Monday, March 06, 2023

Purple Line blasting to resume in downtown Bethesda on March 20


The Maryland Transit Administration says blasting of rock at the Elm Street Purple Line construction site will resume on or about March 20, 2023. Rock must be removed as contractors attempt to connect the future Purple Line Bethesda station elevator to Metro's Red Line Bethesda station. All blasting will be performed during daytime hours, with horns indicating detonation of charges is imminent, and then giving the all-clear signal afterward. There will likely be only one blast per week, MTA said.


Between Elm Street Park and Rock Creek Park, contractors are currently installing walls, storm drains and the foundations for the overhead catenary posts. Those will hold the electric wires the trains will connect to for power. The light rail line is expected to open in 2026, according to the MTA email, but The Washington Post has reported it will be delayed until mid-2027.







2 comments:

Anonymous said...

And I am assuming they are also building an Additional South Entrance to the METRO Station as well even though your brief summary didn’t mention that part of the project.

Anonymous said...

The work now is actually to create the connection between the Red and Purple Lines, so yes they are building a new south entrance.