U-Md.: Purple Line Should Avoid Campus Center

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IN THE BATTLE FOR FEDERAL TRANSIT FUNDING, proposals that would serve the most passengers stand the best chance of getting a thumbs up. For Maryland's proposed Purple Line, which would be a light-rail or bus-rapid-transit link between the Bethesda and New Carrollton stations via Silver Spring and College Park, the University of Maryland is a potential ridership goldmine. But as The Post's Katherine Shaver reports, officials at the university are opposed to a state plan that would bring the mass transit line through the heart of the university on Campus Drive, pictured above, citing safety and aesthetic concerns. Writes Shaver:

State officials say similar transit lines operate safely in other areas crowded with walkers, including on college campuses. Supporters of the Campus Drive route say location is key. They point to the inconvenient walk or shuttle bus ride required now because Metro's College Park station was built a mile from the campus, which has about 36,000 students and 12,400 employees.

The university had originally pushed a tunnel alignment through campus, which would have made the Purple Line project more expensive. The university is now proposing a more southern route through campus. Both proposed alignments would serve the planned East Campus mixed-use development to the east of Route 1.

A final path will have to selected by the end of spring, when public hearings on the Purple Line's overall route are scheduled to start.

» "U-Md. Wants Purple Line Off Its Main Street" [WaPo]

EARLIER:
» "Yet Another Alignment" [Rethink College Park]
» "U-Md. Aims to Create Social Hub in College Park" [Free Ride/Express]

Image courtesy MTA Maryland