Purple Line, Bus Rapid Transit, Increased Parking Fees Up for Discussion

The Purple Line, renovations to the Bethesda Metro Station's south entrance, improvements to the Capital Crescent Trail and bus rapid transit in Montgomery County are all on the agenda for Friday morning's work session of the Montgomery County Council's Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy and Environment Committee.

Also on the agenda for April 26 is a proposed increase in parking fees in Bethesda's parking lot district.

As the council reviews County Executive Ike Leggett's recommended budget, transportation projects are being discussed in terms of how and when the county can afford them.

County Executive Leggett has recommended deferring the start of the design and construction of the Capital Crescent Trail and Bethesda Metro Station South Entrance projects by six months each. At Fridays' meeting, the Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy and Environment Committee will discuss whether it agrees with the delays, according to a news statement from the Montgomery County Council's office.

Leggett also has recommended increasing Bethesda Parking Lot District fees to $2 an hour for on-street parking meters, to $1.25 an hour in parking lot spaces and to 80 cents an hour in any space in a parking garage. The committee will discuss these proposed changes as well, the news statement added.

Finally, the committee will consider the county executive's recommendation to provide "$7.6 million in planning funds for three routes that would be key elements of the proposed countywide Bus Rapid Transit system that would have specially designed vehicles travel on dedicated routes. The planning funds would study potential routes on Maryland Route 355 from the Lakeforest Transit Center to Bethesda; on Route 29 from Burtonsville to the Silver Spring Transit Center; and on Randolph Road from Rockville Pike to the Prince George’s County boundary," according to the news statement.

Friday's committee meeting starts at 9:45 a.m. in the seventh floor hearing room of the Council Office Building at 100 Maryland Ave., Rockville. The meeting will be televised live by County Cable Montgomery (CCM—Cable Channel 6 on Comcast and RCN, Channel 30 on Verizon), and also will be streamed through the county website at www.montgomerycountymd.gov.