Councilman Turner Dares to Dream: Give Bowie a Metro Stop

Sometimes in government, ya just gotta dream a little to take those first baby steps of getting something done.

During this week’s City Council meeting, Council member Todd M. Turner floated the idea of Bowie having its own Metro subway stop. Turner said this could be done by extending the subway system from the New Carrollton station down the middle of Route 50 to Bowie.

Tuner said it might take 25 to 40 years before a Bowie subway stop is ever built. "But if we don’t want to have that discussion now, it won’t get done."

He said the timing is right to bring up the concept because the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority (WMATA) is putting together its regional transit plan that will include projects decades down the road. He said other suggestions the city could make to WMATA included a heavy increase in bus service or light rail down the middle of Route 50.

Mayor G. Frederick Robinson said the idea of having Metro go down the middle of Route 50, perhaps even as far as Annapolis, “would be neat.”

Robinson noted that Prince George’s County, unlike other jurisdictions, doesn’t have any Metro subway service beyond the Beltway. He called that a "classic failure of Metro in service" to the county.

The City Council decided to refine its ideas regarding a potential subway stop during a work session next month.

Also during Monday night’s City Council meeting:

• The council accepted city staff recommendations that Bowie’s top road priorities before the state and county include: the upgrading of Route 197 between Route 50 and Route 450; the upgrading of Route 450 between  Stonybrook Drive and Route 3; the addition of an interchange at Route 50 and Route 193; and the addition of a new road connecting Route 197 and Route 3.
• Prince George’s County Fire Chief Marc Bashoor updated the council about how the opening of the Northview fire station has relieved pressure on Bowie’s other fire stations. Since Northview opened in the fall of 2009, service demand is down 62 percent at the Pointer Ridge Station and 12 percent at the Route 450 station, he said. Bashoor, who lives in Bowie, also said despite the hiring of 94 more personnel—bringing the county’s professional fire fighting staff to 771—staffing levels remain lower than desired because of funding shortages.