Bethesda Purple Line station construction update (Photos)

The Purple Line project is many years behind schedule, but the downtown Bethesda station for the future light rail line to New Carrollton is beginning to round into shape. Looking into the tunnel opening from Bethesda Row, one can see the passenger platform above the track beds. Also visible are the stairs and escalator access to the future station. Ventilation equipment has been installed, according to the project team.

According to Ray Biggs, II, Purple Line Senior Project Director for the Maryland Transit Administration, the project is now more than 74% complete. 35% of track installation is finished. Several miles of sidewalks have been installed. And 20 of 21 future stations are under construction, with 12 station canopies installed.

Work begins again on Purple Line, new Red Line entrance in downtown Bethesda (Photos)

Work has restarted on the Purple Line light rail system and station in downtown Bethesda, and on the related new south entrance to the Bethesda Metro station. You can see these shipping container-style trailers have been placed on the site behind 7272 Wisconsin Avenue. Matt Pollack, Executive Director for Transit Development and Delivery for the Maryland Transit Administration says the new elevator entrance to the Bethesda Metro station will involve some unique excavation and construction methods to work in a very confined space. 

"The gantry is quite an interesting bit of engineering, involving a crane supported by metal rails straddling sides of the shaft and allowing for efficient removal of material in a small space where there is no room for a traditional crane," Pollack said. Crews will start by removing the elevator shaft cover on Elm Street at Wisconsin Avenue. They will dewater the area, and begin work on the gantry shed's foundation, which will provide the base for the crane operation Pollack described.

Purple Line lane closure postponed until September 14 in downtown Bethesda

A long-term closure of the right lane of southbound Wisconsin Avenue (MD 355) at Elm Street in Bethesda, originally scheduled to begin in late August, has been delayed until September 14, 2022, the Maryland Transit Administration announced today. The lane will remain closed until the Bethesda Purple Line station - located under 7272 Wisconsin Avenue - is completed. That could be 2026 or later. The closed lane will be used by project vehicles accessing the construction site, the MTA said.

Maryland selects new Purple Line contractor

Maryland transportation agencies, along with the Purple Line Transit Partners entity, have finally selected a new contractor to replace the one that quit before completing the light rail project. Maryland Transit Solutions (MTS) - a partnership between Dragados USA, Inc. and OHL USA, Inc. - won the bidding war, Purple Line Transit Partners announced today. 

The announcement states that the final financial agreement should be signed by February 2022. Construction would then resume next spring. Jane Garvey, chair of PLTP's board, praised the fact that the search for a new partner took less than the 18 months typically needed to complete the bidding process on a project of this complexity. Only two bidders were ultimately in the running. The collapse of the construction process left a large swath of incomplete infrastructure and shuttered public amenities across Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Silver Spring, Long Branch and Prince George's County.

TIME TO TACKLE INFLATED INFRASTRUCTURE COSTS

COZY RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN 

POLITICIANS, UNIONS, CONSTRUCTION FIRMS 

DRIVING TAXPAYERS INTO POORHOUSE, 

STIFLING VITAL PROJECTS

One of the biggest arguments for substandard transit projects like Montgomery County's proposed BRT system, and not building needed highways is, "We just don't have the money."

That's partly true, because politicians keep spending transportation funds on the folks who donate to their campaigns.

But there's a fundamental flaw to that argument, and it came to my attention recently.

Reading about a new interstate highway in the deep South, that will extend several hundred miles through three states, I was flabbergasted to find that the ambitious project's total cost was going to be less than what Maryland taxpayers are paying for the few miles of the InterCounty Connector.

As a fan of underground subways, I wonder why areas like ours have stopped building them.  We're told that light rail (which I also like, by the way) is a cheaper alternative.

Initially, you might think so.  New York City is building a subway extension of 8 miles for $17 billion.  In contrast, Maryland has estimated the much longer Purple Line to cost around $2.2 billion as a surface light rail line.

But wait a minute, Toronto is building the 15.5 mile Englinton-Scarborough Crosstown subway line for about $8 billion.

Ironically, the ESC subway was meant to be a light rail line.  But Toronto Mayor Tom Ford wisely scrapped that plan.

