Planning
Planners Release 10th-Anniversary Edition of Book Featuring Montgomery County’s Historic Sites
SILVER SPRING – The 10th- anniversary edition of the award-winning Places from the Past: The Tradition of Gardez Bien in Montgomery County, Maryland, a book that inventories the county’s historic sites, is now available online.
The coffee table-type publication, illustrated with photographs, architectural drawings and maps, is available as free downloads by chapter or as a print-on-demand digital edition for a fee. Visit
Gardez Bien is the county motto adopted in 1976 that means to guard well or take good care.
Recognized with awards from the Maryland Historical Trust and Montgomery Preservation, Inc., Places from the Past documents the history of architecture and community planning in Montgomery County. The book features a series of essays on building traditions, housing types and outbuildings as well as an inventory of historic districts and sites. The inventory is organized by geography within the county and includes orienting maps as well as images and descriptions of some 400 individual historic sites and 20 historic districts. Those curious about how their communities were settled or the history behind some of the county’s oldest homes will find the book an informative and engaging read.
Initially printed a decade ago, the 357-page book had gone out of print. The new release, with an updated forward, makes the encyclopedic Places from the Past available again in durable paperback or, for the first time, in hardcover binding and electronic format.
A border county in a border state, Montgomery County’s architectural heritage has a dual nature: metropolitan and rural, northern and southern. Early European settlers were tobacco planters from the Chesapeake and wheat farmers from Pennsylvania. During the Civil War, residents were divided in their loyalties, with those in the western county with Virginia family ties sympathizing with the South, while Sandy Spring Quakers and northern-born residents aligned with the North.
After the Civil War, African Americans, comprising over a third of the county population, lived in more than 40 settlements established throughout the county. The nation’s capital, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, and the B&O Railroad’s Metropolitan Branch had tremendous influence on the county’s growth and development.
Author Clare Lise Kelly is a historic preservation planner who has been researching historic sites in the county since 1989. Kelly has dedicated the book to property owners and citizens who, through their hard work and commitment, have protected historic sites for the enjoyment and education of present and future generations.
Access book and digital ordering information.
Making Transit Human: International Expert to Headline Planning Department Speaker Series Event
SILVER SPRING, MD – With interest growing among county leaders and residents in new transit options, the Montgomery County Planning Department has booked international expert and author Jarrett Walker for its next speaker series event on February 7.
The international consultant on public transit planning and policy will make the case for focusing on network design and maximizing the usefulness and reach of quality transit service. Walker will explore how to think differently about transit to create systems that are attractive because they fit the community’s needs.
Walker’s more than two decades of experience designing transit systems ranges from small towns to metropolitan areas, and his network designs have been implemented in many areas. His track record in transit planning and policy includes bus-rail integration and bus rapid transit.
Walker’s recently published book, Human Transit, addresses how public transit can address a range of community problems, from traffic congestion to economic development. He explains the “geometry” of transit and how to match technology with individual communities.
Examples of his work integrating transit with planning include designing comprehensive bus service in San Antonio, Boise, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Reno, Spokane and four southern California suburban areas. He also has managed transit projects in major cities throughout Australia and New Zealand.
His focus on the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand is not by accident. Communities in land-rich nations, developed recently compared to European and Asian communities, have grown in low-density, car-dependent patterns and now clamor for a congestion fix.
Walker is known for educating stakeholders about the choices that transit requires, building clear processes and helping organizations form coherent and implementable transit goals. His popular blog, Human Transit.org, has grown into an online collection of articles explaining key transit concepts and issues. Copies of his book will be available for purchase at the speaker series event.
The presentations are part of the Planning Department’s speaker series – free, informative sessions about ways to forge great communities. Continuing education credits (AICP credits) are pending for planning professionals.
Walker also will headline local events on Thursday, February 9: at the National Building Museum at 12:30 p.m. and an informal discussion and question/answer session at the Young Professionals in Transportation office at 6:30 p.m.
Who:
Montgomery County Planning Department, featuring transit consultant Jarrett Walker
What:
Human Transit: A mobility-based approach to transit decisions
When:
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Where:
Park and Planning Headquarters auditorium
8787 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring
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Planners Invite Glenmont Residents, Business Owners to Visioning Workshop for Upcoming Sector Plan
SILVER SPRING – What to do with the Glenmont Shopping Center and its surroundings? That is one of the questions residents, business owners and those who frequent the Glenmont center will be asked to ponder at a community visioning workshop scheduled for Saturday, February 4.
