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MDOT MTA/Gov supports Purple Line but kills Red Line


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#1 jacorbett70

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Posted 04 November 2014 - 10:42 PM

Larry Hogan is leading by nearly six points with half the vote counted. Sounds like if he has his way, this line won't happen.

http://usa.streetsbl...s-for-governor/

Republican challenger Larry Hogan...argues that the state should focus on its backlog of road projects instead of bothering with transit.
The state has allocated the money for the line, but according to Ben Ross of Maryland’s Action Committee for Transit, “there’s nothing to stop them from changing their mind.” Advocates worry that Hogan’s car-centric transportation priorities would redirect all that money toward highways.

“The governor of Maryland has virtually absolute power over the budget,” Ross said in an email. “All the legislature can do is cut. So if Hogan takes the Purple Line out of the budget, no one else can put it in.”

Brown started off the campaign with a commanding lead over Hogan, but that lead has dwindled to almost nothing. The race is now a nail-biting toss-up.



#2 jacorbett70

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Posted 05 November 2014 - 10:33 PM

Hogan did win the election. Will the Purple line survive?

Washington Post:

Montgomery and Prince George’s county officials expressed alarm Wednesday about the possibility that Maryland Gov.-elect Larry Hogan would cancel construction of a light-rail Purple Line and vowed to fight for a project they consider key to the region’s economic future.



http://www.washingto...-traffic-stream

Washingtonian blog:

Larry Hogan has only been Maryland’s governor-elect for 18 hours, but his upset victory Tuesday night over Lieutenant Governor Anthony Brown already has many folks in the suburban counties outside Washington in panic mode because a Hogan administration could spell doom for the long-anticipated Purple Line light rail project.


http://www.washingto...purple-line.php

WTOP: Trying to put a positive spin.

A number of Purple Line advocates are doing their best to put a positive spin on Republican Larry Hogan’s upset gubernatorial victory, despite past statements from the Anne Arundel County businessman that suggest he’s no fan of the light rail project.


http://www.wtop.com/...-Hogans-victory

#3 CNJRoss

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Posted 05 November 2014 - 10:34 PM

WTOP radio, 11/5:

Purple Line advocates try to put a happy face on Hogan's victory

A number of Purple Line advocates are doing their best to put a positive spin on Republican Larry Hogan’s upset gubernatorial victory, despite past statements from the Anne Arundel County businessman that suggest he’s no fan of the light rail project.

“While much of Maryland’s political watchers may still be reeling over Republican Larry Hogan’s historic upset last night of Democrat Anthony Brown, those grappling for new pieces of conventional wisdom may find themselves surprised on at least one key issue,” read a Wednesday morning press release from the pro-Purple Line Coalition for Smarter Growth. “Despite what many said during the heat of the campaign, long- planned new transit projects like the Purple Line or Baltimore’s Red Line are not dead in the water because of Hogan’s victory. Nor should they be when one looks at the merits of each project as well as Hogan’s key campaign focus — the economy.”

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#4 KevinKorell

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Posted 18 November 2014 - 05:45 PM

Baltimore, MD Sun, 11/11/14:

Hogan to delay policy talk until January


During the campaign, Hogan said he did not think the state could afford the proposed Red Line in Baltimore and the Purple Line in the Washington suburbs. Since his election, Hogan has declined to say whether he plans to pay the state's share of the light rail projects.


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#5 KevinKorell

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Posted 18 November 2014 - 05:48 PM

Reader opinion in Baltimore, MD Sun, 11/12/14:

Hogan should downsize the Red Line


The election's over. Reality defeated rhetoric. The proposed light rail Red Line is one of the broken legacies which Governor-elect Larry Hogan must resolve.

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Kevin Korell


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#6 KevinKorell

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Posted 18 November 2014 - 05:51 PM

The Hill, 11/6/14:

Hogan Md. victory worries light rail supporters


Supporters of the Purple Line, a proposed light railway between Montgomery and Prince George’s counties in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., are worried Gov.-elect Larry Hogan’s ® surprise victory in Tuesday’s election will leave them seeing red.


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Kevin Korell


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#7 CNJRoss

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Posted 13 December 2014 - 07:31 PM

WTOP radio, 12/13:

 

Hogan's next move on Purple Line still unknown

 

WASHINGTON -- The budget deal that keeps the government running includes money for the Purple Line project. But that's no assurance the light-rail link between Montgomery and Prince George's County will get built.

 

"I think it's great that there will be some federal money but we're worried about the state money," says Maryland Governor-Elect Larry Hogan.

 

A third portion of Purple Line funding would come from whomever gets the contract to build, operate and maintain the line for 35 years. . . .

 

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#8 CNJRoss

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Posted 22 December 2014 - 04:32 PM

WTOP Radio, 12/22:
 

Developers Push Hogan To Back Purple Line

 

A group of local developers and business leaders are banding together to convince Governor-elect Larry Hogan not to kill the Purple Line.

 

The group, calling itself the Economic Partners of the Purple Line, sent a letter to Hogan on Friday warning him that cancelling or delaying the 16-mile light rail “would have drastic consequences, including the loss of almost $1 billion in federal funding and approximately $170 million in state funds that have already been spent on engineering and right-of-way acquisition.”

 

It’s the latest appeal to Hogan to maintain the 2015 construction start date for the Purple Line, which the Anne Arundel County Republican has indicated he thinks is a waste of money.

 

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#9 CNJRoss

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Posted 12 January 2015 - 08:22 PM

WTOP radio, 1/12:
 

Purple line supporters hope to convince Hogan rail project helps Md. families

 

WASHINGTON – Maryland’s Gov.-elect Larry Hogan has made clear he favors highway and road projects over mass transit.

 

But while other areas of the state could benefit from roads and highways, that’s not possible for inside-the-beltway communities, says Montgomery County Council President George Leventhal.

 

“Inside the beltway, in the Washington, D.C. region, we can’t build any more roads,” he told reporters Monday.

 

SNIP

 

.  .  .  On Hogan’s campaign website, his campaign described Hogan’s decision-making process this way:

   

“Every decision Larry Hogan makes as governor will be put to a simple test – will this law or action make it easier for families and small businesses to stay in Maryland, and will it make more families and small businesses want to come to Maryland?”

 

In the effort to keep funding for the $2.4-billion Purple Line alive, Leventhal argues that the light rail project meets Hogan’s criteria.

 

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#10 KevinKorell

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Posted 01 February 2015 - 05:14 PM

Baltimore, MD Sun, 1/28/15:


Hogan's new transportation chief pledges open mind on rail lines

 

Maryland's new transportation chief promised senators Wednesday that he will keep an open mind as he considers whether the state should go ahead with two major light rail projects, including Baltimore's Red Line.

 

Read on....



Kevin Korell


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