Subways are a far more civilized form of urban transit, particularly in dense areas.  They help create world-class transit systems when stops are placed in the right spots.  Subways can arrive beneath destinations, whereas light rail can be blockaded by surface obstacles around buildings.  Consider the experience of arriving within the Verizon Center complex or Prince Georges Plaza, compared with remote outposts like the White Flint and Shady Grove stations.

And subways do not require all of the surface clutter and debris needed to operate light rail systems.  Not to mention that subway speeds blow away bus or light rail rapid transit.

We're unlikely to match the transit ridership rates of New York City until we have a system that covers the same amount of territory the Big Apple's does.

And we won't reduce gridlock until we build our master plan highways like the Rockville Freeway, M-83 Midcounty Highway Extended, the Outer Beltway, and the Northern Parkway.

Opponents say we can't afford to do it.

It turns out that's hogwash.

Why does it cost so much to build infrastructure here?  Besides nuisance lawsuits permitted by federal law, the driving force behind costs is our politicians' cozy and unethical relationships with all of the players needed to build anything.  Requiring not only union labor, but with an inflated wage, causes costs to skyrocket.  Design and build firms, like union leaders, give generously to politicians' campaigns.  And those politicians are equally generous with the taxpayers' money, approving design and construction projects with overinflated budgets.  And as we've witnessed with projects like Strathmore and the Silver Spring Transit Center, those same tight relationships seem to prevent elected officials from taking any serious, punitive measures to avoid cost overruns when projects go wrong.

While a project like the Rockville Freeway could be built for well under $1 billion under the current cost structure, it is well past time to tackle the outrageous infrastructure prices that are keeping our region from moving forward.  That includes sewer and utility improvements, too!  Even FDR believed that unions hold no right to bankrupt the public.

For Montgomery County in particular, it has been devastating.  It doesn't have to be.  We have the power to take action now to reduce the cost of building infrastructure.  What we need is the leadership that can actually take on this challenge.

CORRIDOR CITIES TRANSITWAY: THE EMPEROR'S NEW BUS

FOLLY EXPOSED:

15 MILES IN 50 MINUTES

COST? 
$828,000,000+!

Another Robert Dyer @ Bethesda Row Exclusive!!!

Is it time for a new season of Last Comic Standing?  The Montgomery County Government sent out a press release Friday - or was it a draft of a standup comedy routine?

Touting Governor Martin O'Malley's approval of Bus Rapid Transit as the preferred mode for the Corridor Cities Transitway, it also included the first public citing of the estimated speed of the new service.

And if they keep this up, they're going to put Jerry Seinfeld out of business.

Now remember, the CCT was supposed to be light rail.  The County Council went on the record saying it had to be light rail.

And at a council debate in 2010, residents of Clarksburg warned the council that if the ride from Clarksburg to Shady Grove Metro on the CCT was too long, no one would waste time using it, and the whole project would be a waste of taxpayer money.

It turns out our elected officials have been dishonest on each of those points and promises.

Ladies and gentlemen, the travel time of the rapid bus CCT from Clarksburg to Shady Grove will be:

49 MINUTES

49 minutes!

Much like the proposed countywide BRT system, this is a complete and utter boondoggle.

Unlike the local media, which trumpeted the underwhelming CCT announcement with no skepticism or critical analysis, I immediately did some simple research on Google Maps.

Once I could stop laughing, that is.

First, I asked Google Maps how long it would take me to drive from Clarksburg to Shady Grove Metro.

Answer:  23 minutes by car.

So, how would you make the trip?  23 minutes, or 49?  Do you even have to think about it?

Wait, it gets even more hysterical!

What if you drove a few blocks south on 355 from Clarksburg, and conveniently parked your car at the Milestone Park and Ride lot, and took the Route 55 bus to Shady Grove?

33 minutes, says Google Maps.

So let's just consider this, folks:

Today, without spending a dime, there are driving options of 23 minutes, and transit options of 33 minutes.

Your county executive and council are proposing to spend $828 million (and you know that's going to increase as every other capital project does), for a bus that makes the same trip in... 49 minutes.

Am I making too much sense here, people?

