Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett on Wednesday wrote it’s not a question of if, but of how and when Old Georgetown Road in White Flint can be trimmed to a more pedestrian-friendly four lanes.
Leggett made the comment in a response to a group of 15 organizations and two individual residents who called on him to change the way the county’s Department of Transportation was designing the section of Old Georgetown Road from Executive Boulevard and Rockville Pike.
The 2010 White Flint Sector Plan, the county-approved planning document that set new guidelines for zoning and street grids in the area, calls for the section of Old Georgetown to be four lanes wide instead of its current six, with plenty of sidewalk space and bike lanes.
Last week, the executive director of the Friends of White Flint, criticized MCDOT for presenting an Old Georgetown Road design that kept the existing six lanes and added two lengthy turning lanes that in some stretches make the road seem like eight lanes.
Groups such as the Coalition for Smarter Growth joined in and urged residents to email Leggett voicing their displeasure and hope that the county would put more focus on pedestrians and bicyclists.
It set off a strong rebuke from county officials, who claimed that the “70 percent design” threshold for the road referred to by Friends of White Flint Executive Director Lindsay Hoffman hadn’t even been completed.
“It’s very disappointing and frustrating to see that a community group have taken facts from I don’t know where that are inaccurate and made assumptions,” said county assistant chief administrative officer Ramona Bell-Pearson last week.
Leggett echoed that sentiment in his letter, writing “Unfortunately, recent misinformation out in the community has created confusion.”
Leggett reiterated that Old Georgetown Road is a state road, which means changing the road design requires buy-in from the State Highway Administration. The SHA has said the road carries too much vehicle traffic at this point to trim it down to four lanes
“Because a walkable White Flint is a priority, in January 2013, the Montgomery County’s Department of Transportation (MCDOT) secured a compromise for the design of Old Georgetown Road (MD 187) from the State Highway Administration (SHA) and the Park & Planning Commission for fewer lanes than called for in the approved White Flint Sector Plan Transportation Technical Appendix,” Leggett wrote. “At present, MCDOT has completed 35 percent of the design on the project, not 70 percent — as some have said — and we at the County remain committed to working closely with the community and with SHA to advance our common goal of a walkable White Flint.”
The county did recently present some working designs to developer Federal Realty that showed the six-lane stretch of road would remain.
Federal Realty is building the Pike & Rose project along the section of Old Georgetown Road in question. The developer is also part of the Friends of White Flint and a member of the White Flint Partnership, a group of major landowners in the White Flint Sector area that signed on to the letter to Leggett.
Leggett wrote that the existing six lanes issue “is nothing new,” citing a condition of Federal Realty’s 2012 preliminary plan approval for Pike & Rose.
“In the review of the Preliminary Plan for Mid-Pike Plaza, State Highway Administration (SHA) provided comments, dated January 24, 2012 that stated, ‘SHA has determined that until the ultimate improvements are constructed along MD355, the existing six lanes on Old Georgetown Road will need to be maintained,’” Leggett wrote. “That is nothing new. It has been known for over two years and was a condition of the Federal Realty 2012 preliminary plan approval. In addition, the fact that it would not be appropriate to reduce the lanes on Old Georgetown Road until relief roads were open for traffic was discussed during the approval of the Sector Plan by County Council in an open forum.”
It’s not yet known when the MD355 (Rockville Pike) improvements will be made, but the county is attempting to convince the SHA by connecting Hoya Street to Old Georgetown Road. County officials have said the idea is to ease SHA’s traffic congestion concerns by providing another route for drivers to get to and from Old Georgetown Road.
“We are currently reviewing a traffic report to see if the Hoya Street project might allow us to ask SHA to move ahead with narrowing Old Georgetown Road sooner than originally anticipated,” Leggett wrote.
Leggett also wrote that MCDOT has added some bicycle and pedestrian features that go “above and beyond what is called for in the Sector Plan,” including bicycle lanes on Marinelli Drive and the county’s first cycle track, which is scheduled for installation this fall on Woodglen Drive.
He also wrote that the county has had to more than double to $100 million the amount of forward funding for the various White Flint infrastructure projects. The Sector Plan described a funding mechanism that drew on developer contributions, but development hasn’t reached a stage to collect enough money for the projects.
“It has never been a question of ‘if’ we get to four lanes on Old Georgetown Road but more a question of how and when we get there,” Leggett wrote. “MCDOT has been working with SHA toward that goal and SHA has been open to consider the various options to provide relief for traffic on Old Georgetown Road that are being discussed during the design development of the roads. We will continue to work with the State and the community to advance the vision we all share.”
PDF: Leggett Response To Old Georgetown Road Concerns
