terrapinsanity.com

Politicians want the new metro Purple line for reasons far different from service to communities it will dissect. Massive amounts of cash in motion represent opportunities today, and never mind impact tomorrow when they’ll be off in some other office leaving locals to deal with the increased crime, congestion and costs. (Show us the first community where neighborhood crime went down after receiving a metro stop, and good luck finding a metro stop where planners don’t argue for increased density and construction near by so as to concentrate investments in infrastructure.)

These same politicians, whose agenda simply does not involve quality at the flagship in College Park, cheerfully proposed cutting the campus in half, right along Campus Drive. This was politely opposed, in such ways as milquetoast academics can muster, until recently. Showing he is eager to play in politics too – which is to say, sell the community’s long-term needs for his short-term needs – President Loh, a man whose resume shows he too fancies a fast professional climb, has rapidly leveraged the wholesale turnover of top administrators here by installing ‘acting’ and ‘interim’ staff who will not complicate his decisions by trying to raise awkward facts. On the Purple line question, they rolled faster than a $3 hooker, and what once was campus concern over unaddressed questions is now obedient acquiescence on implementation. Yes sir, may we have another!

Unaddressed questions? Well, for one, what will be the impact of running light rail through a pedestrian mall populated by academics who walk around, well, like we live here? Officials blithely say gosh no, we won’t need fences or barriers for safety. And we won’t make that much noise. And we’re real sure about all this even though Metro has no other at-grade exposure of this type, hence no experience dealing with it. (They might as well say “here, toke on what we’re smoking and you can believe too.”)

Our latest reminder of this folly came in this morning’s Phoenix offers lessons for Purple Line article. The report of that city’s experience with tighter integration of rail with just vehicle traffic is something of an eye opener. Be sure to catch the part about 52 collisions in the first year (without the same level of pedestrian interaction as will be seen here) and the “frequent bells” that are heard a couple blocks away. (Looks like Anne Arundel, Dorchester and St Mary’s halls will cease being prime real estate for those interested in on-campus living.)