Is that the poster stepchild of boondoggles and government waste or not?

What kind of spell is the local media under, that they accept this malarkey with no intellectual curiosity whatsoever?

The county also stated that a BRT trip from Metropolitan Grove to Shady Grove will take 33 minutes.

By car, it is 13 minutes!

This is downright crazy!

What's going on here?

The bottom line is that the council is putting its developer buddies ahead of fiscal responsibility, and the citizens of Montgomery County.

As you can tell from the numbers, the CCT will be anything but "rapid transit."  It will provide no meaningful benefit to citizens, while drawing scarce transportation money away from critical projects like the Purple Line, Midcounty Highway Extended (M-83) and the Rockville Freeway.

The M-83 serves the same purpose as the CCT for upcounty residents, but for less cost and shorter travel time.  Like the Rockville Freeway, the M-83 is far more likely to receive federal funding than the CCT; both highways would carry many times the number of commuters daily, a critical data point for winning federal funds.

We just heard Sunday about the increasingly bleak financing prospects of the Purple Line.  Why, in that context, would we waste a billion dollars on the CCT?

Simple.  Those developer buddies of the council I referred to earlier.

The sprawl of Science City cannot be fully built unless the CCT is built as well.

So you can understand why they would push forward with a BRT CCT, that any intelligent person with common sense can recognize is a complete disaster.

They just have to get it built, or the developers will cut off their campaign donations.

But if the developers want to build, they should pay for the CCT themselves.

This council is pushing a new model of financing, where the infrastructure burden switches from the profiteering developers, to you, the taxpayer.

They've rammed through 3 developer tax cuts just in this term of office.  One alone switched $72 million in tax burden from developers to residents and business owners.  Now they're working with the Planning Department, to reduce the amount developers have to spend to compensate for the traffic burden they add to county roads with each megaproject.

Beyond the financing issues, the BRT travel time proves why the CCT should have been a rail line.  By comparison, the MTA light rail that runs alongside the Jones Falls Expressway, makes its rush hour, inbound trip from Hunt Valley to the center of Baltimore in only 33 minutes.  That trip is 17 miles, 2 more miles than the CCT's route! The superiority of rail is obvious.

Rapid buses simply cannot provide the needed efficiency - to attract the needed ridership - to support the costly service.

But much like Metro in Tysons Corner, they're ramming it through anyway.  Do they expect people to use Metro at Tysons?  From the location of the stops, to the utter lack of commuter parking lots, the clear answer is, No!

The same Developer First logic is prevailing here.  Get something built that we can call a CCT, so the developers can make money.

Isn't it time for the media, the business community and the citizens to stand up and say the Emperor has no clothes?

TAKE TRANSIT TO THE ONE-ARMED BANDITS

MTA BRINGS NEW MEANING TO

"CASINO BUS:"

HOW RED LINE RIDERS

CAN GET ABOARD

Attention high rollers who want to have a low impact on the environment:

As you may know, Maryland's first mega-casino, Maryland Live! at Arundel Mills, is opening June 6.

But did you know you can reach this state-of-the-art gaming, dining and entertainment emporium using public transportation?

From here at Bethesda Metro Center, or any other DC or Maryland Metro station on the Red Line, simply board a train headed for Shady Grove.

At the Shady Grove station, board the MTA Commuter Bus 201.

Bus 201 will take you to Arundel Mills Mall.

It arrives at the bus bays outside of Best Buy.  Unfortunately, the casino is on the other side of the main indoor mall building.  This won't be a problem for able-bodied folks, or those with electric wheelchairs (Bus 201 is handicapped-accessible, and the senior/disabled fare is only $3.20).  But if you are unsteady with a cane, for example, please call ahead to Arundel Mills or the casino, and they will be able to arrange assistance for you.

Maryland Live! will have 4,750 slot machines and electronic table games.

They also have a fabulous lineup of restaurants, including Bobby's Burger Shack, The Cheesecake Factory, Phillips Seafood, and Baltimore's legendary The Prime Rib.

Eventually, they will open a new Rams Head Center Stage concert facility on the premises.

So even if you aren't a gambler, the other amenities, and the great mall itself, are a fun destination you can now reach car-free.

