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Efforts to relieve Route 1 traffic took a blow on Sept. 10 when the Maryland Department of Transportation announced that funding for the Purple Line will be cut by $25.1 million over the next six years.

The Purple Line is a proposed 16-mile Metro light rail or bus line that would run from Bethesda to New Carrollton with a College Park stop on or near the University of Maryland, College Park, campus.

There are several new developments expected to break ground along Route 1 over the next five years that will lead to an increase in traffic, including Jefferson Square, a Towne Place Suites by Marriott, Mazza Grandmarc, Northgate Apartments, Star View Plaza and East Campus.

City officials hope the Purple Line will cause more people to take public transit in and out of College Park, thus easing traffic on Route 1.

The initiative will receive just under $75 million instead of the expected $100 million between 2009 and 2014 as part of a $1.1 billion deferral of various DOT projects during that time period.

State transportation secretary John D. Porcari said the cuts are the result of a $115 million shortfall in revenue for the Transportation Trust Fund.

The Maryland Transit Administration aimed to begin construction in 2012.

Michael Madden, project manager for the Purple Line, said that because the MTA is only conducting studies, the cuts may not affect the timetable.

"We still have the money to carry out the current study and the planning phase," he said. "When it's time to come up with the [funds for construction], hopefully the financial situation and revenues will have improved by then."

"This is a challenging economic situation," Porcari said in a press release. "People are driving less and not buying as many cars. While this is healthy for our nation in the long run, it dramatically affects transportation revenues. We have to defer new projects until we can afford them."

UM Student Government President Jonathan Sachs said he is disappointed with the cuts, but understands the reasoning.

"It's a very difficult economic time," he said. "It's scary how much the economy is suffering right now. I think the Purple Line is worth the state's money, but it's an understandable setback."

Sachs said the student body would continue to advocate for the Purple Line.

"We'll keep it on people's radar screen," he said. "It's disappointing, but it's not like they were laying down the tracks this year anyway."

Councilwoman Mary Cook (Dist. 4) said that the city cannot rely solely on the Purple Line to relieve that traffic pressure.

"I have been saying that we must look closer at any traffic management that's going to take place on Route 1," she said. "Even if we get the Purple Line, we'll have to wait several years. We are putting our residents in a real bind by continuing to give our stamp of approval on theses developments without making sure our infrastructures are in place."

DOT also announced $7.1 million in cuts over the next six years to the State Highway Administration's Route 1 improvement plan, which included widening the road from four to six lanes.

"Even though we don't have the Purple Line, we have Route 1," Cook said. "We need to make it more attractive and we need to make it safer. We have to take what we're given, but we're not going to stop fighting for Route 1 to be a priority."