WASHINGTON — Maryland’s Governor-elect, Larry Hogan, is being lobbied by the leaders of chambers of commerce in two of the state’s largest counties, Montgomery and Prince George’s, to reconsider his opinion of the Purple Line.
Gigi Godwin, the president and CEO of the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce, and David Harrington, her peer with the Prince George’s County Chamber of Commerce, sent a letter to Hogan to outline why they think the nearly $2.4 billion project is worth the investment.
The letter says the light rail line that would carry commuters from Bethesda to New Carrollton would support existing jobs, and maybe bring more to the state, citing the possibility that the Purple Line could help make Maryland more attractive to the FBI, which is shopping for a new site for its headquarters.
“Virginia worked hard to build new Metro stations in Reston, Herndon and four in Tysons Corner. We cannot fall further behind the economic opportunities the Silver Line is already generating,” the pair say in the letter. “Our full potential will only be reached through bold vision and courageous decisions to support access to opportunity today and into the future.”
The letter from the chambers of commerce in comes nearly a week after business leaders and developers with more direct ties to the project sent a letter making the pitch for the plan. The group called the Economic Partners of the Purple Line warned of “drastic consequences” should the project be scuttled.
Hogan has said he won’t be making any decisions on the project before he’s sworn in and takes office Jan. 21.
WTOP’s Kate Ryan contributed to this report. Follow @WTOP on Twitter and WTOP on Facebook.
