Montgomery County is still trying to convince the owners of the Apex Building to demolish it to allow for the ideal Purple Line alignment.
The other additional cost for the optimal Purple Line station would be the Trail tunnel, which planners recommend run under Wisconsin Avenue to the intersection of Elm Street and 47th Street. That tunnel could have a price tag of $30 million. It also might involve purchasing a small private parking lot on Elm Street that planners say would force the tunnel to have an 8 percent grade, making it too steep to achieve ADA compliance.
The county had previously ditched the idea of including a full Capital Crescent Trail in the tunnel for the Purple Line and Purple Line station. But in April, the Planning Department received a proposal from a nearby developer (one that was later cut out of the Minor Master Plan area) that suggested the county could build a better Purple Line station for cheaper and with an underground Trail crossing.
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