Recently, I ventured into my office, after six months of virtual County Council sessions this year, with one purpose — retrieving the original Purple Line schedule from an entire shelf of paper files about the project. The original schedule was shared with me before the final attempt by Friends of the Capital Crescent Trail to stall and kill the project.

I must admit that lately the Purple Line project feels more like a rollercoaster ride than the planned 16-mile light rail connecting Montgomery and Prince George’s counties. Almost as if the communities I represent and I are stuck upside down at the top of a loop.

A little over five years ago, I vividly recall Governor Hogan, wearing a purple tie, announcing a “value engineered” Purple Line would move forward, all while he killed Baltimore’s Red Line. He would not kill the Purple Line project while wearing a purple tie, would he?

In addition to announcing the Purple Line, the governor also used the opportunity to highlight a $1.35 billion spending increase for roads and bridges, emphasizing highway asphalt, not transit, as his top transportation priority. Support for the Purple Line, though seemingly half-hearted, felt more motivated by the business interests along the corridor, rather than his administration.

When the Purple Line P3 agreement was signed, I informed the residents I represent that the contract’s penalty and bonus structures ensured the project would be completed on time. I was unaware at the time that the schedule we were given would be the last one. The schedule was not formally revised when the lawsuit was filed, or when the state struggled later to secure crucial rights-of-way.

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