The Silver Spring Penguin

Photo: It's a tight squeeze on the sidewalk outside the Quarry House Tavern. Photo: J. Deseo/SSP.

As the Purple Line light-rail project rolls forward, business owners along its route through Fenton Village worry it will wreck parking and pedestrian access for patrons.

At a focus-group meeting held last Monday night at ye olde library, Bonifant Street retailers and restaurateurs told state reps they wanted Purple Line tracks not to block automobile access on that road. That meant easy passage for drivers, decent parking for patrons, and enough wiggle room and access for delivery trucks, a few of them described.

Still, one business — the Quarry House Tavern at the corner of Bonifant and Georgia Avenue — might get the worst of it, state transit authority reps admitted at the meeting. The sidewalk outside its subterranean entrance might need narrowing to accommodate two lanes of light rail as it travels between the Silver Spring transit center and the new library, project manager Mike Madden explained.

That made tavern owner Jackie Greenbaum a little nervous, as the sidewalk there is already on the skinny side. Narrowing it further would create a tot-block scenario for hungry patrons, as well as make it tough to roll kegs off delivery trucks and into the bar, she indicated. (more…)