Good Purple Line article

I stumbled across this well written article on the Purple Line recently - and best of all it was in a high school newspaper. Noteworthy to cyclists is that the Purple Line would run in the same corridor as the future Capital Crescent Trail and that some argue that the only way to connect the CCT to Silver Spring is to build the light rail line.

The Greater Bethesda-Chevy Chase (GBCC) Coalition's main reason for opposing the Purple Line, the protection of the Crescent Trail's nature and the tranquility of the immediate area, leaks like a sieve in light of the fact that the proposed Purple Line calls for a 30 foot buffer between it and the trail. The buffer, constructed of hardy plants, is designed to shield the trail and surrounding neighborhoods from the sounds and pollution from railways. Currently, over 60 railway systems in the United States exist in this fashion, allowing a railway to run close to a trail without damaging its plant and animal life.

I have come to agree with the GBCC that an underground line would be better, especially if it ran cars identical to Metro cars (well, maybe not the Spanish built ones) on track connected to the metro system. But the cost is probably prohibitive, and there doesn't seem to be the political will to do it. I fear the GBCC knows this - and is banking on it. By demanding only the change that can't be done, you end up with the status quo, which is great if that's what you want.

Comments

[w]

Anyone who claims that a railroad pollutes when they live near a super congested road like EW Highway ought to be sent to the insane asylum.It is a lame excuse and is based on the notion that trains cannot be quiet or clean. This is a very obsolete view.It is only the wealthy home owners in Chevy Chase, who all drive cars, that object to this rational proposal.This kind of thinking is the same kind of NIMBYism that is taking place in Nantucket where all of the feel-good, leftist rich people are opposed to wind turbines.The same people can be seen driving SUVs with Sierra Club bumperstickers or WWF stickers on their bumpers.Total hypocrites. Its good enough for everyone else- but not in my backyard.

[RailsNTrails]

Is it a particular Montgomery County quality to think that money is no object if it is for something in ones own back yard? We would have trouble pulling together the $25 million required to complete the trail into Silver Spring without the trolley (MTA estimate 2002) much less the $800 million minimum required to put the light rail in a tunnel ($200m per mile/4 miles).

Light rail, at grade with a good hedgerow separation from the trail, and lots of new trees, shrubs, bulbs and benches at rest areas - all this can be done for an amount likely to be competitive in the FTA sweepstakes for new start funding. Let's get on with it.