director
  • ACT Hosts Fall Gala
• Construction Updates and Project Features
  
  • Highlights from the Fall Community Advisory Team Meetings

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WHAT'S HAPPENING AT PLN?

An Exciting Announcement is Coming!

At the Purple Line NOW Quarterly Board meeting last week -- just a few days before Halloween, no less -- our treasurer delivered some scary news during her report. "Without a successful fundraising campaign this fall," she told us, "Purple Line NOW will be in the red for the first time as we close out the year." While this is indeed concerning news, we do have some exciting news on the horizon, that with your help, should help us end the year on a happier note. Read on!

While we are super excited to see construction in full swing, our work at Purple Line NOW will not be done until we can all ride the line together! For that reason, we ask you to keep an eye out for an exciting announcement about our end of year fundraising drive coming soon.

As always, your financial support helps us continue our advocacy efforts and ensure the Purple Line project is a success. If you are a previous donor, thank you for your past gift(s) to us and continuing your support into the future. If you are not sure whether you contributed to us in the past year, check out our current donors on our website. (All donors are listed for a year following their donation.)

If you are new to us, welcome! Please contact us with any questions you may have. 

The "DONATE" button below will take you directly to the donation page. Thank you in advance for your consideration and for all you do for our community!

HAPPENING ALONG THE PURPLE LINE CORRIDOR

Fall Community Advisory Team Meeting Schedule

The last two meetings for the virtual fall Community Advisory Team (CATs) meetings are below. Visit their website for call information and a link to log into the meetings:

November 2
Riverdale Park-Glenridge/New Carrollton
6:00 p.m.

November 7
Long Branch
6:00 p.m.

Beyond the Rails Grant Opportunity

The Purple Line Transit Partners (PLTP) has funded a grant program that will support organizations dedicated to improving our communities. Grants will range from $1,000 to $3,000 per year and will be awarded in the following categories:

• Community – Projects that support the overall wellbeing of adjacent communities (e.g., environment, health, recreation, education, economic opportunity, etc.). Potential example: Tot-lot equipment for a pre-school.
• Environment – Projects that enhance or protect the natural environment. Potential example: A local tree-planting initiatives.

If you know of an organization or group that might meet the criteria above, please share this information -- the deadline for application is November 30. Details on how to apply can be found on their website.

NCSG Welcomes New Director

Purple Line NOW welcomes the new director of the National Center for Smart Growth, Dr. Kathryn Howell. Dr. Howell succeeds Gerrit Knaap, who had served in the role since 2002.  You can read a little more about the new director here: https://arch.umd.edu/news-events/updated-mapp-welcomes-new-ncsg-director-kathryn-howell

ACT Hosts Fall Gala

Action Committee for Transit will host their Gala on November 11 at the Round House Theatre in Bethesda. Please see their website if you are interested in attending.

CONSTRUCTION UPDATES & PROJECT FEATURES

Highlights from the Fall Community Advisory Team Meetings

All but two of the fall Community Advisory Teams (CATs) meetings have taken place virtually over the past month. Still to come are Riverdale Park-Glenridge/New Carrollton, tomorrow evening, November 2 and Long Branch on November 7.

We encourage you to visit the website to view your respective CAT meeting presentation, all of which have been posted as of today. Many thanks to the MDOT MTA staff for turning these presentations around so quickly for your viewing. Some of the meetings even included new station renderings, so be sure to take a peek!

It is SO exciting, after all these months, to see so much activity along the alignment! Presently, there are 60 active construction sites with over 1,100 workers bringing the project to life. Want to see the progress in photos?! Here’s a terrific video that captures the sensational work being done throughout the alignment.

The project is now 58% complete – we are over half way there! Underground utility relocations (one of the largest utility relocation projects in the country!) are nearly complete at 98%. Over half of the overhead catenary pole foundations along the alignment have been install and -- some really exciting news -- the first station canopies have been installed at Riverdale Park North-UMD. Viewing those gives us our first true taste of how these stations are going to look when finished!

As far as the Light Rail Vehicles (LRVs) go, 26 out of the 28 are complete and ready for delivery to Maryland!

Other highlights, each of which deserves its own exclamation point (!!), include:

• The Bethesda excavation for the elevator has reached the bottom of the shaft!
• The Talbot Avenue bridge has concrete placed and the road will open this year!
• Nearly 1,500 linear feet of track has been laid on the University of Maryland campus!
• The Glenridge Operations and Maintenance facility is now fully operational!

The test track will be complete in the summer of 2025 before we begin a nearly year-long testing period, and finally passenger service is slated to begin in spring of 2027, fingers crossed.

Seeing all of the activity and progress happening above ground is a great way to kick off the holiday season!

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