MTA: Rail-Trail Options For Wisconsin Ave. Tunnel Not Feasible
MTA rejected two proposals that would shift the Bethesda Purple Line station east of Wisconsin Avenue to better accommodate both rail and trail in a tunnel there.
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Two options to squeeze both the planned Purple Line and Capital Crescent Trail into a tunnel beneath Wisconsin Avenue are not feasible, the Maryland Transit Administration has ruled in a new analysis, the Washington Post reported.
Both of the options MTA reviewed involve building the Bethesda station on the proposed 16-mile light rail east of Wisconsin Avenue to better accommodate both the metro and local residents who use the trail to walk and bike, the Post reports.
But an option to build the station east of the tunnel would lead to extra trip time for riders transferring between Bethesda’s Red Line station and the Purple Line, and another option to expand the tunnel by tearing down and redeveloping an office building would be too costly, MTA reported, according to the Post.
Residents have blasted a cheaper option to route the trail above ground across busy Wisconsin, citing safety issues and saying they have long been promised that the trail would remain in the tunnel when the Purple Line is constructed.
County Council President Roger Berliner (D) told the Post he would seek community input. Berliner chairs the council’s transportation committee, which is set to discuss the issue Thursday.
“Whether it warrants spending $47 million more to run the trail through the tunnel rather than at street level is a significant question,” Berliner told the Post.
jnrentz1
7:28 am on Tuesday, February 28, 2012
We need the Purple Line so the people from PG can come over here to rob, rape and pillage here.
jkyllhyde
12:14 pm on Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Brittany Norwood and George Huguely called...
Eric S.
4:20 pm on Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Really? Because I hear there's MS-13 in the upcounty area. Want to stop the red line at Grovesnor? Better put a wall up on Western Ave., because they're robbing houses on the DC line into Chevy Chase. Better cut off bus service to Wheaton and that line from Bethesda to College Park too. In fact, we might as well put up checkpoints on East-West Highway, Bradley, and Jones Mill road, so the wrong element doesn't drive in[0].
Better shut down the bike trail, too, since it also comes up from DC and connects other trails and roads in PG and Wheaton.
Of course, you then don't get to complain when you can't find house cleaners, admin assistants, etc. nearby, and drive a good deal of non-retail business out since not everyone working in those downtown offices lives in Bethesda/Chevy Chase. And let's not forget the upcoming traffic fustercluck that the BRAC is about to give us which would be alleviated a bit by this (I can live in Silver Spring and metro to work? Done and done.)
Oh, and you can still get stabbed repeatedly by a jealous coworker near the Apple store, strangled by a drunken sociopath, go missing on vacation in the Caribbean, etc.
[0] Or just price them out of parking, which we're doing well.
Fletcher Jones
8:17 am on Tuesday, February 28, 2012
What about a pedestrian bridge over Wisconsin like at River Road? Is that being evaluated?
Eric S.
3:54 pm on Tuesday, February 28, 2012
It works well on River. Not a bad idea.