The workshop represents the first major community outreach activity for the Glenmont Sector Plan, which will evaluate the potential of the Glenmont Shopping Center and its immediate surroundings to become a mixed retail-residential focal point in the community. Planners also want to identify better pedestrian connections to the center and nearby Glenmont Metro station.
At the workshop, participants will break into small groups to discuss what they like about Glenmont, how Glenmont can better take advantage of its Red Line Metro station and other needs beyond the shopping center. They will be aided by professional facilitators and planners provided to the Planning Department under a grant through the Washington Council of Governments.
Spanish interpreters will be available at the meeting.
The planning team will summarize the results of the workshop and present future development scenarios at a follow-up meeting in late February.
As the sector plan update begins, a series of public improvement projects are underway, from a new Metro parking garage under construction along Georgia Avenue to a major interchange improvement at Georgia Avenue and Randolph Road. Another public project will move Fire Station #18 half a mile north on Georgia Avenue next to the new parking garage.
Planners develop master and sector plans to create a framework for each community designed to last 15 to 20 years. Those visions help planners and policy-makers – such as the Planning Board and County Council – develop land use strategies and decide on proposed development.
WHO:
Montgomery County Planning Department
WHAT:
Glenmont Sector Plan community visioning workshop
WHEN:
Saturday, February 4, 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m.
WHERE:
Maryland-National Capital Park Police Headquarters/Saddlebrook
12751 Layhill Road
Silver Spring, MD 20906
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SILVER SPRING – To maximize the presence of the Glenmont Metro Station, built in1998, as well as encourage private redevelopment to accompany recent public investments in the community, Montgomery County planners are setting the stage to write an updated sector plan for Glenmont.
On Thursday, the Planning Board will review a scope of work for the Glenmont Sector Plan update, which proposes to evaluate the potential of the Glenmont Shopping Center to become a mixed retail-residential focal point in the community, improve pedestrian connections to the center and between neighborhoods, and help protect environmental features like the nearby Northwest Branch.
Glenmont is seeing changes thanks to public investment, from a new Metro parking garage under construction along Georgia Avenue to a major interchange improvement at Georgia Avenue and Randolph Road. Another public project will move Fire Station #18 half a mile north on Georgia Avenue next to the new parking garage.
The scope of work describes opportunities to build upon Glenmont’s assets. A priority would be improving pedestrian routes to ensure safe travel to and from the Metro and commercial center. Planners also will analyze the need for more community facilities and consider innovative uses for public assets such as the former elementary school site at Georgia Avenue and Randolph Road.
The document also describes strategies for community outreach as planners develop the sector plan, including a series of public workshops where the community will define a vision for the Glenmont Shopping Center and surrounding area. The kick-off event will be held Saturday, February 4. Spanish interpreters will be available at the meeting.
Planners develop master and sector plans to create a framework for each community designed to last 15 to 20 years. Those visions help planners and policy-makers – such as the Planning Board and County Council – develop land use strategies and decide on proposed development.
Download more information about the Glenmont plan, the February workshop and view the draft scope of work.
WHO:
Montgomery County Planning Board
WHAT:
Proposed Glenmont Sector Plan scope of work
WHEN:
Thursday, January 26, approximately 3 p.m.
WHERE:
Park and Planning Headquarters
8787 Georgia Ave.
Silver Spring, MD
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SILVER SPRING, MD – Wondering about that sign advertising pending development in your community? Curious about how forest conservation works?
Planning issues touch on many aspects of Montgomery County life. Residents and others with questions about upcoming development, community plans, zoning, transportation, or environmental issues may find the Planning Department to be a virtual maze.
To help guide residents and others to the answers they seek in a timely way, the Department has created a new webpage that features links and phone numbers by name, subject and frequently requested items. The page allows visitors to access links as well as submit questions and comments via an online form.
The HELP page is accessible from the Department’s homepage through the red HELP icon.
The page is intended to help the Department continue to provide exemplary customer service in an era of shrinking resources.
SILVER SPRING – Transportation planners next week will present to the Montgomery County Planning Board a proposal to refine a countywide rapid transit study that will identify where and how to accommodate bus rapid transit vehicles on county roadways.
In late summer, the Planning Department began a year-long study of bus rapid transit (BRT) options for Montgomery County, picking up where the county Department of Transportation left off. DOT recommended 16 corridors covering 150 miles for BRT, which offers bus priority on dedicated lanes, fast passenger boarding and speedy fare collection in a system touted as a potential traffic congestion solution.
Working with a transportation consultant, planners are analyzing the DOT proposal and will present a Network and Methodology report December 15 to the Board, which will then forward its recommendations to the Council. In the report, planners recommend removing two of the proposed 16 corridors from the study while studying the remainder and potential additional routes. The report also lays out the methods by which planners will determine the optimal BRT system and potential land, or right-of-way, requirements.
