Rockville Adds Four New Speed Cameras

I know a lot of people don’t like it so much, but in my book this belongs in the Good News Department. Rockville has added four new stationary speed camera locations.>

From the City’s press release:

Rockville City Police completed installation on June 1 of four new fixed-camera locations to its Speed Camera Program and will begin issuing tickets to violators of the posted speed on Friday, June 19.

Warnings only will be issued to violators of the posted speed from June 4 to June 18. . . .

Tickets are issued to drivers who are traveling at least 11 miles per hour over the speed limit. Violators receive a $40 citation in the mail. Money collected from the program is used for things such as sidewalk improvements and extensions, streetlights at intersections and crosswalks, bicycle and pedestrian improvements and two new officers who will be dedicated to traffic enforcement.

In addition to the fixed cameras, there’s a City van that goes around to various locations to catch speeders. You only get a ticket if you are going 11 miles or more than the speed limit. (So don’t give me any “civil liberties” claptrap.)

Here’s a map showing all the City speed camera locations:

(Red is stationary, purple camera is the van.)

The new ones are at:

• 500 block Redland Boulevard (westbound)
• 500 block Redland Boulevard (eastbound)
• 600 block Great Falls Road (northbound)
• 700 block Twinbrook Parkway (northbound)

Thank you to the City for continuing this program. It provides revenue for things the City needs and keeps traffic reasonable in places where it needs calming.

That’s just my opinion, mind you.

Flashing Lights Say Watch For Pedestrians

The City of Rockville has installed a new set of flashing lights at two uncontrolled pedestrian crosswalks, designed to alert drivers to be careful.>

This from the City’s press release:

Rockville completed installation of rapid flashing lights at two heavily used pedestrian intersections in the City. Rockville is the first community in Maryland to install the new pedestrian-safety devices.

The Rapid Rectangular Flashing Beacons, as they are officially named, provide rapid flashing lights — similar to strobe lights — under already posted crosswalk signs. The lights are activated once a pedestrian pushes the crosswalk button. The signal continues to flash for a set time while a pedestrian crosses the street. At all other times, the signal is dark.

The lights alert drivers that pedestrians are entering or are in the crosswalk. The flashing beacons are only being installed at intersections that do not have a signal or a stop sign.

The solar-powered, radio-controlled signals are designed to not only control traffic at busy intersections, but to teach pedestrians how to cross safely.

The crosswalk unit activates when a person stands near the unit, directing the person to push the red button. Simple instructions follow and an electronic voice states, “You have activated the crosswalk signal. Place one foot near the curb line and wait for the traffic to stop. Remember to thank the driver as you cross the roadway.” Two languages are used – English and Spanish – on the signal.

The two intersections where the flashing beacons were installed are Maryland Avenue at Vinson Street and W. Edmonston Drive at the Woodmont Shopping Center and Apartments.

The flashing beacons are among the newest technology in pedestrian safety, cost $18,000 each and have received approval from the Federal Highway Administration. The money to buy the new flashing crosswalk lights is available to the City through the Speed Camera Program.

I am all for improvements in pedestrian safety and that’s a good use of speed camera money.

But I’ll have to go and give a listen to the message. While it’s common sense advice, it sounds like it might be a hoot to hear and try to comply to the letter! Might end up looking like the Hokey-Pokey.

Getting From Maryland To DC On Inauguration Day

Many >Rockville Central friends and readers have told me they plan to make their way from Our Fair City down to the mall to take part in the festivities surrounding the Inauguration of President Obama.

Those in the know are forecasting serious travel difficulties, and I have heard from a number of people who are nervous about how to get there, when to go, what to do, etc.

There is a helpful piece today by the Washington Post’s “Dr. Gridlock” that gives good detail.

It also contains a sober warning:

“Marylanders have more choices, but they’ll need to make smart choices. And like everyone else, they have only one chance to get it right. If they don’t, they’ll miss the swearing-in, a flight from National, a doctor’s appointment or starting time at work — by a lot.”

