Purple Line ruling bad for biking in Maryland

Judge Leon ruled against the Purple Line yesterday.

Last August, US District Judge Richard Leon revoked environmental approval for the Purple Line, saying there had not been sufficient study of how declining Metro ridership might affect the light rail line. The Federal Transit Administration said it had looked at the matter closely enough and that Metro would have only a small impact on Purple Line use. But on Monday, after months of waiting and repeated requests for a ruling, Leon doubled down, ruling that the line can’t move forward without further study.

This is bad for transit in suburban Maryland, but it's also bad for biking because the Purple Line is also a bike project. In fact this is THE most important project in the Maryland counties. Not only is this key to the Capital Crescent Trail extension to Silver Spring but it would also build or improve parts of 6 trails, build 10 bike lanes, and rebuild three bridges with bike facilities on them. 

The "Friends" of the Capitol Crescent trail might like quiet back yards, but they're no friends to cyclists. 

Comments

[John A.]

Before selling the Purple Line as a bike project, it's wise to recall the experience with Maryland's ICC. State and local officials gained the support of bikers and local communities by promising a state-of-the- art 18-mile trail alongside the highway from Gaithersburg to Laurel. Only a third of the trail was eventually built, in short, disconnected sections that now sit mostly unused, except for occasional recreational riders. Once burned . . .

[washcycle]

The ICC Trail is very different. It was dropped from the project 2 years before ground-breaking. They hadn't even chosen a corridor for the ICC then. It wasn't until 2008, after construction had begun, that a trail was added back in. The trail projects associated with this are well cooked in and it is hard to imagine they could be dropped at this time. The CCT has a much more powerful constituency (and federal rail banking law) on its side too.