Pam Browning, a leader in the fight to save the trail which currently exists along much of the route of the proposed light-rail version of the Purple Line, sent me the following comments on the Purple Line Planning meeting held yesterday:
The light rail Purple Line is all about development. It was conceived over 20 years ago as a single track trolley--not to solve transportation problems--but as a way to raise development ceilings in Bethesda and along Connecticut Avenue. That explains why there has never been a need for ridership studies. Yes, Sec. Porcari indicated that their studies have shown low projected ridership, but when Senator Madaleno asked Mike Madden for the studies, Mike told him that there had been none since the 1990's. (That's either amazing or unbelievable.) Those earlier studies, by the way, showed greater ridership for the Outer Purple Line.No doubt Purple Line proponents vehemently dispute her assertions but the lack of ridership studies to back up this major capital investment was a major and shocking surprise to me when I first learned about it. The state and county studies of the Purple Line should include an analysis of the impact on traffic on Connecticut Ave. and other major arteries as a result of new development permitted as a result of the creation of the light rail. My hunch is that most new trips generated by development at Chevy Chase Lake would be taken by car and that there would be a net increase on traffic on both Wisconsin Ave. and Connecticut Ave.
Now, at today's Planning Board Meeting, Mike Madden stated that their recent ridership data indicates that folks along the eastern part of the Purple Line aren't so interested in using transit to get to Bethesda, but instead are interested in short rides to get to Metro, etc. Mier Wolf pointed out that MTA could save a lot of money by providing Ride-On Buses.
To reinforce the point that development fuels the Purple Line, Ed Asher also came before the Planning Board today and asked the Board to write Chevy Chase Land Company's development plans into the Functional Master Plan. This would be Mega Development around the light rail station on Connecticut Avenue, where CCLC owns 23 acres on the east side of Connecticut Avenue! MTA had previously asked CCLC to develop plans for the light rail station there. CCLC also owns property on the west side of Connecticut Avenue, but Asher said he wouldn't make any requests of the Planning Board regarding that property--today.
You may recall, CCLC was a big (not so popular) player in the development of Friendship Heights.
You can see Mike Madden's presentation from the meeting yesterday online. Chevy Chase residents can likely expect an encore performance at the Town Meeting on the Purple Line on June 6th at 7PM in the Town Hall.
P.S. I welcome the comments from "purple line supporter" (I like to think civil dialogue is always welcome even if some of the opinions expressed aren't the same as my own) but would also encourage him or her to identify him or herself, as I do on this blog.
