Purple Line construction will continue after the Metro Board approved a land swap Thursday that had prompted prolonged debate and name-calling.
The Metro Board voted 7 to 1, with federal Board Member Steve McMillin dissenting, to approve the land transfers at the New Carrollton, College Park and Silver Spring stations for the privately operated, state-controlled light rail line.
A Metro Board committee had questioned whether the state of Maryland was fairly compensating Metro for the land rights with a parking lot at New Carrollton.
And Jack Evans, Metro Board chairman and D.C. Council member, had threatened to hold up the deal unless Maryland agreed to stop blocking changes to the board’s committees and bylaws.
The bylaw changes and new committee assignments, along with several amendments that included removal of a proposal that would have extended Evans’s term as chair to July, were also approved Thursday. Maryland Board Member Keturah Harley abstained from the votes.
Evans current term as board chair is now due to expire in January.
Click here to read the rest of the story written by Max Smith over at WTOP