Montgomery County Council President George Leventhal makes no secret of why he wants Maryland to spend $50 million to build a series of high-speed elevators at the south end of the Bethesda Metro station.

Sure, it would help boost Metro ridership from residential areas by 3.2 percent and increase commuter ridership at the station by 7.5 percent, according to a Metro analysis. But Leventhal said it would also be a minor victory in a decades-long battle to build the $2 billion Purple Line, a 14-mile light-rail system that would connect Bethesda to Silver Spring and possibly as far east as New Carrollton.

Montgomery County Council members are expected to approve an $80 million bond initiative today to help grease the wheels of state projects throughout the county that have languished. Included in the proposal is $5 million to study a new Bethesda Metro entrance.

The proposed entrance, located at Wisconsin Avenue and Elm Street, just happens to be the proposed site of a major hub on the proposed Purple Line — which would run along a gravel trail known as the Georgetown Branch of the B&O Railroad before going underground near Bethesda, officials said. The Purple Line interchange would be built atop the current Metrorail platform, one of the deepest in the system, officials said. Bethesda is served by the Red Line.

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Metro planners installed “knock-out” panels on the south end of the station when it was built in the early 1980s to avoid major disruptions for a future new entrance.

Leventhal said that while the new entrance, estimated to cost $50 million, will definitely have an impact on Metro ridership, it is “absolutely” becoming a priority because of the Purple Line.

“It’s a small step,” he said, “but an important one.”

» The Montgomery County Council first voted to build the Purple Line in 1989, but it was discussed as early as the 1970s, officials said.

» Gov. Robert Ehrlich has not been supportive of the light-rail system, its backers say.

» Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan, who is challenging Ehrlich’s re-election bid, has been a major supporter.

» Montgomery County’s population is expected to grow by more than 200,000 in the next 20 years.

mrupert@dcexaminer.com