Route 1 Reporter (https://route1reporter.com/tag/transportation/)
An overview of the political winds tilting against Gov. Larry Hogan’s plan to widen the Beltway. We also have a smattering of weather-response stories from news outlets around the region.
Required Reading is a simple, daily roundup of news coverage relevant to Prince George’s County and its Route 1 communities. In our Jan. 11, 2019, edition: Details of a Capital Bikeshare expansion in Greenbelt; Delays in Purple Line construction; How a government shutdown affects a new Hyattsville distillery, and more stories after the jump:
Purple Line opening delayed at least one year – The Washington Post
Key quote: “The private consortium’s reports don’t say how much it would cost in additional labor, equipment and other expenses to open the line in February 2023. The negotiations have focused on who — the state or team of companies — is to blame for which delays and who should pay to offset them.” Capital Bikeshare plans Greenbelt expansion – Greenbelt News Review
Key quote: “According to the proposal, the five locations being considered in Greenbelt are: Greenbelt Station Parkway and North Center Drive; Breezewood Drive and Cherrywood Lane; Roosevelt Center; Crescent Road and Ridge Road (near the police station), and on Hanover Parkway near Eleanor Roosevelt High School”
Board of Public Works awards state tax system overhaul contract – Prince George’s Sentinel
Key quote: “The comptroller’s office currently uses various systems to collect taxes – one of which is a mainframe business tax-collection system that dates to 1987 and another system for individual income taxes and the sales tax, which began use in 1992.”
let’s put Metorail’s woes into context. Below, we’ve used an official average daily ridership dataset from Metrorail, passed on by Hyattsville Economic Development Corporation, to chart the system’s changing ridership fortunes. Broken down station-by-station, the data allows you to see how each expansion of Metrorail has impacted ridership on other parts of the system.
Required reading is a simple, daily roundup of news and views relevant to Prince George’s County and its Route 1 communities. In our Dec. 21, 2018 edition: Jordan McNair’s last moments get more scrutiny; a statewide school funding formula gets delayed; and a Laurel dispensary has diner blues. University of Maryland releases surveillance footage of Jordan McNair’s last practice – Baltimore Sun
Maryland school funding plan delayed – WAMU
Laurel Medical Marijuana dispensary at Tastee Diner delt setback – Laurel Leader
Maryland gets $2 million grant to prep Purple Line corridor – The Washington Post
Election changes to come after Prince George’s voting delays – WRC
Required reading is a simple, daily roundup of news and views relevant to Prince George’s County and its Route 1 communities. In our Dec. 20, 2018 edition: Can you hear me now? Cell phone service comes our neck of the Green Line; Stadium drama; And a University of Maryland philosopher gives the lowdown on our current understanding of the nature of the conscious mind. Metro tunnels get cell service between College Park, Fort Totten – Popville
Stadium wars erupt over Redskins move – The Washington Post
Maryland philosopher: Consciousness is tied to brain’s ability to predict – Scientific American
Career planning helps Prince George’s middle schoolers perpare for the future – Education Dive
Beltway Plaza may lose what makes it unique – The Hyattsville Wire
Photos: Hyattsville’s Ship With a Cop 2018 event – Hyattsville Life & Times
Maryland ends contract with Russian election firm – WUSA
Maryland officials delay Kirwan report – The Washington Informer
Maryland asks court to affirm Obamacare – The Wall Street Journal
Terps football plays catch-up on recruiting – The Washington Post
Required Reading is a simple, daily roundup of news coverage from other outlets relevant to Prince George’s County and its Route 1 communities. In our Dec. 17, 2018, edition: A College Park charity for homeless kids finds itself in need after arson; Metro problems, Metro politics; And a call for more indoor play-spaces. College Park charity devastated by arson (WUSA)
Metro needs late night service, and to not catch on fire (Greater Greater Washington)
Metro struggles with privatization (The Guardian)
Route 1 needs an indoor playspace (The Hyattsville Wire)
Hyattsville’s Holiday Tree lighting makes the season bright (The Hyattsville Life and Times)
Prince George’s walloped by rain (WTOP)
Major construction on an expansion of the Little Paint Branch Trail is expected to be finished later this month, according to Prince George’s County officials. The new extended trail will run for 2.2 miles alongside Cherry Hill Road from the trail’s present-day terminus in Northern College Park near Cherry Hill Road Park. A steel hiker-biker bridge has been built to cross the Little Paint Branch creek. From there it will parallel Cherry Hill Road and cross the Beltway on existing bridges before turning east onto Sellman Road where it hooks up to an existing trail stub at Little Paint Branch Park in Beltsville.
Robert Patten, trail development program manager at Prince George’s County Parks, praised construction crews for their ability to rapidly make progress on the trail once construction started. In particular, he said the rate of construction was notable because of the heavy rains that have presented obstacles for work, particularly around the streambed where the bridge is built.
“We hope to open the trail in March or April.
Required Reading is a simple, daily roundup of news coverage from other outlets relevant to Prince George’s County and its Route 1 communities. In our Dec. 10, 2018, edition: Maryland’s medical marijuana market is doing very well, new faces on the school board, and Prince George’s County hopes to cash in on Amazon’s HQ2 moves. Maryland medical marijuana market booms in first year (The Baltimore Sun)
Prince George’s could still be ‘winner’ despite losing Amazon HQ2 hunt (The Washington Post)
Alsobrooks takes her place in history (Black Press USA)
Redskins work Congress on stadium provision in spending bill (The Washington Post)
Maryland man makes mark with weaves for men (Associated Press)
School bush crash injures 19 middle schoolers (WTOP)
Purple Line construction continues as UMD postpones new parking garage (The Diamondback)
Millennials join the school board (The Washington Post)
Hyattsville City Council now has a broad estimated annual price tag for a resident-inspired proposal to operate a circulator bus line connecting the city’s three commercial centers. According to a report prepared by Toole Design, a Silver Spring-based urban design and transportation planning firm, it would cost between $715,000 to $4 million per year for Hyattsville to operate and maintain a circulator bus service linking Prince George’s Plaza, West Hyattsville and downtown Hyattsville together along a two-to-three mile loop. The report estimates such a service would be used for between 12,000 to 38,000 trips per month. However, those costs and passenger loads are highly contingent upon service options, such as frequency, route design and administration. The report was presented to Council at its Dec.
Local government officials from several Route 1 corridor towns met with a representative of CSX Corp. this past week to try to find remedies for complaints familiar to anyone who’s ever lived within earshot of a railroad. The complaints included concerns about speeding trains, idling locomotives next to residential neighborhoods, fears of structurally-damaging vibrations and late-night train horns from passing freight liners, risks posed by the transportation of hazardous materials by rail, and the nuisance of late-night track maintenance work. After the meeting, it remains unclear what local or state government leaders can do to remedy these issues. Broadly speaking, local governments have little to no regulatory power over interstate railroads.