At a press conference Sept. 16 in Silver Spring, members of the Dist. 20 General Assembly delegation joined Takoma Park's two county councilmen and a city councilman to protest several of the transitway's suggested alignments, including a proposal to construct a bus rapid transit line along the heavily congested Maryland Route 410. The highway is known as Philadelphia and Ethan Allen avenues within the Takoma Park limits.

"It strikes me as bizarre that one of the new alternatives on the table now is the East West Highway option," said Takoma Park City Councilman Bruce Williams (Ward 3). "I think that would result in an unfunded mandate for the City of Takoma Park if that were to happen because we would have to dedicate a good portion of our police force to providing police cars with sirens for getting those buses through the city rapidly. It's the only way they would get through the city rapidly."

For the Montgomery County portion of the transitway, an east-west transit corridor now under study by the Maryland Transit Administration, County Councilman George L. Leventhal (D-At large) of Takoma Park and fellow members of the Coalition to Build the Inner Purple Line advocate building a light rail line along the Georgetown Branch Trail. The trail is a former freight train line that Montgomery County purchased in 1988 for the purpose of building a link between the two sections of Metro's Red Line in Bethesda and Silver Spring.

"It is very clear to me, from the standpoint of getting people out of their cars ... [that] light rail on a dedicated right-of-way is going to emerge as the best option," Leventhal said.

The Bi-County Transitway study combines two previous studies referred to as the Purple Line. Although one of the former studies recommended constructing a light rail line between Bethesda and Silver Spring along the Georgetown Branch Trail, the question of moving the line east of Silver Spring remained a question.

Both the new transitway study and the previous Purple Line East study considered the possibility of tunneling under the dense residential sections of Takoma Park's Ward 5 and the Long Branch neighborhood of Silver Spring. Since bus rapid transit was not considered in the Purple Line East study, proposals to construct new dedicated bus lines along the narrow stretch of Highway 410 in Takoma Park, and along congested Jones Bridge and Jones Mill roads in Bethesda, have drawn the ire of officials.

"The [Bi-County] Transitway cannot and will not work. There is no room," said Sen. Ida G. Ruben (D-Dist. 20) of Silver Spring. She said bus rapid transit lines, especially on narrow Jones Mill Road, were an "unrealistic proposal. When they finish studying it, if we get to see those studies, we'll see the engineers say, 'This is not going to work.' "

Other alternative alignments for the transitway east of Silver Spring include a bus rapid transit line along Franklin Avenue between Colesville Road and University Boulevard East, and a bus or light rail line along Wayne Avenue from downtown Silver Spring to Flower Avenue. The tunnel proposal, which would extend from Piney Branch Road and Sligo Avenue to the Takoma/Langley Crossroads, could accommodate either buses or light rail.

"They'd be better off tunneling under the golf course," Ruben said, referring to the Columbia County Club in Bethesda. Several lawmakers, including Del. Peter Franchot (D-Dist. 20) of Takoma Park, blamed the club's political influence with Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) for derailing the Purple Line project earlier this year. The Georgetown Branch Trail bisects the country club, and Franchot said club members did not want a light rail line coming through the golf course.

"What are we sacrificing the public interest for?" Franchot asked. "A number of gentlemen who, with green pants and pink shirts, want to hit a little white ball on Sunday afternoon?"

Greg Massoni, Ehrlich's press secretary, said Tuesday that lawmakers like Ruben and Franchot are politicizing the issue instead of focusing on finding a transit solution.

"Our whole effort is to improve the transportation situation," Massoni said. "We are committed to improving transportation in the Washington metropolitan area counties, where it is absolutely atrocious. People like Peter Franchot should be praising this administration for its initiative as opposed to attacking it.

"We should all be working together," Massoni said.

The Coalition to Build the Inner Purple Line has a broad base of members across both Montgomery and Prince George's counties. In addition to both county councils and the city of Takoma Park, the group includes the Greater Washington Board of Trade and the Sierra Club, unlikely partners on a transportation project.

"I would guess that there hasn't been a coalition this broad on a transportation issue since we built Metro," said County Councilman Thomas E. Perez (D-Dist. 5) of Takoma Park. "The public will is here, in every corner of Prince George's and Montgomery counties. The political will in the executive branch of this [state] government is what is lacking."