Heather Curtis
WMAL.COM
WASHINGTON — (WMAL) Construction on the Purple Line, connecting New Carrollton and Bethesda, may start late or never.
A judge threw out government approval of the $5.6 billion project after a lawsuit brought by Chevy Chase residents.
Judge Richard Leon said it may be a waste of taxpayer money to shell out $900 million for a train that may not get many riders. He instructed the the state to re-calculate ridership projections for the 16-mile light-rail project.
“We are deeply disappointed this ruling puts the Purple Line in jeopardy. We will work closely with the Attorney General to seek a quick decision from the court of appeals,” Maryland Transportation Secretary Pete Rahn said in a statement. Rahn couldn’t elaborate because of pending litigation.
Countless problems with Metro recently also played into Leon’s decision. He said many of the Purple Line’s potential customers would need to transfer to Metro to get to work, but Metro’s safety and reliability problems may keep people from riding both transit systems.
Ronit Dancis with the Action Committee for Transit said not everyone who takes the Purple Line would be transferring to Metro.
“None of this makes any sense. What Metro does is bring people from the suburbs into the city for work. The Purple Line connects people suburb to suburb,” Dancis said.
She rides the bus to work from Silver Spring to Bethesda, which takes anywhere from 25 to 45 minutes. She thinks the same trip on the Purple Line would take about ten minutes.
“Our suburbs are strangling on their traffic,” Dancis said.
She and others believe Montgomery and Prince George’s counties need the Purple Line for quality of life, jobs and economic development.
A number of Chevy Chase residents whose homes are near where the light-rail would be built sued over the project. Dancis believes these residents who are in opposition to the project are in the minority.
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(Photo: Greater Greater Washington)
