Seeing Purple in District 18

Most Montgomery County politicians claim to support building the Purple Line. Indeed, Steve Silverman hopes to ride his promise to build it to the County Executive's office. As I've mused in earlier postings, I wonder if the debate over the proposed light rail system between Bethesda and New Carrolton is somewhat academic because the money may not exist to pay for it and Montgomery cannot afford it without massive state and federal dollars.

However, the Purple Line is controversial in District 18 as most of the Montgomery County portion of the line would cut through the district. People who live in homes and communities close to the tracks are especially concerned about how light-rail would affect them. Of course, many users of the current trail also live in the district.

Some opponents of the Purple Line think that supporters have unfairly used pictures of Metro cars and Metro maps in their literature even though light rail would be different from Metro. Supporters of the Purple Line are similarly peeved that opponents have gathered signatures against on the Capital Crescent Trail across from Barnes and Noble in Bethesda which would not be affected by the Purple Line.

As one delegate candidate who I happened to run into this morning pointed out, the MSM has made little effort to distinguish the positions of candidates on the Purple Line, though you can learn more on your own if you are willing to wade through the candidate answers to questions on the Gazette website as well as Action Committee for Transit's scorecard, though one doesn't always get exactly the same report from all sources.

Here is my perception of the positions of the candidates on the Purple Line:

Dana Beyer, James Browning, and Ana Sol Gutierrez favor building the Purple Line.

Jane Lawton and Jeff Waldstreicher favor building the Purple Line if it is underground.

Al Carr, Dan Farrington, and Noah Grosfeld-Katz oppose building the Purple Line (at least on its proposed route on the trail). This is also the position of Rich Madaleno who is unopposed for the senatorial nomination.

If anyone thinks I've got their position wrong, let me know. As always, I should mention that I have been volunteering for the District 18 slate.