For Immediate Release: Thursday, June 25, 2020
ROCKVILLE, Md., June 25, 2020—Council President Sidney Katz and Transportation and Environment Committee Chair Tom Hucker issued the following statement about the status of the Purple Line.
Montgomery County taxpayers have invested more than $225 million in the Purple Line to enhance multimodal transportation options for our residents and spur economic growth in our community. The Purple Line has been Montgomery County’s number one transportation priority for more than a decade, and we are outraged that the Maryland Department of Transportation, the Maryland Transit Administration, the Purple Line Partners and the Purple Line Transit Constructors have not resolved their impasse regarding cost overruns on the project.
The Purple Line is essential for improving transportation and redevelopment in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties. Extensive parts of the Purple Line project have been built across both counties, and we will not allow a 14-mile construction zone to lie fallow for the foreseeable future.
The State of Maryland has an obligation to work with our communities to ensure that this project is completed. Moreover, it would be unconscionable for the Purple Line Transit Partners to walk away from this critical project at this advanced stage.
The Council urges Governor Hogan, the Maryland Department of Transportation, the Maryland Transit Administration and other State leaders to explore all legal options against the Purple Line Transit Partners, if an agreement cannot be reached. In addition, the state should be preparing to take swift action to reengage in negotiations with the firms that lost their bids to the Purple Line Transit Partners. Maryland leaders must ensure that construction continues based on the agreed upon resources, and they must deliver the Purple Line that was promised to our residents.
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Release ID: 20-278