Supporters of the much-debated light-rail Purple Line rallied in Annapolis Tuesday to encourage state transportation officials and lawmakers to make funding the project a priority.
“There is broad support for this project,” House Majority Leader Kumar Barve, D-Montgomery said. “There are people here who are for and against the ICC [Intercounty Connector] that can unite around this issue.”
Coalition to Build the Inner Purple Line Chairman Webb Smedley said changes in the General Assembly as well as a new governor gave the group hope for faster progress on the project.
“I think weâre going to get accelerated progress on planning, designâ¦and hopefully weâll get some funding for construction,” he said.
But with an estimated $1.3 billion price tag on the 14-mile project and limited state and federal transportation dollars, Smedley said thereâs plenty of work left.
The latest environmental impact study draft is due in late spring or early summer, Smedley said. Thereâs no funding in the state budget for the project, but Gov. Martin OâMalley supports the idea.
Former Gov. Robert Ehrlich focused most of his transportation priorities on funding and building the ICC, a federally-funded toll road connecting Montgomery and Prince Georgeâs Counties.
Montgomery and Prince Georgeâs County lawmakers said the proposed rail line connecting Bethesda and New Carrollton would take more cars off the chronically congested Capital Beltway and reduce pollution.
In a written statement, Purple Line opponents argued the project would not take as many cars off the roads because of the lack of connection between its end in Bethesda and Silver Spring. They described the project as an “an environmental disaster.”
“All of the trees along the trail will be destroyed, replaced by…wires,” said petition organizer Pam Browning, who spearheaded the cause to save the Capital Crescent Trail between Georgetown and Silver Spring. “Trains will run on double tracks every three minutes, a few feet from hikers, bikers, families, children and the elderly.”
According the statement, 10,000 trail supporters have signed a petition asking lawmakers toturn the Purple Line into a standard Metro rail line or change the proposed above ground route.
