Convienent, quiet, rapid transit is coming to the campus — except for two problems.
The first is Bob Ehrlich, the Republican candidate for governor whose enthusiasm for expensive transportation improvements seems to be limited to rubber tires. Having started the $2.6 billion Intercounty Connector during his term as governor, he now believes the Purple Line, a $1.6 billion light rail for the rest of us, is just too expensive. He again proposes bus rapid transit — an enhanced version of the 750 transit vehicles that already run through the campus every day — slogging along with the ever-increasing traffic. This scheme was rejected by the county councils and planning boards of both Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, as well as Chambers of Commerce and legions of light-rail supporters. But it still looks like a good idea to him; he has pledged to kill the light-rail plan on which millions have already been spent.
The second problem is this university’s administration. The logical and preferred location for transit is Campus Drive — where buses run now — at the center of the campus. Over the last several years, the Maryland Transit Administration has studied a number of routes for the line through the campus and selected the Campus Drive alignment as the most serviceable, reasonably priced and appropriately located.
The university administration continues to advocate a tunnel threading through the historic south part of the campus with large entrance/exit cuts (and stops) at the architecture building and Lee Building. The details of the proposal are unavailable to the public. The MTA says it can’t service this route; the cost is estimated at tens of millions of dollars.
The administration has remained adamantly opposed to the lower cost and logical Campus Drive alignment. First, they feared vibration and electro-magnetic interference with sensitive experiment near the line. The designers have devised remediation, which most involved agree can deal with these problems successfully.
Now the concerns have shifted to safety. Bolstered by a soon-to-be released study by Canadian consultants, administrators will argue that lightrail on Campus Drive is a danger to us all, as well as a deterrent to potential students and faculty who will be so repelled by convenient transit at Stamp Student Union that they will flee in revulsion to other universities.
Many college campuses in the United States and almost every European city center have surface light rail running safely among pedestrians. The first-phase Campus Drive closing this summer showed that when traffic on Campus Drive is restricted to transit and service, the space is transformed successfully into a pedestrian environment. Light rail will simply replace a number of the buses now using Campus Drive and be quieter, faster and more comfortable and smell better.
So, fear the Purple Line — not for its minimal and manageable hazards but for the danger the project itself has been placed in by obstructionist officeseekers and administrators. They have decided what’s best for us over the judgments of those who will build and operate the line and elected officials and supporters in every jurisdiction the Purple Line will benefit, from Bethesda to New Carrollton. Be afraid — very afraid.
Ralph Bennett is a professor emeritus in the architecture school and is the president of Purple Line NOW. He can be reached at bennettr at umd dot edu.
