Action Committee for Transit Condemns
Ruling to Delay Construction of Purple Line
Press release issued August 3, 2016
Judge Richard Leon's arbitrary and capricious decision to halt the construction of the Purple Line will harm the entire region's economy, environment, and quality of life, the Action Committee for Transit said today.
"We are astonished that Judge Leon is exploiting the Environmental Impact Study process to benefit a small group of wealthy, well-connected Chevy Chase residents at the expense of ALL of the area's residents," said ACT President Ronit Aviva Dancis. "This decision is judicial activism, pure and simple, and we strongly condemn it."
Judge Leon has evidently decided that Metro's current problems will still be reducing Metro ridership in 2040, almost 25 years from now -- an assumption with no basis in fact or reason.
He has made this decision in response to a lawsuit brought by people whose houses overlook the Purple Line route in Chevy Chase.
e has ignored the basic purpose of Environmental Impact Statements, namely to protect the environment. Delaying the Purple Line will leave the area's many east-west commuters needlessly stuck in traffic.
And he has substituted his own opinion for the judgment of a bi-partisan, broad-based coalition of state and local representatives, including Governors Hogan and O'Malley; environmental groups, including the Sierra Club; the business community, including the Chamber of Commerce; and other active grassroots organizations, including the Washington Area Bicyclist Association and CASA de Maryland.