Purple Line advocates worry about U-Md. plans to alter use of Campus Drive

Some University of Maryland students and Purple Line supporters are criticizing a university plan to temporarily close the main road on the College Park campus to all private vehicles and many buses this summer, saying they worry the restrictions will discourage transit use and complicate plans to build a light-rail line along the road.

The university is considering closing Campus Drive to all but pedestrians, bicyclists, campus shuttles, emergency vehicles and university service vehicles from June 19 to Aug. 15 as a test of longer-term plans to create a "traffic-free, pedestrian-friendly zone" in the heart of campus, said university spokesman Millree Williams. Metrobuses, most commercial vehicles and private cars would be rerouted north of Campus Drive along Regents Drive, he said.