Additional overnight work hours may be needed this summer for the Purple Line light rail project between Bethesda and New Carrollton. The Maryland Transit Administration advises that some work may need to take place between 5:00 AM and 7:00 AM, or during the overnight hours. Areas impacted within Montgomery County include Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Lyttonsville, Silver Spring, and Long Branch. Concrete pours in particular may need to occur in the cooler hours after dark. "Hot weather can cause issues while placing concrete due to rapid curing that can occur at higher ambient temperatures," the MTA said in a statement. "Crews will prioritize the noisiest work to the daytime shifts."
27 comments:
Is this any different from the CA project which has dumped billions of tax payer dollars into a a transit system there that isn't even close to actually starting? Ours has started at least. But all these projects are similar. They cost billions and take years to complete. And when or if they're ever done, the ridership numbers aren't even close to their projections or rather promises. The Purple Line is a Dystopian fantasy dreamed up by Far Left hacks that demand you use it but they never will. Marc Elrich & Co will never ride that line except when cameras are rolling for its inaugural trip with all the fanfare. It's a joke and a huge waste of billions.
Oh, I think there will be too much ridership, but for the wrong reasons.
The whole idea is to reduce unemployment at taxpayers' expense.
You MAGA's are not into telling the truth, ever. Here's the facts JAC!
The Purple Line was initiated by the Larry Hogan administration in Maryland. Governor Hogan, a Republican, supported the project despite initially criticizing it as too costly during his 2014 gubernatorial campaign. The project received a $900 million federal full funding agreement from the Trump administration in 2017.
2:18 - MAGA are evil is that what you're saying? Excuse me. I know the history very well thank you. Hogan wanted to back out of both the Purple Line and the Red Line in West Baltimore. But was boxed into a corner and had to support the Purple anyway. But it's still a pipe dream and insane use of taxpayer money. But we'll just disagree. Let's just do that instead of getting nasty. Eh?
2:18: The Purple Line project had its origin in the 1990s as a smaller-scale project. Democratic officials pushed for it from the beginning; it was opposed by Republican governor Bob Ehrlich. It was well into development and initial approvals during the O'Malley administration. Hogan opposed it, but made a bonehead decision to flip-flop, just as his knees buckled with early voting center locations.
The purple line will convert Bethesda into Silver Spring.
Nasty? No, my comment was just snarky like yours. Eh!
Of course it is very expensive, messy and is taking way too long, but in the long run, I believe it will be worth the effort. I wonder how JAC would have felt when the METRO was over budget, messy and took way too long to complete? Try to imagine the DMV without METRO. Folks in the future will feel the same way about the incredibly and heavily used useful Purple Line.
7:25 - that argument has been never before. and just like before, it's a different argument. very few light rail projects in this country have been successful and certainly fewer profitable.
7:08 - My remarks are never snarky. Your reply certainly was so goal accomplished.
Updates to add to the mix:
" … When it was launched, the Purple Line was expected to cost nearly $5.6 billion and open in 2022.
"… The current opening date for the Purple Line is spring of 2027. The cost, including the payment approved by the Board of Public Works, is now $9.4 billion over the more than three-decade contract period…"
Further update on opening: "In addition to the latest cost overruns, the project is delayed from spring of 2027 to December of that year..."
ICC anyone?
https://www.marylandmatters.org/2023/07/19/moore-vows-to-get-purple-line-on-track-and-control-costs-and-future-delays/
https://marylandmatters.org/2024/03/13/maryland-officials-ok-more-purple-line-money-but-not-gladly/
Hi Robert, what was/is your beef with Hogan and early voting center locations? Thnx
12:49: In 2015, by virtue of Hogan as governor, Republicans controlled the County Boards of Elections statewide. Democrats complained about the MoCo Board designating Potomac instead of Chevy Chase, and Brookeville instead of Burtonsville, for early voting sites for the 2016 election. As you can imagine, the press rallied to their side and covered the story as "Republicans trying to steal the election."
It's fair to debate the logic of those locations. My beef with Hogan is that he folded like a card table under pressure, and restored the Democrats' favored sites. A rare time when some laughably microscopic advantage might be had by his party, a rare time when a GOP elected official has any power in a Maryland election, and Hogan unilaterally disarmed.
This was of a piece with Hogan's deliberate decision to not provide any "coattails" for Republicans down-ballot across the state. He seized no advantage on behalf of the party, did nothing to develop candidates or raise funds, and hung his comrades out to dry. Everything was for Hogan, in stark contrast to Bob Ehrlich, who made much more effort to build and support the party beyond himself.