If you have made plans to go down to DC on January 20, please consider sharing in the comments section, so others can benefit.

(For Rockville Central readers who cannot make it to DC that day, we plan to be at the Inauguration viewing hosted by the City. It’s in the council chambers at City Hall from 10 am until 2 pm. See you there!)

Most Dangerous Intersections In Rockville

In a >Gazette article outlining a proposal by Council Member (and, by the way, frequent Rockville Radio listener) John Britton to place Darnestown Road on a “road diet” and squeeze it from four to two lanes, there is appended a list of the ten most dangerous intersections (for pedestrians) in Our Fair City.

The City put this list together in April, but I only now just noticed and it seemed a worthwhile thing to know. So, I helpfully mapped them all out below:

(Don’t forget, if you are getting this by email, you’ll have to come back to the blog to see the map.)

Here is the list of intersections:

1. Route 355 and Halpine Road
2. Veirs Mill Road and Atlantic Avenue
3. East Jefferson and Monroe streets
4. Jefferson and South Washington streets
5. First Street and Baltimore Road
6. Route 355 and Edmonston Drive
7. Route 355 and First Street/Wootton Parkway
8. Route 355 and East Middle Lane
9. Route 355 and Redland Road
10. Shady Grove Road and Fallsgrove Boulevard

Back to Council member Britton’s proposal. It’s got a funny story behind it. It seems it is in response, according to the Gazette,

. . . to a letter the city received from the county that said the city’s request to remove trucks from Darnestown Road was not viable because the road is an arterial road and allows a high volume of traffic, including trucks.

“And because trucks use it, it has to be designated an arterial,” Britton said.

“I read that book, it’s called ‘Catch-22,’” Mayor Susan R. Hoffmann joked during Monday’s [Mayor and Council] meeting.

In addition to serving on the governing body of Our Fair City, Britton is a member of Montgomery County’s Pedestrian Safety Advisory Committee.

A Look Back at the Rockville Pike Charrette

>Last month, the Rockville Pike: Envision a Great Place process culminated in a Design Charrette, which was a concentrated effort to pull all the ideas together and draw up plans for the Pike. Although I attended every meeting during this process including each day of the Charrette, it’s taken me a while to talk with people and gather my thoughts.

If you missed the Charrette, you can visit the City’s website and see all the presentations, pictures, and a detailed summary. Make sure to look at the map of all the vehicle crashes included in the Studio Display Boards, which demonstrates why traffic on the Pike needs to be fixed.

All in all, the grand boulevard design proposed would be an enormous improvement. The plan is to move people not just cars by incorporating transit and bikes, and “greening” the Pike to become a signature street. There would be three lanes in each direction with one additional lane in the middle for turns, as well as service lanes on the sides in both directions. These service lanes would be for bikes and buses and include angled front-end parking. A 58% reduction in driveways would occur when the existing 81 driveways are reduced to 34 entrances to the service lanes. Inexperienced bikers could use the sidewalk while the service lane would allow speed for experienced bikers. Since there would only be right turns into the service lane, it would be safer for pedestrians to cross. Pedestrian connections would be improved at the current bridge crossings at Twinbrook and Edmonston because these are the sections of the Pike people will want to visit. One current traffic signal would be removed. Trees would line the Pike and the service lanes. The boulevard design would produce a 10% increase in capacity but even with all this we were told to accept congestion as our destiny.

The consultants proposed some changes for existing cross streets. Realigning Edmonston would allow the addition of a right turn lane onto the southbound Pike. One of the tables at the Saturday morning Charrette session proposed redesigning Twinbrook Parkway to straighten it out directly across to Federal Plaza and the consultants agreed. The entire southern portion of the Pike around Congressional would be transformed into a grid network of streets. At my table we wanted to know where a proposed street was located and we were immediately told that it was just a proposal. But still, we wanted to know where it was proposed and had to figure it out ourselves. It runs straight through Congressional North’s Circuit City, Petco and Michaels. The consultants did not have a rough cost to realign the Pike or put in the trees. The changes would need to be made on the property owners’ terms and it would need to be a pubic decision to green the Pike.

