Retro Metro -- March 28, 1986 -- Orange, Blue and Green Lines

[coneyraven]

ORANGE LINE SHOWS POPULARITY OF METRO ON 10TH ANNIVERSARY
Prince George's Journal

Metrorail historically has been underestimated and overestimated in Prince George's and, as Metro celebrates its 10th birthday, it is both more and less than what was initially anticipated in the county.

The New Carrollton station was the only extension not anticipated in the original plans for rapid rail.  Parking lots on the Orange and Blue lines in Prince George's were filled to capacity in their first year of operation, with the exception of Landover.  And the Green Line, scheduled for operation in 1979 under a plan approved in 1968, is nowhere near completion.

The original alignment to Prince George's included only the Green Line to northern and southern Prince George's, according to Francis B. Francois, who has been involved in local politics since 1962 and represented Prince George's on the Metro board between 1978 and 1980.  "That left nothing in the middle," he said.  Francois, Carlton Sickles of Lanham, who served on the charter Metro Board established 1967 and represented Prince George's on its board of directors between 1975 and 1979, and former U.S. Rep. Gladys Noon Spellman fostered the birth of the New Carrollton line.

"I pushed, we pushed, Bowie community pushed to put something in that corridor," said Francois.  "So with not too much controversy and because it was the surface alignment, it was believed without too much money we could placate these people in Bowie and Cheverly and Lanham."  An extension of the line to Bowie was discussed before the 1968 plan approval, but was ultimately dismissed as overambitious.  The New Carrollton station was included in the 97.2-mile plan of 1968.  "Then things went rather smoothly for a period of time," said Francos.

The New Carrollton line and the Blue Line were laid with little ado in comparison to the Green Line, according to local officials.  Prince George's Transit Administrator Dee Allison said design of the New Carrollton line hit some design snags and fell two years behind schedule, primarily because of debate over whether there should be a New Carrollton railyard, which was eliminated from the later structure and was later built.  The Addison Road extenson came a little easier because it followed the right-of-way for the old Penn Central railroad, now operated by Amtrak and Conrail.  It was opened slightly ahead of schedule in 1980.

Once built, the first and only major glitch in the eight years of the county lines has been parking.  Prince George's stations "turned out to be a lot more popular than the planners had anticipated.  The planners ... had a theory that most people would come by foot and bus," said Allison.  She said original projections for parking spaces were as few as 34 at Cheverly, where its 500 spaces are, like the other Metro parking lots, filled when the morning rush-hour ends.  Only last year did construction begin on a parking garage at New Carrollton and this month County Executive Parris Glendening announced inclusion of an Addison Road parking garage in his $117 million county bond issue to go to referendum in November.

The Green Line is a different story.  The line is seven years overdue, delayed by government officials hesitant to decide on an alignment, citizens concerned about noise and displacement of businesses and homes along the northern extension, and a legal battle over whether the line would end at Rosecroft or Branch Avenue to the south.

Still, at the end of the line as it is now, local officials and Metro observers are pleased with what they got and they want more.

"It's had a very positive impact on New Carrollton, both from the standpoint of transportation and economic development and increased property values, both commercial and indutrial," said New Carrollton Administrator John Brunner.  Brunner said the station has literally put the city on the map and people that move to New Carrollton often site the transportation system as a major factor in their decision.  He added that a study done soon after the New Carrollton line opended showed local property values had increased significantly over the county as a whole, although the numbers have leveled off in more recent years.  "I don't think anybody realized the economic potential," said Brunner.

Capitol Heighs is feeling the economic impact for the first time since it lost 70 homes to Metro construction.  Town Administrator Lawrence Pierce said earlier this month the town intends to develop 160,000 square feet of land adjacent to Metro.  "I think it's the best thing that ever happened to Prince George's County," said Capitol Heights Mayor Leo Forami.

"I think it's done everything we wanted it to do, in a sense more," said charter Metro board member Sickles.  But he did not leave it there.  "It's going to go far beyond the 100 miles."

"I think the casualty, if there is one, will be the Green Line in southern Prince George's," said Francois.  But that did not stop him from speculating on extensions of the Blue Line to the Capitol Centre in Largo and of the Orange Line to Bowie.

[coneyraven]

Well, he was slightly right at the end -- an extension to Largo, but no Capital Centre

[Perry]

Isn't where the Largo station is where Capital Centre once stood?

[coneyraven]

Not quite, the Capital Centre site is now (or will be) a mixed use development -- the station is on the south side of the property