1)  Construct an underground Metrorail Line between Silver Spring and Bethesda Metro,

or

2)  Construct the Purple Line Loop -- originally known as the Red Line Loop because it would connect the two legs of the Red Line with Metrorail along the Beltway between Silver Spring and Bethesda Medical Center.  This plan was created by WMTA staff and proposed by County Executive Doug Duncan four years ago and should be reexamined now -- in light of the Base Relocation of Walter Reed Hospital -- which will be bring thousands of new employees, patients and visitors each day to Bethesda Naval Hospital.

Purple Metro Line Loop -- Background

In January 2003, County Executive Doug Duncan proposed the Purple Line Loop (PLL) -- a plan developed by staff of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) that connects the two branches of the Metrorail’s Red Line with a Metro Line Loop.   The 4.7 mile Purple Line Loop would connect the Silver Spring and the Bethesda Medical Center Metro stations using heavy rail.  Essentially, it would travel from Silver Spring on the railroad right-of-way to the north side of the Beltway west of Forest Glen.  To get to Medical Center, it would enter a tunnel to pass back under the Beltway and reach the Medical Center Station.  Along the Beltway, there could be stations at both Walter Reed Annex and at Connecticut Avenue.  There would be parking and bus access to the station on Connecticut Avenue.

WMATA staff reported that the seamless PLL connection would increase Metro ridership while improving Metro service.  For example, it would provide a one-seat ride from Union Station, north to Silver Spring and across the Loop to Bethesda Medical Center and Grosvenor, and thereby lessen traffic through Judiciary Square and DC Metro Center -- the most heavily congested Metro stops.  It would improve Metro’s ability to respond to emergencies -- when a station is closed downtown, trains could still travel north on the red lines via the Loop.  And the PLL would allow for growth and expansion, especially with the possibility of future connections to Virginia and White Oak.

Recommendation

The County should ask the State to conduct  an Environmental Impact Study of the Metro Purple Line Loop plan, in light of the fact that:  

1) The Loop plan may better address BRAC and NIH growth and provide superior long term transportation solutions  for the County, 

2)  The State’s current fiscal situation means there will be no immediate request for construction funding for the Purple Line, allowing time to study  this route, and

3)  There is strong community opposition to the proposed Inner  Purple Line (IPL) alternative,  that would construct a light rail along the Capital Crescent Trail between Bethesda and Silver Spring. 

Planning Board Evaluation

In January 2003, Planning Board staff reviewed the PLL plan at the request of the County Council.   At the Planning Board Hearing on January 30, 2003, the Planning Board found that the PLL is technically feasible.  They also recognized the operational advantages of using Metrorail technology to join Silver Spring and Bethesda.   

Two of the five Planning Board members believed that the PLL should be fully studied with an EIS.  Among the advantages they see in the Purple Line Loop were the following: 

• the regional importance of an expanded Metrorail system;
• the national security importance of adding redundancy to Metrorail operational capabilities;
• economic development;
• avoidance of the community impact and degradation of trail experience caused by the Georgetown Branch [light rail along the Capital Crescent Trail]; and
• the prospect of Metrorail extensions to Virginia and White Oak made possible by the Purple Line Loop.”

(Planning Board Chairman, Derick Berlage,  Letter to County Council Presidenet, Michael Subin, January 31, 2003.)

But three of the Board members preferred not to study the PLL further, because they believed the IPL would be less expensive, more cost effective (though they acknowledged there would be greater ridership on the PLL), better serve land uses between Silver Spring and Bethesda (with plans for density and high rise development along Connecticut Avenue where Chevy Chase Land Company owns property), and in a position to request federal construction funds sooner.

However, “all five commissioners agreed that if for whatever reason the decision is made not to request construction funding authorization for the Georgetown Branch option, then planning funding should be sought to complete an [EIS] that examines the PLL along with the IPL.”  (Glen Orlin, County Council Staff memo to County Council, January 31, 20003). 

Current Situation

In 2007, the County and State are not in a position to seek immediate Federal funding for construction of the Purple Line.  There are no State funds available to match Federal funds. 

And thus, there is time now to re-consider aspects of the Purple Line and whether there are superior ways to meet County needs and whether there are new factors that could play a significant role in the re-evaluation of the Metro Line Loop plan. 

The Metro Line Loop plan should be revisited with BRAC and NIH expansion in mind.  The Federal Government might give points or priority to a plan that provides much needed infrastructure for BRAC and NIH, improves the Metro system, and enhances national security.

In addition, serious consideration should be given to the very strong opposition in the community and among trail users to building the light rail Purple Line along the popular Capital Crescent Trail.  This opposition could very well undermine attempts to obtain Federal funding.  It would be far wiser to seek a consensus plan that unites, rather than divides, the community around a transit plan.

As determined by the Planning Board in 2003, the Metrorail Loop plan does not need to impact the plans for the Purple Line between Silver Spring and New Carrollton.  “A future rail extension from Silver Spring to Langley Park, College Park and New Carrollton could be constructed with connections to either a Metrorail loop or the Inner Purple Line light rail” (Planning Board Staff Report, January 31, 2003).   

Plans for transit between Silver Spring and New Carrollton can still be developed based on the transit needs and environmental and neighborhood concerns of those communities.