The paid shill that is 7:25 will be long gone when the PL fails to meet expectations. All fun and games when you're spending upwards of 10 BILLION DOLLARS of someone else's money.
Thanks for the reply. I did recall the push back against the change in voting sites but didn't remember Hogan's role. It's hard to know the extent of his "folding," but I see your point that he didn't take advantage of his role in building the Republican party in the state. What role do you think the veto-proof assembly played in his two terms?
It's already SS 2.0.
3:45 PM, I’m not a paid shill, but a humble resident who believes in the power of mass transit to support and create walkable urban places that don’t rely on personal car ownership. Did you known the the average cost of a new car in America is over $50,000 per car and that the average yearly cost to finance, insure, maintain, fuel and park a car is now about $12,000 a year. My spouse and I are more than willing to own only one car and save $1000 per month, which we choose to spend to upgrade to a more expensive apartment and live in downtown Bethesda (instead of a cheaper but much more car dependent location). In eight years, we have only put 11,000 miles on the one compact car we do own, preferring to walk, bike, car share, ride share, or use mass transit as much as possible. The Purple Line will greatly expand our eastbound options to places like Chevy Chase Lake, Rock Creek Park, downtown Silver Spring, UMD, College Park and New Carrollton. It will also allow options when the west leg of the Red Line is being serviced. So no, we won’t be long gone, and thanks in advance for your financial contribution to make this happen!
You realize, 9:00, when you have to tell everyone that your not a paid shill... If you're a volunteer, the mental gymnastics necessary to declare victory on this project is crazy premature wishful thinking.
So the PL is going to buck the national statistics of domestic light-rail financial failure due to not even close ridership as compared to projections? Do you play the lottery? I suppose you're also shilling for Moores bid to do light rail in Baltimore City? Good luck with that as your boss has already burned through the inherited surplus and gone on to a huge deficit that someone's going to be paying back. The only thing we know for a fact is that democrats have no plan to do so.
@9:00 Your biography reads like a brochure which are works of fiction trying to sell someone something. 3:45 is correct in pointing out that spending other people's money is fun until the bill comes due. Selfishly looking at this project as it benefits you and what you wish might happen isn't how the world should work but the education necessary for any cost/benefit analysis has left the barn never to return. I feel sorry for the taxpayers, (3:45/4:53), that will need to support this project in the years to come as this former Bethesda taxpayer won't.
Whose houses here have back yards up to the rail line and will be kept up at night due to the noise?
Good. I've been in SS a few times recently and the downtown scene is fantastic! It reminds me of Bethesda in the 90s when it was an awesome place to live.
Who cares? They knew it was a railroad right-of-way when they moved in. Some might even have been living there when heavy freight trains were running.
@10:24 must have been on weed, (with all the other losers), smoking publicly in DTSS and not there down Fenton towards Sligo Ave after the sun set. Try it!
The tunnel they built from Wayne Ave/Sligo Creek Pkwy to Arliss Street is going to be a haven for criminals/homeless not to mention that within a year will be a graffiti eyesore.
As someone who worked on Flower Ave, (and lived close by because of affordability), during my time at UMCP, there has never been a period of time in that area without crime well above the national average. Every business in that area Flower/Piney Branch has been robbed/broken into at least several times.
I just don't get the permissive culture that democrats in charge nurture with no corresponding desired results but that's the way they govern with bad policies and a foot planted firmly on the gas because they're true believers. The PL will enable the homeless and criminals who now hang out down Piney Branch Road, (from Flower Ave down past University Blvd all the way to New Hampshire Ave), easy access to Bethesda. Don't take my word for it, just drive down there, especially after dark, to see the results of liberal leadership.
DTSS was supposed to be an example of what massive taxpayer investment could do, (look at the SS library), but without rules that are actually enforced, its all wasted money & effort. Crime ridden wasteland after dark coming soon to Bethesda.
3:20 - Absolutely spot on perfect post. Sadly, 💯 accurate prediction as well
Excellent post.
@3:20 I've seen the tunnel and it's huge with no way to limit access as the PL runs down the middle of Wayne Ave and turns directly into the tunnel after Sligo Creek Parkway. I feel sorry for the residents nearby and frankly all the people that live along Wayne Ave during the prolonged construction.
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