Republican gubernatorial hopeful Bob Ehrlich’s promise to kill the Metro’s proposed Purple Line light rail system has reopened old wounds in Montgomery County.
Ehrlich, who is trying to win his old job back from Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, has repeatedly said he’ll back a bus rapid transit system instead of light rail line along the route, which would link the New Carrollton and Bethesda Metro stations. Planning officials and O’Malley have called for light rail and are awaiting federal studies for approval.
Many in the county had considered light rail a done deal, but Ehrlich’s candidacy is making some of the Purple Line’s original opponents feel like they have a new shot at reversing their loss.
“To me, it’s the most important issue,” said Grace Palladino, a Chevy Chase resident who usually votes for Democrats but said she’s considering Ehrlich this year. “It’s a deal breaker, as far as I’m concerned.”
Palladino is a member of the Friends of the Trail, a nonprofit group that fought fiercely against the Purple Line because they said it was a threat to Capital Crescent Trail, a leafy off-road path between Georgetown and Silver Spring.
Ehrlich’s spokesman, Andy Barth, told The Washington Examiner that a bus route is more cost-effective and will mean fewer trees along the trail will be lost.
That was music to the ears of Chevy Chase lawyer and registered Democrat Jim Nolan.
“I think it’s a terrible idea,” Nolan said of the Purple Line. “I’d vote for Ehrlich in a heartbeat.”
The Purple Line still has powerful support of developers, as well as “smart growth” advocates, who say that building public transportation is the most economically and environmentally savvy way to develop land. A motion to reduce the proposed light rail line from two tracks to one was removed from last week’s County Council agenda when it was clear that it was going to be roundly defeated.
O’Malley’s spokesman Mark Giangreco said in an e-mail that “O’Malley stands with the business community and with the thousands of families that need this long term commitment to transit and sustainable development.”
Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, said Montgomery County can’t afford to wait on the Purple Line much longer.
“It’s really not the time to reopen this issue,” he said. “It’s going to be hard enough to get funding for new transportation projects.”
