The much-debated Purple Line light rail won't go down Sligo Ave. in Silver Spring:
The state has eliminated one proposed route for the Bi-County Transitway that would go down Sligo Avenue in East Silver Spring, though other alignments in that neighborhood are still being considered that would feature tunnels.If deep tunneling is the way to go and viable in Silver Spring, why not consider it elsewhere?
. . .Planners are still studying two proposed alignments in East Silver Spring, Madden said. One route would snake from the Silver Spring Transit Center down Bonifant and Ripley streets at grade to Wayne Avenue. Another would go down Thayer and Silver Spring avenues.
Both routes are designed to move the transit system from the Silver Spring Transit Center to Long Branch. Ultimately, the transitway will run from Bethesda to New Carrollton.
MTA is considering deep tunneling along part of the alignment down Silver Spring and Thayer avenues, Madden said.
‘‘Originally we thought it would have to be constructed by cut-and-cover,” he said. ‘‘Now, based on our analysis, we’re only considering deep tunneling.”
With cut-and-cover construction, MTA would have dug a trench for the transit system to run in, then covered it with a roof. It is usually considered less expensive than deep tunneling, but in this case, Madden said, the costs do not appear to be that different because the tunneled portion of the route would not be that long.
East Silver Spring residents support deep tunneling, Colvin said. ‘‘We would like to see deep tunneling completely under East Silver Spring.”
Residents do have some concerns about the two remaining proposed alignments — like how traffic will be affected, for instance — but support mass transit and are willing to find a mode that suits the neighborhood, Colvin said.
