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COLLEGE PARK, Md. - University of Maryland Student Government Association members asked pointed questions Monday night about whether the university’s proposed alignment for the Purple Line --along Preinkert and Chapel drives-- is really best for the campus. The Maryland Transit Administration has proposed a route for the light rail or bus rapid transit that would cut through the heart of campus, along Campus Drive. Brad Docherty, SGA senior vice president, said he preferred the MTA's Campus Drive alignment because it doesn’t “disrupt residential communities, and you’re not building a transit system where none had existed before.” Campus Drive currently serves university shuttles, Metro buses and other vehicles. A route along Preinkert and Chapel drives, on the other hand, would pass near university dormitories, he said. “Anybody can just get off the Purple Line [on Preinkert Drive] and stop right there late at night, and I don’t know how safe that would be for on-campus residents,” Docherty said. Nick Chamberlain, an SGA member, added that there are concerns that the university’s preferred alignment would ruin a picturesque part of campus near the chapel. But Doug Duncan, the university’s vice president for administrative affairs, said that the proposed alignment better fulfills one of the project’s goals, which is to create a more pedestrian-friendly central campus. “There has been some fear on campus that if you put something down Campus Drive, you are basically cutting the campus in half,” making it more difficult for pedestrians, he said. According to the MTA, roughly 25,000 pedestrians cross Campus Drive between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. each day. Duncan said the university’s position is that running the line in a less busy area would be safer for pedestrians. Pedestrian numbers for the Preinkert/Chapel drives areas have not yet been released, he said. The university’s stance on a campus alignment for the Purple Line hasn’t always faced such opposition. In the project’s earlier stages, when a tunnel was an option, officials supported an alignment down Campus Drive. But university officials searched for an alternative alignment when both sides determined that tunneling for an underground train would be too expensive. An MTA study, which will examine the various mode and route options for the Purple Line, will be released in May, according to Michael Madden, the study’s project manager. Public hearings will be held in June. Later in the year, policy makers will determine where the line should go and whether it should be light rail or bus rapid transit. The project also needs Federal Transit Administration approval. If approved, construction would begin, at the earliest, in 2012 and would take about three to five years to complete, Madden said. Duncan said at Monday night’s meeting that he hopes students would consider how the project would affect the campus in the long run. “We have to remember we’re not building the line for today’s conditions. We’re building it for conditions 20 years from now,” he said. Maryland Newsline’s Michelle Williams can be reached at mwilli30@umd.edu. |
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