MTA pushing for additional Purple Line stop in Silver Spring

State transit officials are pushing for a light rail station at Dale Drive in Silver Spring to be completed during initial construction of the Purple Line, despite opposition from county officials and planners and mixed opinions from residents. The Maryland Transit Administration has long taken a wait-and-see approach with the concept of building a Purple Line station at Dale Drive and Wayne Avenue, deferring a decision until after initial construction of the Purple Line, the proposed 16-mile, 20-station light rail system connecting downtown Bethesda to New Carrollton. If community support was strong enough and estimated ridership numbers proved that a station in the overwhelmingly residential, single-family neighborhood was necessary, MTA could build the station at a later date, county officials have said.

But support for a station is already there, according to Michael Madden, the Purple Line project manager with MTA. So while the council, planning department and Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett have not wavered on wanting to evaluate a Dale Drive station after the Purple Line is built, negotiations over fast-tracking the stop have begun as the county reviews the Purple Line Functional Master Plan, a planning guide for the proposed route.

"They have already told us to design [the Purple Line] so we can build the station at some other time," Madden said in a phone interview last week. "We want them to reconsider the recommendation."

Madden said there's no timetable for a final decision on the station, and it won't come to a formal vote, instead requiring a compromise from both sides.

"It's possible [for MTA] to override the council, but we don't plan on having to do it," Madden said.

Cost is not an issue with the Dale Drive station; it will cost an estimated $2 million to build the stop and $1.67 billion to build the entire transit line. It's the potential for rampant development that comes with any new transit line that is a concern, opponents to the station say. And, with a station also planned for the new Silver Spring Library at Fenton Street and Wayne Avenue, just a half-mile from the proposed Dale Drive station, it's also a question of whether enough people will use the station to justify risking the neighborhood's character, opponents say. SOURCE: Gazette