The density proposed on the ground along the Pike is a lot less than is allowed under today’s code and there is development demand. Obviously all the properties along the Pike are privately owned and the decision to redevelop belongs to these owners. The consultants designed three catalyst sites with the owners’ permissions: Congressional Plaza, across from Congressional on Halpine (Fuddruckers), and the Koon’s Ford by Mt. Vernon Street. Together these properties total 29 acres. These plans would frame the Pike by bringing buildings up to the street which is a fundamental principle of place making. All of the designs are on the City’s website. If you have read this far, you should look at them. The mixed-use proposals are too massive to describe with housing, retail, office, and even hotel components. The Halpine site by the metro would mass up to 12-story buildings. The idea would be to keep the national chain stores in the southern portion and add some mixed-use in the northern portion. Artwork up by Richard Montgomery High School could create a grand entrance. Since the middle section by Woodmont Country Club is constrained by connectivity and size, it would stay neighborhood oriented with small retail and services. The environmental benefits of the Country Club were recognized and the entrance could be modified and enhanced with nice landscaping. All of the development proposed would take time. It is not all or nothing.

Since we are changing the zoning, we really could do anything we want with the Pike. We could go along and agree that since the County is building big right on our border, we should build big too. We could still decide that this is just way too much for our City and scale down the density. All I know is that I still want to be able to go to stores to do my shopping without going up 270, causing pollution and greater fuel expenses. My “great” Rockville Pike would be a useful Pike. Everyone I talk to would like a hardware store in Rockville. People want to buy the basic necessities like socks. I like Rockville Town Center and frequent the restaurants and shops, but I’m not going to be doing my back-to-school shopping there. Will I be able to do it on this future Rockville Pike? I hope that market demand will bring the types of stores we really need. Stores we will frequent without incentives because they sell what we can’t live without.

The community meeting scheduled for July 29th has just been cancelled. Instead, small informal meetings with citizen groups will be held. The Fourth and last Report to the Community on the draft plan will be held on Tuesday, October 7, 2008.

Lots Of Ideas For Speed Camera Money: City

No surprise, since we have such a professionally-run City staff, but Our Fair City has been thinking hard about what to do with the >potentially large annual income generated by the smattering of speed cameras throughout town. As we have mentioned before, in the first year it appears these cameras have generated upwards of $3 million in revenue (this will of course decline as people get used to the speed traps.

Rockville Central friend Christina Ginsberg had sent along a few good ideas for ways the City might direct the money.

Council member Piotr Gajewski was kind enough to share with me the City’s detailed response to Christina and at first glance it looks like the planning has been very thorough.

Here is the key section of the response:

The Departments have provided the following information in response to your comments. We hope that you find it to be helpful.

The City has already taken steps to carefully review traffic safety and associated needs as part of the process of budgeting and planning for the expenditure of speed camera revenue. The City budgets the speed camera funding based on the highest priority needs across the City. The use of this revenue is heavily reflected in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 budget. FY2009 begins on July 1, 2008 and will end on June 30, 2008.

In addition to the existing 3.5 full time equivalent positions (FTE’s) and the direct operating costs related to the Speed Camera program, the Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 budget will fund three Capital Improvement Projects (CIP), 2.5 new FTEs, and a consultant study as described below.

The three CIP projects are as follows:

• Pedestrian Bikeway System Improvements – $1,010,000 (page 52 of the Proposed CIP)
• Pedestrian Safety – $320,000 (page 75 of the Proposed CIP)
• Street Lighting Improvements – $100,000 (page 77 of the Proposed CIP)

The new 2.5 FTE’s are as follows:

• 0.5 FTE Civil Engineer II to assist with sidewalk design and other pedestrian safety measures
• 2.0 FTE Police Officers assigned to traffic enforcement
• These additional positions are summarized in the Full Time Equivalent Positions section on pages 1-9 through 1-11 of the Proposed Operating budget book

In addition to the three CIP projects and the new FTEs, the City budgeted $50,000 of Speed Camera funding to assess the City of Rockville’s inventory and condition of sidewalks, crosswalks, and curbcuts.

