Thursday, January 31, 2013
“The citizens are hurting. They can’t take any more tax increases," believes Maryland House Minority Leader Anthony O'Donnell, reports the Baltimore Business Journal.
Maryland House Minority Leader Anthony O'Donnell has called for a delay in the Purple Line and Baltimore's Red Line, saying proposed tax increases to fund the light rail projects would be too costly for taxpayers, the Baltimore Business Journal reports. In Annapolis this legislative session, lawmakers are grappling with ways to fund the Purple Line, Red Line and other transportation projects. Maryland Senate President Mike Miller has proposed a 3 percent gas tax that would raise up to $300 million for transportation, and jurisdictions would be able to tack on another 5 cents per gallon to pay for local transportation projects, Patch reported. O’Donnell, R-St. Mary’s and Calvert counties, said the Purple and Red Line projects should be …
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Church's driveway could be demolished if the proposed Purple Line is built.
Nestled along Campus Drive is University Baptist Church, a small parish complete with three white crosses that sit sentinel outside the more than 50-year-old building. But in the next few years, the tranquility of the 200-member church might be shattered by the rumblings of Purple Line construction, which project director Michael Madden says will go through UBC’s front U-shaped driveway. “We really didn’t have a choice,” Madden said, who added that in order for the Purple Line to make a clean turn into the University of Maryland, construction would have to side-swipe the property. The Purple Line will run from Bethesda to New Carrollton, and as part of its route, will cut into University of Maryland’s campus along Campus Drive. MTA …
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University Baptist Church
3515 Campus Drive, College Park, MD
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State funding hurting from gas tax rejection. Future federal funding uncertain until 2015.
The Purple Line, the proposed 16-mile light rail transit system extending from New Carrollton to Bethesda, could be missing one vital component for its progression: funding. With the Maryland budget in crisis and a congressional stalemate over highway funding, the Purple Line’s construction could be pushed back, although several officials interviewed about the project would not predict how long the delay might be. The federal government approved preliminary engineering for the project in October, qualifying it for funding through New Starts, a federal program for new transit projects such as the Purple Line, bringing it a significant step closer to construction. From there, cost estimates and construction schedules could be fine-tuned …
Some say light rail will ease commuting, while others are wary of funding issues.
For more on the Purple Line, check out our series. Speak Out: What do you think about the Purple Line coming to Prince George's County? Will it help or hurt local businesses?
Critics say line will hurt; others disagree.
Nora Levy-Forsythe jogs the Bethesda segment of a 13-mile nature trail that links Georgetown to Silver Spring almost every day when home from college. But, as construction of the $1.93 billion Purple Line threatens to plow through several miles of the Capital Crescent Trail, Levy-Forsythe said she would give up this oasis of nature. And it’s not just the trail—19 acres of forest and more than 5,000 feet of streams may be demolished when the Purple Line is built, according to environmental impact documents the Maryland Transit Administration drafted in 2008. “I’m totally for more public transportation,” Levy-Forsythe said. “If it means less SUVs in this neighborhood, less big cars, less any cars really, I’m fine with it.” MTA officials …
Scot Brown
11:03 am on Thursday, January 31, 2013
Don't delay the projects! MD gas tax is very low and the "lockbox" has been raided for millions of dollars. Make Annapolis give us our money back by re-paying the borrowed money! Raise the gas tax to keep up with inflation. BUILD PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION!!! more ›