Kicking Off the Rockville Pike Planning Process

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Last night at the Kick-off meeting for Rockville’s Pike:Envision a Great Place, my table bonded when we discussed our harrowing experiences while attempting to abandon our cars in one parking lot and walk across Rockville Pike to another shopping center. One table even admitted to changing parking spots within the Congressional Plaza malls rather than walking. During the course of the evening, we were taught that this is not entirely our fault. If it was pleasant and there were safe sidewalks, we would walk. The Pike just doesn’t invite pedestrians. Participants indicated that this was a very critical issue.

People were assigned to one of twenty tables upon arrival and the room was full. After opening remarks by Scott Ullery our City Manager and Susan Hoffmann our Mayor, the consultants hired by the City of Rockville taught us about transportation, the retail economy, and urban design. All of these principles are used in “The Making of a Great Place”, which was the rallying cry for the evening by the firm, ACP – Visioning and Planning, who will lead us through this process.

After these very informative presentations, we were asked to discuss two questions on the Participant Worksheet:
(1.) What are the most critical issues that must be addressed in order to make Rockville Pike and the surrounding area a truly great place?
(2.) What are some ways to address these issues?

What did the participants say about the current Pike during the presentations by each table? It is ugly! Change Marlo Furniture to a hardware store! The addresses on the Pike are confusing! Jefferson Street needs to connect to Wooten Parkway!

When tables presented their discussions there was much head nodding from the rest of the room. Solving the traffic problem was critical. Many participants liked the idea of retail/residential clusters. Rockville Pike could be about three Town Centers of shopping options all linked together with fountains, parks, public performance spaces, an education center, Segway Personal Transporter stations, bike paths, environmentally-sensitive public transit, and multiple housing options. All of this would be connected to existing neighborhoods.

All of these initial ideas and discussions will lead to a plan 18 months from now. You can play a part. Attend the next Stakeholders Workshop in February and express your opinion. We’ll keep you posted on a final date and time.

As we were told last night, “We are what we are zoned to be.”

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