All of this information is presented in the FY 2009 Proposed Budget and will be included in the FY 2009 Adopted Budget. The FY 2009 Adopted Budget will not be available until late July. Please click on the attached link to view the information in the FY 2009 Proposed Budget.

The Traffic and Transportation Division in the Public Works Department has the Twinbrook Station developer working on a traffic calming project on Twinbrook Parkway (traffic circle at Linthicum Street) and this project is currently under design. The Division has also applied for a grant (Safe-Route-to-School, year 3) to add another traffic circle at Twinbrook Parkway at Pinneberg Avenue.

In recent years, the Traffic and Transportation Division added several crosswalks and fluorescent pedestrian crossing signs to improve pedestrian safety along Twinbrook Parkway. The Division will look at the intersection of Marshall Avenue/Twinbrook Parkway as suggested by Mr. Roberts. As for Baltimore Road, this street will be reviewed and studied in the next few months through the Baltimore Road Capital Improvements Project. The Traffic and Transportation Division expects to select a consultant by the end of July and to begin the public outreach in September.

The funds from speed cameras allocated in FY09 Capital Improvements Program for streetlight upgrades will specifically target the east side of Rockville (Twinbrook and ERCA). The Traffic and Transportation Division is currently working on this list of upgrades in response to the requests they received and in conjunction with the analysis they performed during the last few months. The list will be sent to Pepco for a cost estimate in July.

Now that’s a response.

But, we should not be surprised: it came from Linda Moran, who is one of six Rockville employees who recently won an award for their excellence in innovation.

Speed Cameras: How To Use The Money?

According to a >helpful article in today’s Gazette, in its first year of operation, Our Fair City’s speed camera project has nabbed more than 130,000 speeders.

Recently, some have complained that such speed cameras, which are installed in visible locations, and only in residential or school zones where the speed limit is 35 miles per hour or less, are somehow unfair infringements on individuals’ “right” to break the law by speeding. Or something like that — you can tell I reject that argument. I am completely in favor of speed cameras.

In any event, 130,000 tickets times the $23.75 each one nets for the City come to more than $3 million. As part of the deal that allows the cameras, as I understand it, that money must go to pedestrian safety.

The police have already begun making some plans for the funds. According to the Gazette article, Special Operations Bureau Commander Capt. Robert J. Rappoport let the reporter know that:

[T]hat money would be used to hire and equip two new police officers, including the purchase of a new police cruiser. The officers would focus of traffic safety. . . . [M]oney has [also] already been budgeted for a Speed Awareness trailer, which is left on the side of a road and flashes a driver’s speed as they approach. [He] added that future money could be allocated to extend sidewalks near schools. A half-time position could be created to address sidewalk issues, increase street lighting and analyze traffic-calming measures with the revenue from the citations.

Still, it’s a hefty chunk and they may run out of ideas.

Rockville Central friend and Twinbrook Civic Association president Christina Ginsberg writes with an interesting idea along with a suggestion:

May I suggest as a first project that the City consider a City-owned shuttle bus to run through the Twinbrook, East Rockville, and Lincoln Park neighborhoods and connect those neighborhoods on a frequent and regular basis to Rockville’s two Metro stations? This is especially a concern in our neighborhood as we have many residents aging in place who need supplemental transport.

I hope that those neighborhoods which also have speed cameras, most noteably West End and the Fallsmead/Fallsgrove/Rockshire community serviced by the Wootton Parkway installation, are considering what pedestrian safety improvements necessary for their areas can be funded through this mechanism.

Good idea and worth exploring — the bus could be zero-emission and maybe even become a showcase for our Green City goals (one of Mayor Susan Hoffmann’s key issues).

But the overall point is important: it is worth thinking creatively about what kinds of pedestrian safety improvements would be worthwhile.

