Purple Line Construction Money in Proposed Federal Budget

The proposed light-rail Purple Line project that would run between Montgomery and Prince George’s counties would receive $100 million in federal construction money as part of President Obama’s budget released Tuesday, reports The Washington Post.

Maryland transit officials have said they are seeking $900 million in federal funding for the $2.2 billion Purple Line project, the newspaper says. The 16-mile light-rail Purple Line would run between Montgomery and Prince George’s counties.

Construction is scheduled to begin in 2015. The Purple Line will connect Bethesda with New Carrollton, and make stops at major population centers, such as the University of Maryland, Silver Spring and Takoma Park. 

But, more than 116 home and business owners are going to have to vacate their property to make room for the new train’s route. 

One town in the light rail's path is considering legal assistance to make sure that the town's concerns about the line are addressed, Patch earlier reported.

The Town of Chevy Chase Council is "unanimously opposed" to the Purple Line as it currently is conceived, Mayor Patricia Burda wrote in a January email to town residents, which number about 3,000.

The town council is opposed to the Purple Line for a variety of reasons, "not the least of which are the actual impacts to the Town and the Capital Crescent Trail, the impacts to the entire region through increased development with no reduction of traffic, and the overall rising costs of the project to the residents in the county and state," Burda wrote.

Maryland has allotted $750 million in state funds to the project and is seeking $500 million to $900 million in private funding as part of its overall financial plan. Another $220 million total would come from Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, according to the Post.

Read more about the Purple Line on Patch and on the Maryland Transit Authority's website.