Purple Line construction is ramping up in College Park, with a slate of road and lane closures, as well as bus realignment, scheduled to accommodate work in the weeks and months ahead.
Starting on March 2, workers will reduce Campus Drive between Paint Branch Trail and River Road to one lane, with flagging to control two-way traffic, on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. On March 9, workers will then close Presidential Drive between Campus Drive and Championship Lane on the University of Maryland campus for utility relocations expected to last about 9 weeks. The same day, crews will close two lanes on Adelphi Road, leaving two lanes open, for about three months.
Interactive map: Purple Line road closures, bus changes in College Park
According to College Park city officials, Campus Drive between Baltimore Avenue and River Road will be completely shut down from late May to August 2020 as workers essentially re-dig the roadway rail underpass to allow for the Purple Line trainsets to travel underneath. The closure will sever the east-west motor-vehicle connection from downtown College Park to the College Park Metro Station’s bus bays.
As a result, bus service coming to the station by way of Route 1 will instead use the relatively-disused bus bays on the west side of the station from Calvert Road. Because of that, College Park City Council is considering a measure to remove speed bumps from Calvert Road.
The nearly 16-mile, 21-station Purple Line is expected to open first in Prince George’s County between Langley Park and New Carrollton in 2022. The Montgomery County section of the project is expected to open a year after.