Consultants Report: "Take Charge – It's Your Pike"

Yesterday the consultants for >Rockville’s Pike: Envision a Great Place made their first report to the community and it concerned land use and transportation.

First we had an overview of the results from the last Stakeholder Workshop where participants decided what was good and bad about Rockville Pike. All of the red and green stickers for each topic of discussion (living, walking, appearance, commercial areas, and driving & parking) were combined onto one map “Good Places, Bad Places”. Most places were not completely good or bad. The exceptions were that every intersection was rated badly, as well as almost all of the east side of the Pike from Richard Montgomery Drive to Halpine Avenue. People pointed out that when you ride on the metro, you see the backs of the east side buildings, and they wondered if this is the image of Rockville we want everyone to have.

Troy Russ of Glatting Jackson Kercher Anglin provided an upbeat and light-hearted explanation about transportation. When he goes into a community, the people almost always complain about traffic and he’ll find that there might be some merit. However, our complaints here in Rockville are completely justified. Even before he stepped foot in our community, he knew we had congestion on the Pike because it is too limiting to have only six access intersections for 2.2 miles. On Saturdays there are spectacular traffic failures in every direction. The weekday profile indicates that the Pike is operating at its maximum efficiency. Mornings have 2,000 southbound commuter vehicles between the 7-8 AM rush hour, which the County moves through with light timing. However, in the evening between 5–6 PM, there are more vehicles (2,500) going northbound because the stores are open. The higher volume combined with the pressure to get people in and out of the retail establishments creates traffic difficulties. Since the Pike is a suburban corridor, the traffic does not let up at midday as people continue to shop, eat, and work throughout the day.

The most important message from the traffic consultants is that the Pike is not safe. The Pike is above average for crash ratings. Most accidents occur when vehicles are rear-ended while turning. The Pike is designed to be a high speed (45 mph) road, but it also has shopping, which makes it a confused, arterial road. There were 20 pedestrian accidents involving right turns. Mr. Russ is a runner and he could see the fear in driver’s eyes as they would decide to either run him over or be rear-ended.

Gianni Longo of ACP vision + planning described the current land use for the study area. The diversity of the size of the developments results in a lack of coherence in the appearance. It’s suburban in that most parcels have a single use. Where it is zoned for mixed-use, offices are next to stores not vertical. Healthy neighborhoods surround the Pike without access because of the railways and Woodmont Country Club. People will walk about a ¼ mile but most of the Pike is not close enough to the metro stops. The sidewalks are too small (3 ft. instead of 6 ft.) and the efforts to protect the sidewalks from traffic have been sporadic.

The percentages of land use for the 410 acre study area are:

• 58% stores and offices
• 20% roads
• 12% residential (at the edges)
• 9% recreational (Woodmont Country Club)
• .01% open space

What are the consultants suggesting we can do about all this?

For land use, they viewed the Pike as three different sections: north, middle, and south. The northern most area is by the Rockville Metro and the new Town Center, so it is special and might benefit as an extension of downtown Rockville. The southern section might also be successful as a mixed-use area because of its proximity to the Twinbrook metro and the County’s plan to build residential/office developments in the bordering area.

As for transportation, there are a couple of possibilities. We could continue to throw community dollars at the road and make it five lanes etc. much the same as we have been doing with the same lack of success, or we could change the work hours of people by encouraging land uses that attract people at different times of the day. The real possibility suggested is to match the corridor to existing development and create a “community-based high speed street” or “urban boulevard”. Due to the 1989 zoning in which 80 ft. set backs were implemented for buildings, there is space in the south section to create a beautiful, stunning, high capacity, efficient boulevard which would be prominent, visible, and safe for pedestrians. This boulevard would have a cut through center road without the ability to make left turns and there would be access streets on the sides. The consultants showed pictures of successful versions of this type of boulevard in Berkeley, CA and Paris, France.

As we know, the City is currently working on ROZOR. Mr. Longo explained that the results of this process must be consistent with the new zoning. He explained that with the current zoning, we don’t know what we will get.

