Purple Line could pose problem for Bonifant St bar

By Jennifer Deseo | Nov 9, 2009
Photo: Its a tight squeeze on the sidewalk outside the Quarry House Tavern. Photo: J. Deseo/SSP.

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…)

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Proposed Purple Line tunnel would skip new Silver Spring library

By Jennifer Deseo | May 12, 2009

Image: If built, a Purple Line tunnel beneath Wayne Avenue would wipe out three houses just east of Mansfield Road. Courtesy of MTA.

A tunnel that would burrow the Purple Line beneath downtown Silver Spring and the Seven Oaks/Evanswood area would mean no station at the hood’s new library, the state transit administration reported. (more…)

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Purple Line won’t break busy intersection, state reps say

By Jennifer Deseo | Apr 29, 2008

A proposed Purple Line route won’t do too much damage to traffic flow at one busy downtown intersection, reps for the state transit administration claim. (more…)

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Future library on track, with or without Purple Line

By Jennifer Deseo | Feb 27, 2008

Development of Silver Spring’s new library will roll forward, whether or not the Purple Line mass-transit project runs through its ground floor, the hood’s regional director said. (more…)

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Stump the Penguin

By Jennifer Deseo | Apr 23, 2007

Dear Penguin: Any word on how this Studio Plaza development deals with the Purple Line? Three proposed routes run through Fenton Village, and one runs directly through (or under) the Studio Plaza site. What’s the deal? — Wiley

Wiley

Dude, that’s a loaded question with a loaded answer. I checked into earlier comments from the project’s developer, Robert Paul Hillerson, for the scoop.

Hillerson believes that if he builds the Fenton Village project, the Purple Line will not come — through his property, anyway. On two different occassions last week, Hillerson admitted that he wanted to begin construction immediately to cut off any decision on the Purple Line route.

Once completed, the two residential buildings proposed for Silver Spring Avenue would drastically increase the land’s value, so much that Hillerson bets the county couldn’t afford to buy it under an eminent-domain claim.

The accompanying underground parking also could prevent the county from burrowing a Purple Line tunnel beneath the site, Hillerson says.

If Hillerson is correct, and assuming a Silver Spring Avenue route is selected, the county might pass on route A through Studio Plaza. Instead, it might choose route B, which turns off Silver Spring Avenue closer to Fenton Street. (See the map below.)

Proposed routes

Some members of Silver Spring’s commercial and economic development committee, as well as members of the urban district advisory committee, worry that the Purple Line will be “the tail that wags the dog,” hindering further development until an alignment is settled.

However, the commercial and economic development committee was not eager to endorse Studio Plaza Thursday night, objecting to recent design changes.

Congrats to you, Wiley, for getting the first “Stump the Penguin” response requiring a labelled diagram! I hope this answers your question.

The Penguin

Update: The state transit administration has eliminated the alignment running beneath Studio Plaza. Click here for more information. (Apr 24, 2006)

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