UMd. Drops Opposition to Campus Drive Alignment of Purple Line

After months of contentious debate, the University of Maryland has officially dropped to the Campus Drive alignment of the Purple Line, the Washington Post reports.

Concerns over the safety of an above-ground train rumbling through the middle of campus, as well as potential issues with electromagnetic interference disturbing nearby research, were the basis upon which the university has fought the Campus Drive alignment since 2007.

But Frank Brewer, the university’s vice president for administrative affairs, told the Post Wednesday that these concerns has been assuaged.

“We wanted to make sure the university is not in MTA’s way in any way, shape or form to make the Purple Line happen,” Brewer said. “We’ve always wanted the Purple Line to come across campus. It was just a question of where.”

Until Wednesday, the university supported an alternate alignment along the university's Preinkert Drive, a road that is removed considerably from major campus hubs like the Stamp Student Union, as well as the majority of the university's research labs.  The rail would have run at least partially underground, making it less accessible to passengers, and the cost would have been substantially higher.

Since cost-effectiveness - as well as a united community - are significant factors considered by the Federal Transit Administration when determining whether to allocate funding, the university's support of the alignment was critical in enabling the project to move forward.

The proposed $1.7 billion Purple Line will consist of 20 stations between Bethesda and New Carrollton, linking the Red, Orange and Green lines. State planners say they could open it in 2020.