Berliner Criticizes MoCo’s Plans, Response On White Flint Road Controversy

Pike & Rose along Old Georgetown Road in White Flint

Councilmember Roger Berliner on Wednesday criticized the way Montgomery County is planning a section of Old Georgetown Road in White Flint and suggested it’s the county — not the state — that’s in charge of the road’s design.

Berliner made his arguments in a piece for Greater Greater Washington, joining in on the weeks-long spat between smart growth advocates and county officials who immediately rebuked claims the county was “sabotaging” a more pedestrian-friendly road network for White Flint.

For those in need of a refresher: At issue are Old Georgetown Road designs residents and smart growth advocates claim would keep the existing six thru lanes and a turn lane for much of the length of Old Georgetown Road between Grand Park Avenue (the new road at the entrance of the Pike & Rose project) and Towne Road (what is now known as Hoya Street).

Those residents and smart growth advocates want a more pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly Old Georgetown Road in line with the 2010 White Flint Sector Plan-recommended four lane road design with bike lanes.

County Executive Isiah Leggett and other county officials have said smart growth advocates incorrectly labeled working designs for the road shared with developer Federal Realty as “70 percent designs.” They also have said they share advocates’ goals for the road, but current traffic counts and the State Highway Administration’s authority over the road make a four-lane design hard to accomplish at this point.

Berliner claimed that’s not the whole story:

County officials say our hands are tied by the state who will insist on eight lanes on their state road. State officials, as recently as last week, told me that they are following the county’s lead. And so our county must lead. Strongly. And regrettably, none of the people who have been involved in this struggle from the beginning believe we have fulfilled that fundamental responsibility.

Berliner also countered the argument that the four-lane road could easily be built later:

The County Executive, in response to the hundreds of community members who have written expressing their alarm over the threat to our vision of White Flint, framed the issue as “not if, but when” we are able to realize our vision. The traffic engineers of course argue for eight lanes for now and reduce it later if conditions permit. The rest of us want that scenario reversed–get it right the first time.

We can always add more lanes at a later date, but if we don’t build the bike lanes and shared use paths at the onset, we will undermine both our ability to meet our own non-auto mode-share goals in this area and our vision of White Flint.

He also criticized the way MCDOT planners assess road designs on a broader level:

So why is the vision at risk? The threat of worse traffic. Using old-school and debunked methodologies, assumptions at odds with reality, and not reflecting the use of the new street grid, these engineers maintain that intersections will fail. And if you use the new methodologies, more realistic assumptions, and disperse cars throughout the new grid that is to be created, the intersections don’t fail.

In a letter responding to a group of 15 organizations and two individual residents concerned with the Old Georgetown Road designs, Leggett pointed out that MCDOT has gone “above and beyond what is called for in the Sector Plan,” by adding bicycle lanes on Marinelli Drive and the county’s first cycle track, which is being installed over the next two weeks on Woodglen Drive.

He also said Federal Realty — the developer building the Pike & Rose project along Old Georgetown Road — should’ve known for a long time that the four-lane road design wasn’t coming immediately.

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. 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.

Berliner wrote that the controversy “isn’t about the developer, Federal Realty,” or the Friends of White Flint, the group of residents and developers that first accused the county of sabotaging plans for the road network:

Our vision of this portion of White Flint is unambiguous. It is to reflect the best of transit-oriented development and the new urbanism. Bike lanes and shared use paths were part of the plan. And the plans being developed by the Executive Branch would eliminate them in order to facilitate eight lanes of traffic. That is not the plan or the vision we worked so hard to adopt.

Berliner later wrote that he is “not about to go quietly into the night on this fight.” Don’t expect the current controversy to die down soon, either.

On Saturday, Friends of White Flint Executive Director Lindsay Hoffman and former governor Parris Glendening will host a one-mile walking tour of the area focusing on many of the same issues.

MCDOT expects to complete its 70 percent design of Old Georgetown Road later this fall.

Greater Greater Washington: White Flint is at a crossroads and traffic engineers should follow the path the community chose

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