what's up the pike: it's navarro!

- By a nearly 2-1 margin, according to the final election results. And she worked for it: walking from my house to my car this afternoon, I was accosted by a Navarro volunteer who handed me a flyer and asked if I was voting today. It's not like my address is 12345 Columbia Pike or anything, so I was very surprised to see them canvassing my cul-de-sac.

In other news:

- The Purple Line's constantly-rising price tag means that a road project in East County could get axed. Maryland plans to divert funds from the widening of Route 28/198 between Georgia Avenue and I-95 to help pay for the transitway between Bethesda and New Carrollton, whose cost is currently quoted at $1.68 billion dollars.

Both the Purple Line and Route 28/198 widening are touted as improving east-west connections in Montgomery County. A major commuter route between Gaithersburg and Rockville in the west and Burtonsville and Laurel in the east, large portions of the 28/198 corridor are only two lanes wide. In Burtonsville, where it serves as the community's Main Street, the road is often congested by both commuter and local traffic. Nonetheless, Route 28/198 is paralleled by the under-construction InterCounty Connector, suggesting state officials think that traffic won't be as big a problem in the future.

While the Purple Line's final route and mode will be officially decided by Governor O'Malley this summer, Transportation Planning Board documents imply that light rail has already been chosen over Bus Rapid Transit, according to the Post.

- And speaking of the Purple Line: tonight, the Maryland Transit Administration presents the results of their analysis of building a tunnel through Downtown and East Silver Spring. The meeting's from 7 to 9pm at Oakview Elementary School, 400 East Wayne Avenue.