Baltimore, MD (April 19, 2022) – The Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) Maryland Transit Administration (MDOT MTA) today announced a series of Purple Line public open houses and meetings to introduce staff of Purple Line Transit Partners (PLTP) and their new design-build construction team led by Maryland Transit Solutions (MTS). The meetings follow the project’s April 14 financial close, allowing MTS to begin ramping up full-scale construction mobilization. MTS is comprised of Dragados USA Inc. and OHL USA Inc. The team comes to the Purple Line project with extensive experience in successfully delivering transit systems and complex infrastructure projects.

“We look forward to introducing our new design-build team to the community,” said MDOT MTA Administrator Holly Arnold. “We want to proactively engage with residents, businesses, and other stakeholders to let them know in advance what construction work they can expect to see as we begin a new chapter of delivering the Purple Line for Maryland.”

Beginning in May, open houses will be held to provide the public with an overall project update. Staff from a variety of disciplines, including leadership of the new design-build contractor team, will be present to answer stakeholder questions. Project accomplishments, timelines, and station information will be discussed at these events.

The open houses will take place at two venues in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties:

• May 25, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Silver Spring Civic Building, 1 Veterans Place, Silver Spring MD 20910, and
• May 26, 6:30-8:30 p.m., University of Maryland Stamp Student Union, Atrium, 3972 Campus Drive, College Park, MD 20742.

Community Advisory Team (CAT) meetings will be held in June with updates specific to individual neighborhoods. All the meetings are open to the public and will be held in person.

“Maryland Transit Solutions is excited to get to work,” said MTS Project Director Terry Gohde. “We’re looking forward to meeting with residents and businesses to share our plans as we prepare for construction mobilization.”

The Purple Line project has committed to maintaining open dialogue with the communities surrounding the alignment with the objective of building a long-term relationship and working with community stakeholders to minimize impacts during construction through completion of the project.

“Our Community Advisory Team members are vital to the success of this project, because they know their neighborhoods so well,” said MDOT MTA Purple Line Executive Director Matt Pollack. “It will be great to meet with the public in person again.”

The CATs are member-driven teams with representatives appointed from neighborhood and civic associations, as well as business associations and local governments. Dates and times of the meetings will be announced next month:

MDOT MTA is one of the largest multi-modal transit systems in the United States. The Purple Line is a 16.2 mile light rail line that will extend from Bethesda in Montgomery County to New Carrollton in Prince George's County. It will provide a direct connection to the Metrorail Red, Green and Orange Lines at Bethesda, Silver Spring, College Park, and New Carrollton. The Purple Line will also connect to MARC, Amtrak, and local bus services. To learn more, visit purplelinemd.com, check us out on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

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