During the comment period, Mayor Hoffmann wanted to clarify what the consultants were suggesting instead of left turns. It would be jug handles but not like in New Jersey. “No offense to anyone from NJ.” I’m taking some offense because I know that much larger volumes of traffic are moved more efficiently in my home state than here in Montgomery County. Also, it was brought up that plans for the East Jefferson and Fleet Street extensions were stopped by the neighborhoods who did not want cut-through traffic. Although we know that we have a chronic lack of a street network for the Pike, this problem will be difficult to overcome because of the residents and Country Club on one side and our inability to build bridges over the train tracks on the other. The consultants thought we may be able to connect pedestrians and bikes at Twinbrook and in the north section but bridges would have to go where we could physically land them along the tracks.

At the end there was a concern expressed that all the written comments requested during this process are anonymous and that they shouldn’t be considered unless people sign them. Mayor Hoffmann responded that she didn’t agree because “A good idea is a good idea.” Even if you don’t attend these meetings, you can send along your comments through the City’s website and you should! What is most important to you — the roadway, architecture, walking, biking, open space, landscaping, retail, access, public transportation or signage?

The next report from the consultants will be held on May 6, 2008.

POTD: THANK YOU

>

Just the other day (and I knew it had been announced but it still caught me by surprise), these speed cameras sprung up along MD-28 right near Laird. See them to the left? People constantly ignore the 30mph limit there. So . . . I say to the police . . . THANK YOU.

Now, can we do something about the many people who blow off that light when it turns red, endangering the kids walking to school who have to cross there? I see that happen in front of me every other week or so.

Speeding Cameras In Rockville

>Rockville Central Editor CindyCG reminded me that, while we have provided helpful maps of the traffic cameras and red light cameras in Rockville, we have yet to provide a snapshot of many drivers’ nemesis: speeding cameras.

There’s a van driven by Rockville City Police that goes from spot to spot with a camera, on the prowl for speeders. Arguably, this is a more important function than the red light cameras, as speeding is much more common. I can’t tell you how often I have yelled at vehicles zipping around my residential traffic circle, filled with parents in a rush to pick their elementary school children from Beall, or with students late for a class at Montgomery College.

That said, Rockville Central wants to help you slow down. This is not a list to help you evade detection as you zip through Our Fair City, but a reminder that there are some spots where the temptation to speed is great — and that therefore caution is warranted.

Click on each little purple camera for more information. Click “view larger map” to open up the map in a larger screen. (Remember, this embedded map does not come through in the announcement email or in feed readers; you will need to come to the blog to see it.)

Here’s the list:

• Mt. Vernon Place near Richard Montgomery High
• Nelson Street north of W. Montgomery Ave
• Nelson Street near Madison St
• W. Montgomery E. of I-270
• Rollins Ave near Montrose Woods Park
• Twinbrook Parkway near Meadow Hall Elem.
• Twinbrook Parkway near Carl Sandburg Learning Center
• Baltimore Road east of the Rockville Metro Station
• Baltimore Rd. at Rockville High School (FIXED)
• College Parkway near College Gardens Park
• College Parkway (800-900 blocks)
• First Street near Maryvale Elem
• Gaither Road north of King Farm Blvd
• Redland Bl. in King Farm
• Great Falls Road near Julius West Middle School
• Wootton Pkwy near Wootton High (FIXED)

Be careful out there!

Red Light Cameras In Rockville

I’ve had a few questions (based on my >recent traffic cameras article) about where the red light cameras are in Rockville. I am sure it is not because people want to run red lights. Nope.

The map below shows the places you might want to take extra care.
Red markers indicate Montgomery County Police cameras, and yellow markers are for Rockville Police cameras. You can see we are well covered. To keep the map uncluttered, I don’t have separate markers for “Westbound,” “Northbound,” etc. Plus, it will keep you on your toes!

Trouble seeing something? Click on the “larger map” link.

(Remember, in RSS newsfeeds and in the email announcement of this article, the map does not come through so you will have to come to the blog to see it.)

