Anonymous wrote:

There has been enough talk and debate. Hundreds of millions have been spent in overrun costs as a result. Years wasted. The fact that a few rich elitist aholes block it because of their bike trails is absurd. We block the improvement on congestion, transport, and pollution for millions of people just so elitist 1%ers can have a bike trail. Screw them. Time to arm HUD against the rich areas of MoCo.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good. Shut it down. Don’t need it anyway.

This. Who wants to ride metro anyway anymore?

ME!!!!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good. Shut it down. Don’t need it anyway.

This. Who wants to ride metro anyway anymore?

Anonymous wrote:It can get shut down and stop in it’s tracks right as it stands now and that would be just fine with me.

Anonymous wrote:Destroying a wonderful local bike trail and many people’s homes and neighborhoods just so you can get from Silver Spring to Bethesda in 20 minutes vs 45 doesn’t make it worth it.

All you care about is your being able to get around quickly. You give absolutely no thought to the homes and neighborhoods that had to be destroyed to accommodate you.

You’re a bully, abled by eminent domain.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As much as some people like to thrash around screaming NIMBY as the reason for delays, the need to either move water mains or protect them better during PL construction is a much, much, much larger issue. This was always going to be more expensive than the state wanted us to believe because putting light rail through highly developed areas is more complicated than they wanted to admit. MTA is going to have to suck it up and pay more. Hogan is a little distracted right now, but I'm sure he'll get personally involved soon enough and figure it out, which will probably mean pushing more cost onto PG and Montgomery counties.

Yeah, I'm going to yell NIMBY about the delay caused by the lawsuit filed by NIMBYs that stopped the Purple Line from proceeding for a year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Destroying a wonderful local bike trail and many people’s homes and neighborhoods just so you can get from Silver Spring to Bethesda in 20 minutes vs 45 doesn’t make it worth it.

All you care about is your being able to get around quickly. You give absolutely no thought to the homes and neighborhoods that had to be destroyed to accommodate you.

You’re a bully, abled by eminent domain.

First, the land was always intended for public transit from the time the trail was purchased many years ago. The fact that an unofficial bike trail was created does not give you squatters rights to the land that the government owns.

Second, as another PP pointed out, the plans include a better and improved biking, hiking trail that is paved and wider, so that it allowed better traffic in both directions along the entire trail.

Third, while the trip from Silver Spring to Bethesda is a side benefit, the primary benefit is to allow tens of thousands of riders a day to commute between PG County and MoCo. It will allow more people to just commute from MoCo to UMD daily than the number of residents that were impacted by the construction. It will also accommodate similar numbers of commuters from PGC to NIH. And there are more than either of those who will use the line daily for other purposes. One of the problems MoCo has is that as a wealthy county, they have more than their share of luxuries that require minimum wage or near low cost hourly workers to support. And the majority of those workers cannot afford to live in the county itself. You import a lot of Starbucks barristas, supermarket clerks/baggers/stockers, janitors, maids, secretaries, receptionists, etc who commute from Silver Spring, College Park and other parts of PGC. This gives many of them public transport options instead of driving themselves to work.

Very typical wealthy, privileged attitude. The majority of those neighborhoods and residents are well off and selfishly want to preserve their luxuries and home values over the greater good for the population. This infrastructure will benefit exponentially more people than it will hurt and is a necessary solution for some of the many transportation issues that this region faces due to the continued expansion of the population.

This reply understates the improvements to the bike trail.

The current trail was barely passable after the heavy rain like we had today and even under good conditions was not great for biking on and certainly wasn't ADA compliant or usable by anyone with a mobility impairment.

The new trail will be ADA compliant and usable year around.

Just as important it will be extended all the way to Silver Spring and this is really cool but the trail will go under Wisconsin and over Connecticut which in the case of CT Ave that is a big improvement over the current condition where you have to zig zag off the trail and wait at a very long light to cross Connecticut.

Anonymous wrote:We live very close to the PL. Everyone is a big fan EXCEPT for those people whose property backs onto the trail. Obviously.

Anonymous wrote:As much as some people like to thrash around screaming NIMBY as the reason for delays, the need to either move water mains or protect them better during PL construction is a much, much, much larger issue. This was always going to be more expensive than the state wanted us to believe because putting light rail through highly developed areas is more complicated than they wanted to admit. MTA is going to have to suck it up and pay more. Hogan is a little distracted right now, but I'm sure he'll get personally involved soon enough and figure it out, which will probably mean pushing more cost onto PG and Montgomery counties.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Destroying a wonderful local bike trail and many people’s homes and neighborhoods just so you can get from Silver Spring to Bethesda in 20 minutes vs 45 doesn’t make it worth it.

All you care about is your being able to get around quickly. You give absolutely no thought to the homes and neighborhoods that had to be destroyed to accommodate you.

You’re a bully, abled by eminent domain.

First, the land was always intended for public transit from the time the trail was purchased many years ago. The fact that an unofficial bike trail was created does not give you squatters rights to the land that the government owns.

Second, as another PP pointed out, the plans include a better and improved biking, hiking trail that is paved and wider, so that it allowed better traffic in both directions along the entire trail.

Third, while the trip from Silver Spring to Bethesda is a side benefit, the primary benefit is to allow tens of thousands of riders a day to commute between PG County and MoCo. It will allow more people to just commute from MoCo to UMD daily than the number of residents that were impacted by the construction. It will also accommodate similar numbers of commuters from PGC to NIH. And there are more than either of those who will use the line daily for other purposes. One of the problems MoCo has is that as a wealthy county, they have more than their share of luxuries that require minimum wage or near low cost hourly workers to support. And the majority of those workers cannot afford to live in the county itself. You import a lot of Starbucks barristas, supermarket clerks/baggers/stockers, janitors, maids, secretaries, receptionists, etc who commute from Silver Spring, College Park and other parts of PGC. This gives many of them public transport options instead of driving themselves to work.

Very typical wealthy, privileged attitude. The majority of those neighborhoods and residents are well off and selfishly want to preserve their luxuries and home values over the greater good for the population. This infrastructure will benefit exponentially more people than it will hurt and is a necessary solution for some of the many transportation issues that this region faces due to the continued expansion of the population.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bethesda resident here. Like many, I never wanted the purple line and hope this problem kills it - or at least delays it for many years.

Like few, actually. There is broad and widespread support for the Purple Line.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bethesda resident here. Like many, I never wanted the purple line and hope this problem kills it - or at least delays it for many years.

Unlikely. This is a signature initiative that Hogan seriously wants. It is one of his highest priorities. All this has done, is what all of the NIMBYs have done since it started is make the project more and more expensive. The project is far enough along that it will continue. There is no way to leave all the work that has been accomplished to date unfinished. There are roads and areas that are torn up and not completed. The construction is causing issues. It was accepted when it was temporary towards the opening of the Purple Line. It is not acceptable to leave it unfinished the way ti is.

I just hope as the costs mount up that the state realizes that Montgomery county residents were at fault here and takes more of the costs out of the state tax revenues that go to Montgomery County. The local NIMBYs should have to pay for the cost overruns that they've caused.

No fan of the Purple Line here. But here is example of MoCo advocacy groups going off the deep end. I have never seen the real need here, and seriously question whether there will be enough passengers to justify the expense.