The 201 also goes to BWI Airport.  The one-way fare is only $5 - try getting an airport van ride for $5!

Unlike MTA's disappointing Bus 203, 201 has a real schedule, and is usable by DC, Bethesda and other Red Line communities.  I think you'll also find the buses themselves to be a notch more luxe than Metrobus.

You don't have to be Kenny Rogers to give MTA Bus 201 five stars.

Click here for a downloadable, printable schedule for Bus 201! 

IS MTA ROBBING THE

PURPLE LINE TO GET

MORE MONEY FOR

BALTIMORE RED LINE?

Connecticut Avenue, CCT Tunnel Latest on

Chopping Block as Projects Duel for

Same Federal Funds

Another Robert Dyer @ Bethesda Row Exclusive!!!

Is the Maryland MTA robbing Peter to pay Paul?

The long-delayed Purple Line project is suddenly suffering a death by a thousand cuts. One bombshell drops after another. Politicians' iron-clad promise that the Capital Crescent Trail would be rebuilt as good or better was the first to go.

There are those promoting the light rail project who don't care how the rail or the trail project turn out; they simply want to develop the old neighborhoods east of downtown Silver Spring. Like the poorly-planned Metro to Dulles, it doesn't matter if people use it, it just needs to be there to give TOD zoning and density for developers.

Some of those said, giving up the trail-in-the-tunnel means getting grade-separation at Connecticut Avenue.

By the end of the week, the MTA had jettisoned that bridge, too.

First they put the bikes in the street. Now they're putting the trains in the street. Stop the train, I'll just get out and walk to New Carrollton!

It's strange that there are suddenly so many Purple Line surprises, and the grand bargain between transit advocates, developers, CCT advocates, cyclists, environmentalists and the MoCo political establishment is on the verge of unraveling.

Even stranger, why can't the public read these documents?

"I'm not ready to talk about that," the MTA spokesman replied to a councilmember's Connecticut Avenue query.

Well, considering we pay the salaries and for the preparation of these reports, we ought to be able to know the contents.

That aside, is the long-questioned strategy of Maryland applying for federal cash for 3 rapid transit systems starting to collapse?

The Baltimore Red Line (which I have supported for 6 years) price tag has gotten bigger every year.

In 2007, we were told it would cost $1.6 billion.

By 2010, it was $1.8 billion.

But some estimates price it as over $2 billion.

Labor costs are a major part of that, and Maryland (like Montgomery County) self-inflicts much of the pain with union labor requirements. This makes hefty capital projects even more financially terrifying. But it is self-defeating, because less projects get built, and ultimately, far fewer jobs are created.

The other big cost is from the underground section of the Red Line. I actually support that plan, too. The Red Line is one of the few - and possibly only - subway projects nationwide. Although it is light rail, rather than heavy rail like Metro, it will go under the busiest part of downtown Baltimore. It will also provide easy transfer to Baltimore's modest Metro subway system.

Of course, we were told here that, even though a subway made sense for the Purple Line once it leaves the Georgetown Branch right-of-way, it was too costly.

I would oppose changing the Red Line to an at-grade, street-running tram.

But I wonder if these big Purple Line cuts aren't being made to save cash for the Red Line. Montgomery County is more powerful in Annapolis today, but Baltimore is still No. 1.

The Red Line is arguably higher-priority than the Purple Line. It will connect the downtown with the high-growth (or, at least, what passes for growth in Charm City these days) areas eastward, such as Fells Point and Canton. It will also create a rail transit U-turn connection between Johns Hopkins' main campus and their Bayview facilities.

West Baltimore is another story!

Many residents there oppose the current Red Line proposal. At this stage, developers want the Red Line there so they can "redevelop" the area. Which means that - like Long Branch and Takoma/Langley, etc. on the Purple Line - current residents and businesses will be forced out by higher rents.

There are two more critical projects needed in Baltimore.

First is to connect I-70 to I-170 in the Route 40 corridor, and I-70 to I-95.

These are connections that have to be made to handle the truck traffic in and out of the Port of Baltimore, after the modified Panama Canal opens in 2014. Truck tolls could be collected - some for transportation funds, and some for the neighborhood that I-170 passes through.

