An agreement has been reached to secure the well-being of a major water main in southern Prince George’s County, Maryland, from any potential harm caused by Purple Line construction.
The 66-inch pipe, known as the Adelphi Water Main, provides clean drinking water and fire protection to a large portion of the county. It lies beneath the Purple Line’s Glenridge Rail Storage Yard in Hyattsville, which is under construction by the Maryland Transit Administration.
WSSC wrote a cease-and-desist letter to the state last month, saying that construction activity at the rail storage yard threatened the pipe.
“MTA has responded appropriately and they have since moved various construction equipment like cranes, staging material and other kinds of construction debris off of this 66-inch main,” said WSSC spokesman Chuck Brown. “We want unimpeded access to this main, in case there’s a leak or if there’s a break; we want to make sure we can get to it quickly.”
Brown said the utility company is also pleased that the state has agreed to pay for relocating the water pipe, a project that could take two or more years to complete.
“We are committed to relocating the pipe and are working on finalizing the agreement,” said MTA senior director of communications Veronica Battisti.
Both sides have been meeting in recent weeks to work out any differences.
“We are working collaboratively to ensure the protection of the Adelphi Water Main,” Battisti said. “We are confident that we can ensure access to the pipe while moving this critical transportation project forward.”
The Purple Line is a 16-mile light rail line that will extend from New Carrollton to Bethesda providing connections to Metrorail, MARC and Amtrak. Project leaders are pushing for an October 2022 opening.