Traffic For The Home-Bound

>From time to time I like to provide lists of useful links and such. Here’s a list that will let you curse traffic without leaving your easy chair!

Thanks to the intrepid work of the Government of Montgomery County, here is a list of all traffic cameras in the Rockville Central coverage area:

• Frederick Ave.(MD.355)& Gude Drive
• E. Jefferson St. (MD.28)& Rockville Pike (MD.355)
• Falls Rd (MD 189) & Wootton Pkwy.
• First St (MD 28) & Veirs Mill Rd (MD 586)
• I-270 & Falls Rd.(MD 189)
• I-270 & Montrose Rd.
• I-270 & Shady Grove Rd.
• I-270 & Tuckerman La. (I-270 Split)
• I-270 & W. Montgomery Avenue (MD 28)
• Rockville Pike (MD 355)& Congressional La.
• Rockville Pike (MD 355)& Montrose Rd./Randolph Rd.
• Twinbrook Pkwy. & Parklawn Dr.
• Twinbrook Pkwy. & Veirs Mill Rd. (MD.586).

You’re welcome.

(Image from the City of Frisco, TX)

Montrose Road Closed For Six Months

>Rockville Central friend Christina Ginsberg has let us know about a road closure announcement from the County that will affect many readers.

Montrose Road will be closed starting . . . yesterday! Here, let the County tell it:

Beginning Thursday, December 6 after the morning rush hour, eastbound Montrose Road, between Tildenwood and East Jefferson Street, will be closed for six months as the Montrose Parkway West project enters its final stage of construction. Eastbound traffic on Montrose Road will be diverted onto the new Montrose Parkway. Two weeks later, westbound traffic on Montrose Road will also be diverted and all traffic will use the Parkway while Montrose Road is reconstructed and a new bridge over Old Farm Creek is built to eliminate flooding problems and provide a safe crossing for wildlife. The project should be completed in summer 2008.

During the temporary closure of 650 feet of Montrose Road, local traffic will still have access to homes, churches, and synagogues from either side of the construction project. A newly installed temporary pedestrian bridge along the north (westbound) side of Montrose Road, across Old Farm Creek, will provide safe pedestrian access along Montrose Road during the road closure.

I sort of want to drive it just to see what the Parkway is like. But I grew up in Detroit, where we appreciate the joys of industrial metal and driving.

Here’s a map of the affected region:

(Images from Montgomery County.)

POTD: Slip Slidin' Away

>

(With apologies to Paul Simon.) Wow, that was quite a start to the winter driving season, wasn’t it? This is the scene yesterday morning at rush hour along MD-28.

What Kind of Street Should Rockville Pike Be?

>I’m going to tell you one of my regrets. Back in 1996 I did not participate in “Imagine Rockville”. My husband was finishing up graduate school and we were having our first child. He was interviewing all over the country. We were leaving so I didn’t want to take the time to dream about the new downtown I would never see. When we stayed and the details of this visioning process were unveiled, I wished I had expressed my opinion. It’s not going to happen again.

Yesterday was the first day that the consultants hired to lead us through the process called “Rockville’s Pike: Envision a Great Place” started to talk to people. They stopped by my Human Services Advisory Commission meeting. I had some ideas concerning how I love all those stores at my fingertips, how we are all addicted to our cars, and how the Pike could be a beautifully landscaped destination.

I’m sure you have your opinions too. I can’t imagine not having an opinion about Rockville Pike.

The actual long range plan to come out of this process will not be completed until May 2009. That’s not a typo. It’s an 18-month process. The decisions made will change the stretch of the Pike from Twinbrook Parkway to Richard Montgomery Drive over the next few decades. We are talking looong term and think BIG.

The first kick-off meeting is open to everyone – whether you live, work, shop, or just travel in Rockville:

Tuesday, December 4, 2007
7 PM – 9 PM
Ramada Inn Rockville and Meeting Centre
1775 Rockville Pike
Salon 1 and 11/Meeting Room