Open forum: Purple Line on Wayne spurs reaction

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Open forum: Purple Line on Wayne spurs reaction

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Re: Opposition to the Purple Line in Silver Spring: Wayne Avenue today has too much traffic, is unsafe to cross in many places and lacks ‘‘curb appeal.”

A well-designed Purple Line — with aesthetic and traffic-management improvements to go along with the light rail infrastructure — will make this a more livable area. Doing nothing, which is really what the Seven Oaks-Evanswood Civic Association wants, if tunneling is not affordable, only paves the way for more cars, day and night.

Brent Gilroy, Silver Spring

Regarding the nicely written article by Agnes Jasinski (‘‘Wayne Ave. residents sign-on to Purple Line opposition,” July 16), I refer to the stated desire by some for a well-designed train system running at street-level on Wayne, if underground isn’t an option. It’s an oxymoron to think that a system of two-directional, 180-foot long trains trundling along a sharply curved, fairly steep residential street with several traffic lights can ever be well-designed. The street’s design is already in place, with people’s houses and parking spots, three schools, two churches, a senior center and a busy Whole Foods parking lot entrance already part of the existing design.

The proposed design for the Purple Line on Wayne favored by at-grade proponents takes away front yards, adds left-turn lanes and 200-foot-long train stations, widens much of Wayne to Colesville Road proportions feeding even heavier traffic into the already-clogged bottle-neck at the Wayne-Fenton Street crossroads and downtown and does not, to me, seem well-designed.

Cathy Kristiansen, Silver Spring