SILVER SPRING – Residents of Lyttonsville, a small community west of downtown Silver Spring, were buoyed tonight to hear from state transit officials that a proposed rail yard and maintenance facility to store future Purple Line trains is slated to move farther from their residential neighborhood to an industrial area along Brookville Road.
The Purple Line maintenance and storage site is now proposed west of Lyttonsville Place, near the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission property. The change might require relocating Brookville Road and result in a surface train crossing at Stewart Avenue.
Maryland Transit Administration officials announced the new rail yard location at a meeting attended by about 70 people at the Coffield Community Center. Some of those attending had expressed their concerns about the original rail yard location last fall to Planning Director Rollin Stanley. Planners, who had engaged with Lyttonsville residents to solicit input on the ongoing Zoning Rewrite Project, analyzed the potential Purple Line rail yard locations and framed the discussion for County Council members and MTA officials, who then made the relocation decision.
Building on the community’s interest in the Purple Line project and to continue a dialogue, planners will host a community open house event in Lyttonsville on March 28. They aim to collect impressions from residents and business owners to inform a new master plan scheduled to begin early next year. The proposed rail yard change likely will provide more flexibility for planners when they consider potential land uses in the area.
The 16-mile Purple Line will connect Bethesda with New Carrollton in Prince George’s County. One of the proposed 21 stations is in Lyttonsville, a close-knit, primarily residential community bordered by a the Brookville Road industrial area. Lyttonsville was once a predominantly African American community that was founded by a freed slave in the 1800s.
WHO:
Montgomery County Planning Department
WHAT:
Lyttonsville Open House
WHEN/WHERE:
6-9 p.m. Wednesday, March 28 (drop in anytime)
Coffield Community Center
2450 Lyttonsville Road, Silver Spring
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