Maryland DOT turns down request for single-tracking at Purple Line station, citing ‘significant risk’ to project
The Maryland Department of Transportation has turned down a request to reduce the Purple Line light rail project to a single track at its Bethesda station. Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich had made the request, seeking to create room for a recreational trail, the Capital Crescent Trail [see “Digest: Schneider to double intermodal operations …,” Trains News Wire, March 5, 2021], but the Washington Post reports Maryland DOT officials said the request would increase station time, risk blocking the route if a train breaks down, and put the project at “significant risk” since the change would require new federal approval. Elrich had said the change would save the county from having to build a tunnel for the trail at an estimated cost of $54.9 million.
FRA chooses current route for Oregon passenger rail improvements, opening eligibility for funding
The Federal Railroad Administration has chosen the existing Amtrak Cascades route for improving passenger service in Oregon under a Final Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision, the Oregon Deparment of Transportation has announced. The decision makes the state eligible to pursue grants for improvements between Eugene and Portland, Ore., along the Union Pacific rail line. The Oregon Department of Transportation reports that because the work will be conducted within the existing right-of-way, improvements may be “separated into relatively small, lower-cost elements” so the work may be done “incrementally as funding becomes available.” The FRA documents and other information on the project are available here.
City permit issue stalls start of work on Metra’s Peterson Ridge station
A permitting issue has delayed work on the start of Metra’s Peterson Ridge station on the UP North line, Block Club Chicago reports. Groundbreaking had been slated for May, but will be delayed an estimated three to five months; if the delay is any longer, major construction could be pushed back to spring 2022. At issue is an environmental feature that would have returned water runoff to the ground rather than into the city sewer system. The city is concerned the water could leak into water mains that run under the location, Joe Ott, Metra’s director of construction, told the website, so the groundwater system must be revised before a permit is granted. Metra had listed the Peterson Ridge project as one of the major undertakings in its 2021 construction plans [see “Digest: Metra launches capital improvement work …,” Trains News Wire, April 15, 2021].
So let me get this straight- a county executive asked a commuter railroad to suffocate its own line for a trail, so the trail doesn’t have to spend any money for its own purpose. Puh-leeze! Get outta here with that noise. If you want the trail, build it your dang self.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot is afraid that more Metra riders at stations in the city will take ridership away from “her” CTA. That’s what’s going on here. She did that pre-pandemic when plans were being advanced to increase service to Electric District stations on the on the University Pk and South Chicago Subdistricts. And she came out strongly enough to have the initiative killed. And she was quite open that her opposition was based on concerns that such Metra service expansion would take riders from CTA lines (those are mostly bus routes). Trains Newswire reported the story at the time. Apparently, the concept of the bus lines feeding traffic to Metra in the outlying neighborhoods rather than the buses going all the way downtown or feeding further away CTA el lines was alien to her. Never mind the CTA and Metra are both part of and funded by the IL RTA.
@Charles. Peterson Ridge refers to two streets respectively that intersect in the city of Chicago near Ravenswood Ave in the neighborhood of Rodgers Park (or near Rodgers Park). The Chicago and Northwestern North line (never the UP to this third generation Chicago-land native) parallels Ravenswood Avenue from at least Irving Park Rd on the South to just north of the Peterson Ridge intersection.
JACOB- Thanks for your correction. My info was from an internet search as I’m not an Illinois resident. Either there are two areas named Peterson Ridge or else one Peterson Ridge sprawls across a lot of territory.
@Charles…to further clarify Jacob’s information, from the Wikipedia page(did a search for Peterson Ridge Metra Station) the location is at the corner of West Peterson Avenue and North Ravenswood Avenue in Chicago, Il.
As for the runoff issue, there really is no issue unless the following two conditions apply; the runoff is from farm land(in which case it is contaminated with pesticides and/or animal feces) or there’s reason to believe the runoff water needs to be treated first for hazardous chemicals at a waste water treatment plant, otherwise the ground is exactly the place you want it.
Rainwater won’t leak into properly pressurized and maintained water mains.
In regard to the term “the city” in the third item, I’m unaware of a city named “Peterson Ridge”. As far as I can tell by clicking around, this is a neighborhood in the city of Park Ridge. If so this would place it on the UP Northwest Line, not the UP North Line.