Silver Spring

After a hiatus, I'm back with a vengeance... or something like that. Running almost completely up the US 29 corridor, this line spans between the Silver Spring CBD and Burtonsville -- running past multiple east-west connections and also filling in between some of my Yellow Line extension stops. Ridership is high, but from Silver Spring to Four Corners: so are costs. While this only spans a single line, Silver Spring Metro is joined by the Red Line, the Purple Line, and my proposed line along Georgia Ave heading all the way to Olney.


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(cost, ridership) 1 = low; 5 = high
3, 4 - Burtonsville Line
Length - 10.40 miles
Maintenance - ???
Southern continuity - Terminates at Silver Spring Metro
Northern continuity - Terminates at Burtonsville; or continues to Cherry Lane

I haven't given any thought to maintenance... largely because it just doesn't pique my interest as much as drawing new alignments does. At its northernmost tier: I'm still not quite sure how I'll run my alignment out to Cherry Lane... I think I'll bring it in such that both terminate at Burtonsville; rather than continuing on as the other. Either way, it'll make more sense when I get to the Laurel lines...


(cost, ridership) 1 = low; 5 = high
5, 5 - Silver Spring Metro to Spring

This short haul will require some major committment to get built, and as such is unlikely to be realised anytime soon... unless it were put underground, in which case the "5" cost would still be 5... but it'd be a much much higher 5. It's the same principle as a high F versus a low F. The good news, at least, is that ridership is spactacular -- picking up all the folk too lazy to traverse the CBD by their own two feet... and my assumption (and experience in knowing people who drive between parking garages) is that there's a good chunk of those.


(cost, ridership) 1 = low; 5 = high
4, 3 - Spring to Dale

Chasing along the reversible lanes, this otherwise nondescript line eats up budgets and spits out at least a bit of ridership -- slightly boosted by recreational treks along the Sligo Creek.


(cost, ridership) 1 = low; 5 = high
4, 5 - Dale to Four Corners

The route into Four Corners continues a trend of impacts to motorised traffic -- likely necessitating replacing general purpose lanes & some major bridgework over the Sligo Creek as well as the Beltway. However, there are some decent benefits: Four Corners already has high transit usage via the bus network, and the nearby high school helps draw some youth to transit. More critically, this is a transfer point to the Beltway Montgomery Line, running between Kensington and Takoma/Langley.


(cost, ridership) 1 = low; 5 = high
3, 3 - Four Corners to Burnt Mills

There's really not too much spectacular to this line other than its crossing over the stream and it's convenient location next to Trader Joe's... tempting me to rename the station "Trader Joe's" simply to try and garner free chocolate.


(cost, ridership) 1 = low; 5 = high
2, 5 - Burnt Mills to White Oak

Cutting through Lockwood Drive, this features a station adjacent to the White Oak Transit Center. It's greatest feature is a station on the Yellow Line extension, but it also connects with the Cloverly Line out of Ft. Totten. Each of them, individually, isn't a massive draw; but between heavy rail, another transit line, and bus services: they collectively make for the level 5 ridership... and when I say that, it suddenly feels like I'm playing a transit-themed game of Dungeons & Dragons. But apart from that, increasing levels of development density in the area also share in that ridership. ...That and the elves, those transit-riding elves.


(cost, ridership) 1 = low; 5 = high
1, 3 - White Oak to Lockwood East

A short hop just to pick up a large transit demographic. I've had a couple friends that lives in this apartment community and have seen firsthand how ripe it is for ridership.


(cost, ridership) 1 = low; 5 = high
3, 5 - Lockwood East to Tech

Tech Rd assumes some higher-density development alongside a mid-sized Park & Ride -- anticipated to be the third of its kind heading southbound along US 29. This location was chosen for the P&R both for its existing plentiful supply of parking but also for its transfer capabilities: a Yellow Line station, the terminus of a line out of Ft. Totten, the terminus of a line which largely follows US 1 into Bladensburg, and the terminus of a line out of Beltsville.


(cost, ridership) 1 = low; 5 = high
2, 2 - Tech to Fairland

The problem with this station is that there's nothing there... but there's a lot near to there. I have yet to quite figure out what planners were thinking when they anticipated the US 29 corridor as being oriented towards transit along US 29... because some of the more notable areas seem to confound that logic. However, I still couldn't disregard this cross street as there is some ridership to be had toward the east & to some degree with the neighboring businesses.


(cost, ridership) 1 = low; 5 = high
2, 5 - Fairland to Briggs Chaney

Another problem with the "transit-oriented development" along US 29 is that by building a freeway in the middle of it all: it's pushed pedestrians away from where pedestrians were supposed to be drawn to. My line is anticipated to run directly beneath Briggs Chaney Road, with stairs linking up to each side of the bridge... maybe possibly.

This station provides transfers to my Outer Beltway Line (running between Gaithersburg Metro, Shady Grove, Konterra, Muirkirk, Bowie, Six Flags, and Upper Marlboro... linking almost every radiating line there is) and also the Randolph Road Line (joining Glenmont, White Flint, and Parc Potomac). Even greater is that this is the terminus of the Yellow Line extension, hence my proposed conversion of the auto lots to the southeast into park & ride lots -- the 2nd (and potentially largest) of the P&R facilities along southbound US 29.


(cost, ridership) 1 = low; 5 = high
2, 3 - Briggs Chaney to Paint Branch

Named for the adjacent high school (which I suppose is named after the stream), this would be anticipated to link each side of US 29 via pedestrian bridges connecting directly into the station. While density is low to the west, higher density on the east side & school-related ridership help boost the numbers here.


(cost, ridership) 1 = low; 5 = high
1, 2 - Paint Branch to Greencastle

With 1/4 mile radius rubbing shoulders with the Paint Branch 1/4, this isn't a particularly far-away stop, but I opted to include it to pickup some more riders out of the higher-density residences to the east.


(cost, ridership) 1 = low; 5 = high
1, 2 - Greencastle to Blackburn

As with the last couple stops, to the west isn't much; but to the east are some higher-density residences. This station might be a transfer point onto a line from Cherry Road in Laurel... it's technically my alternate alignment in the sense of I drew it after my other route, but I'm leaning more toward this alternative as being the more preferable of the Cherry Hill routes.


(cost, ridership) 1 = low; 5 = high
2, 4 - Blackburn to Burtonsville

Assuming I run the Cherry Hill Line's 2nd alternative, this segment trackage with the Cherry Hill Line, both of them terminating in Burtonsville. Or if I go with my original Cherry Hill alignment, then it's wrap around from the north & both of these lines could continue into the other. However, while that latter one might sound nice... I'm not convinced it's really worth it from a ridership standpoint.

This stop could help revitalise the dueling shopping centers as well as the "village" of Burtonsville... a title the community has been struggling to (re)attain. The Park & Ride to the east is the first potentially rail-served P&R along southbound US 29, but the current location of the P&R and my station result in a bit of a separation between the two. Moving walkways? Absolutely.

(I'm not entirely sure if I'm joking or not)


Where we are thus far...

I can't embed Google Maps anymore showing the whole thing, as it's gotten too big that Google Maps doesn't know what to do with it. So now I've got to link to a Google Earth placemark. Click here for the Google Earth placemark of all the alignments thus far, noting that it may take quite some time to load. I'm really not sure what I'll post next... whether I'll fill in some more in MoCo, take care of some connector routes, start moving into PG... I'll decide that when I get to it.