Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Maryland

After Five-Month Delay, Federal Judge Calls for Yet More Study of Maryland’s Purple Line

By Stephen Miller | May 23, 2017 | 2 Comments

Facing pressure from elected officials, an appeals court, and the public to issue a long-delayed decision on Maryland's Purple Line light rail, a federal judge has determined -- five months after he was given the additional analysis that he requested -- that the project needs even more environmental studies.

The stalling of federal judge Richard Leon threatens Maryland's Purple Line light rail, which would connect to the Washington Metro at four locations, plus Amtrak and MARC commuter rail. Image: Maryland MTA

Federal Judge’s Delay Tactics Threaten to Halt Maryland’s Purple Line

By Stephen Miller | May 19, 2017 | No Comments

The Purple Line, a light rail project connecting Maryland's Washington, DC, suburbs, has been bogged down since 2014 by a lawsuit from a group of wealthy NIMBYs. Now, thanks to the inaction of U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Leon, the process is dragging on even longer -- and the delays are threatening to kill the project entirely.

Pop-Up Protected Bike Lane Demos Now Being Funded by States, Too

By Michael Andersen | Oct 9, 2015 | 1 Comment

Michael Andersen blogs for The Green Lane Project, a PeopleForBikes program that helps U.S. cities build better bike lanes to create low-stress streets. A practice that began as guerrilla activism and was later embraced by professionals as “tactical urbanism” — using live on-street demos to test the effects of changes to city streets — hit a milestone last […]

Koch Brothers Loom Over Maryland’s Purple Line Fight

By Angie Schmitt | Feb 26, 2015 | 23 Comments

Look whose envoy has been dispatched to undermine Maryland’s Purple Line. Once again, Randal O’Toole of the Koch brothers-funded Cato Institute has been deployed to attack a light rail project in distress. On Monday, the Maryland Public Policy Institute, a right-wing think tank, is hosting a debate on whether to construct the light rail project in the […]

Maryland Gov Larry Hogan Plays Chicken With Purple Line Funding

By Angie Schmitt | Feb 24, 2015 | 14 Comments

Newly elected Maryland Governor Larry Hogan says he’s putting off bids on the Purple Line light rail project in an attempt to cut costs, but the delay could also jeopardize the whole project by putting federal funding at risk. A cloud of uncertainty has been hanging over the Purple Line since Hogan’s election in November. On […]

Will Maryland Gov-Elect Larry Hogan Kill the Red and Purple Lines?

By Angie Schmitt | Jan 7, 2015 | 14 Comments

Seeing shovel-ready transit projects destroyed by petty politics has been all too common the last few years (see: Scott Walker and Wisconsin high-speed rail, or Chris Christie and the ARC tunnel). Even so, this one’s a doozy. Maryland Governor-elect Larry Hogan has the power to halt two major urban transit projects that have the planning […]

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