These funds could help keep existing buildings in good shape, provide small business loans to residents, fund scholarships to help young people become anything from chefs to astronauts, and help hire more police officers to combat crime. Nothing more needs to be demolished. I-170, called "The Highway to Nowhere," is a beautiful piece of classic urban trench freeway. It's there. Let's use it, not waste it. Allow it to generate cash that can be put directly into the hands of residents there, who have been failed by the city for decades.

I-170 can move West Baltimore forward. It can also carry the Red Line west to I-70 and the Park and Ride. Yes, it will go through Leakin Park. But Leakin Park is a highway facility. Moreover, if funds from I-170 and I-70 truck tolls help start and expand homegrown businesses in West Baltimore, I-170 will bring customers into the neighborhood.

I can't believe the Greater Baltimore Committee isn't talking about this, especially with the port boom nearly upon us.

It turns out that "Highway to Nowhere," once connected to I-70 as planned, is actually a highway to somewhere: a gateway to the American West, where I-70 terminates in Utah.

The other priority is an extension of Metro from Greenbelt to BWI, creating a rapid transit connection between the Washington and Baltimore regions.

I support all of these projects, and the Red Line. Baltimore needs a boost.

But doing the right thing in Charm City shouldn't mean weakening the Purple Line project here.

WHY CAN'T WE EXAMINE

THE MTA CAPITAL CRESCENT

TRAIL REPORT?

State Planners Say "No!" to Trail in Bethesda

Purple Line Tunnel, But Where's Their Report?

The Maryland Transit Administration has told the Montgomery County Council that the Capital Crescent Trail should not continue to utilize the B&O Railroad Tunnel in Bethesda when the Purple Line is built.

But where is this written report? There is an article on the issue online from The Washington Post. But apparently we the people are not allowed to read the actual report. I have searched the MTA website, and spent half-an hour combing through the County Council website, only to come up empty handed.

I like to be able to analyze a report before judging it. Of course a tunnel alignment would be more expensive, but how thorough was the analysis?

This is an ongoing problem I've discussed before: lack of transparency in the county government. Despite all internet advances, county finances and line by line budget items remain unavailable in real time online.

As far as the new surface route for the trail, the current plan is to divert from the CCT as it and the Purple Line approach the Bethesda Row station. The trail would be moved onto a strip of 47th Street, then a right turn onto Leland St. and (after crossing Wisconsin Avenue) on to the right-hand parking lane on westbound Bethesda Avenue.

That will bring joggers, walkers and cyclists to the intersection of Bethesda and Woodmont Avenue, where they currently cross to regain the trail.

This does create a safety issue, as trail users will have to navigate a busy state highway to get to the next section. That is why trail advocates have called for the tunnel option.

The surface route concept doesn't sound too bad, and will certainly be safer than riding through a deserted tunnel.

Once the trail, Purple Line station, Capital Bikeshare stations, and new Bethesda Metro Center south entrance are completed, Bethesda will have nearly as many transportation options as a European city.

Council staff director Glenn Orlin suggested building the new trail route in FY 2015, so that trail users will not face an interruption when the tunnel closes for Purple Line construction in FY 2016, in his Memorandum to the Council.

But I think the MTA tunnel report should have been made available on both the MTA and Council websites as soon as it was delivered to the council.

There are many opinions on this and other Purple Line matters, and the people have a right to know what's going on.

HMSHost I-95 TRAVEL

PLAZA CHALLENGE

REBUKED BY MTA

Recent challenges to the Maryland Transportation Authority's decision, to allow Spanish subsidiary Areas USA to redesign and operate two I-95 travel plazas, were batted down yesterday.

The MTA rejected complaints about the bidding process from Bethesda-based HMSHost, and a joint bidder, Airport Plazas/Tichman Construction, yesterday.

While restating that Areas USA had the best bid, officials did not provide much detail about the main issue raised; complaintants believed they had been denied a fair chance to counter Areas' final offer.

A final vote will be cast February 22 by State Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp, Gov. Martin O'Malley and Comptroller Peter Franchot.