<html><head><style type="text/css"><!-- DIV {margin:0px;} --></style></head><body><div style="font-family:tahoma, new york, times, serif;font-size:14pt"><DIV>Metro has either electric fences or sound barrier walls around it. the reason is noise reduction and safety.</DIV>
<DIV>If we did not have this protection, there would be more than dead chickens on the tracks.</DIV>
<DIV>Also, the "light rail" (marketing hype terminology) travels up to 55 mph, only 10 mph less than metro, or the train. there will still be a need for two way track.</DIV>
<DIV>If people want this kind of thing in there community, they should chose to live in Rockville or Gaithersburg, not spoil the only thing Riverdale Park has going for it, the open spaces and slower way of life. Change of this kind is not inevitable or normal, it is the result of poor community planning, ignorance and apathy.</DIV>
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<B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">From:</SPAN></B> Dwight Holmes <dwightrholmes@gmail.com><BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">To:</SPAN></B> TownTalk <towntalk@riverdale-park.org><BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Sent:</SPAN></B> Wed, November 10, 2010 11:13:11 AM<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Subject:</SPAN></B> Re: [RP TownTalk] One last thought on purple line<BR></FONT><BR>
<META content=off http-equiv=x-dns-prefetch-control>It's never possible to know with certainty what would have happened in the "counterfactual" case - if there had been no Metro these last 20 - 35 years - but it's reasonable to conclude that the traffic we now face on our major arteries would only have been much worse. Population growth is what it is, people need to find a place to live and work somewhere. Change is normal. To make the best of it, we need good planning.<BR><BR>It's kind of ironic, perhaps, it was the street cars that first brought people out here to these far flung suburbs, as that made it realistic to live here and commute to DC. then the prevalence of private cars and better roads made it feasible and attractive to live further away, in more far flung areas. the "inner ring suburbs" such as where we live became less attractive and in some cases run down. (this is true nationally, not just here). now, with climate
change and the inevitable peak oil pointing to continued higher commuting costs, and all of this combining with the perceived failed model of the "exurban" McMansion model, has people looking back towards our now suddenly-more-desirable inner ring suburbs again. We are in transition from an era of largely unplanned growth to one, hopefully, of a truer "smart growth". For the sake of our sanity, health, well-being, and for the health of the planet, we simply can't afford to keep extending the suburbs indefinitely nor can we provide a cul-de-sac for every household. <BR><BR>As Brian said earlier, what is required is adequate investments in the amenities that make our life both better and more environmentally rational: schools, parks, public transportation, infrastructure in general.<BR><BR>Parenthetically, I'm curious about the idea that sound barrier walls are being considered for the Purple Line light rail. Really? I have no idea -
haven't looked at plans or reports. But it seems we get along fine without insulation from the CSX tracks running through the heart of town, and the neighborhoods of College Park near the Metro station have the sounds of the Metro and the CSX trains. These are both much louder than what the light rail will be. So I'm curious as to what the rationale behind including sound insulation in this case.<BR><BR>I've only seen sound insulation where major expressways bisect residential communities - we see them in Montgomery County on the Beltway - not in PG that I'm aware of (I'll resist making any snide PG-Montgomery comparisons!) I would think sound barriers along East-West Highway would do more for our quality of life than along the light rail. But what do I know.<BR><BR>
<DIV class=gmail_quote>On Wed, Nov 10, 2010 at 9:20 AM, Sue Collins <SPAN dir=ltr><<A href="mailto:wheadle@yahoo.com" rel=nofollow target=_blank ymailto="mailto:wheadle@yahoo.com">wheadle@yahoo.com</A>></SPAN> wrote:<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: rgb(204,204,204) 1px solid; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; PADDING-LEFT: 1ex" class=gmail_quote>RE the purple line reducing traffic on Rte. 410 and in the general area; well, I<BR>would hope so and it would be great. The same thing was said back when the Metro<BR>system was started, that it would reduce traffic in the DC area. However, here<BR>again, with the huge influx of new homes, condos, businesses, etc., traffic<BR>hasn't improved all that much. Guess I'd better take plenty of photographs of<BR>the town now, so in future years I can remember how nice it used to be....<BR><BR><BR><BR>_______________________________________________<BR>TownTalk mailing list<BR>To post to the list, send mail to <A href="mailto:TownTalk@riverdale-park.org" rel=nofollow target=_blank ymailto="mailto:TownTalk@riverdale-park.org">TownTalk@riverdale-park.org</A><BR><A href="mailto:TownTalk-request@riverdale-park.org" rel=nofollow
target=_blank ymailto="mailto:TownTalk-request@riverdale-park.org">TownTalk-request@riverdale-park.org</A> is for automated subscription processing only<BR>http://riverdale-park.org/mailman/listinfo/towntalk<BR><BR>For more information about Riverdale Park, visit http://www.riverdaleparkmd.info<BR></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR>
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