Planners recommend removing the Intercounty Connector and Midcounty Highway routes from the study but adding the following corridor segments for evaluation in the next phase of study:
- two intended to serve the East County, particularly the White Oak area
- three to provide better east-west connections
- seven additional corridors that were recommended by the Rapid Transit Task Force and recently endorsed by the County Executive
If approved by the Planning Board and County Council, those corridors will be evaluated with the 14 corridors from the original study.
As justification for removing the 23-mile ICC transit corridor, planners point out that BRT stations would be spaced 11.5 miles apart, and would operate more like an express bus service than BRT. The state already operates commuter express bus routes along the ICC, and the 13.4-mile Midcounty Highway route competes with another proposed BRT route as well as the proposed Corridor Cities Transitway line, planners say.
The study will consider whether the routes should have dedicated lanes in the median, take an existing lane, or operate in traffic with priority over cars at intersections. Planners suggest a “tiered approach.” Ridership forecasts reviewed for the report show that many corridors need high service during rush hours, but not at other times. The tiered approach would match high ridership needs with a higher level of transit service.
To assess how much right-of-way is needed along segments of each transit corridor, planners propose weighing:
- Peak-hour BRT passenger volume along corridor segments
- The type of activity centers and other destinations through which a corridor segment runs
- Congestion
- Existing right-of-way for corridor segments
Planners assert that more ridership demand studies would help better understand the integration of BRT with local bus service and the proposed Corridor Cities Transitway public transportation project. They also need to conduct additional ridership forecasting based on the eventual BRT network recommendation.
Learn more about the project.
WHO:
Montgomery County Planning Board
WHAT:
Transit corridors study refinement
WHEN:
Thursday, December 15, approximately 9 a.m.
WHERE:
Park and Planning Headquarters
8787 Georgia Ave.
Silver Spring, MD
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SILVER SPRING, MD – The Montgomery County Planning Department, located at 8787 Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring, will be closed December 23 to January 2 for a furlough and two holidays. No deliveries will be accepted.
Staff will reply to messages on January 3, when the Department re-opens.
The five-day furlough for the Planning Department is part of a series of cost-cutting measures required to balance the Department’s fiscal year 2012 budget.
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SILVER SPRING – State transit officials, planning for the construction of the proposed Purple Line light rail system, have asked the Montgomery County Planning Board to weigh in on a preferred route and other details for the Capital Crescent Trail (CCT).
On Thursday, November 17, the Board will consider whether to recommend routing the popular trail through an existing tunnel beneath Wisconsin Avenue and above the Purple Line train. This would cost up to $40.5 million more than just accommodating the Purple Line trains in the tunnel.
The Board also will consider recommendations on trail landscaping and lighting, emergency call boxes and a connection to Rock Creek Trail, which the CCT intersects near Chevy Chase Lake. The Board’s recommendations will go the County Council for consideration, then on to the Maryland Transit Administration.
The trail route – and whether it continues to run through the tunnel – is of great interest to transit advocates and cycling enthusiasts. The CCT route and tunnel was designated years ago by planners as an interim use in preparation for a future transit line.
Transportation planners, who act in an advisory role to the Board, have suggested that more design work be conducted by state transit officials before a decision about the tunnel is made. Planners are recommending more analysis to determine costs to run the Purple Line alone through the tunnel as well as the cost of improvements to the surface trail.
However, if this analysis shows that the cost difference between the two options remains high, planners say routing the trail through the tunnel would be financially infeasible and the nearby surface trail should be redesigned to accommodate a larger volume of trail users. The redesign should improve safety, provide a crossing at Wisconsin Avenue that prioritizes trail users, and incorporate ways to separate trail users from the general public. Planners call for the formation of a working group to help develop the surface route design.
County transportation planners also recommend continuous lighting on the trail between Bethesda and Silver Spring, emergency call box locations to be selected in concert with local agencies such as Park Police and a connection to Rock Creek Trail in a “switchback” design to accommodate a steep grade change between the two trails. Landscaping should include benches and trash cans, appropriate plantings between the trail and neighborhoods and enhancements at light rail stations.
Download the staff report.
The Board will consider the item at approximately 9 a.m. Public testimony is limited to 1½ hours. Sign up to speak (at date prompt scroll to 11/17). Depending on the number of testifiers, Board Chair Françoise Carrier may restrict the time allotted each speaker. WHO:
Montgomery County Planning Board
WHAT:
Capital Crescent Trail Refinement
WHEN:
Thursday, November 17, approximately 9 a.m.
WHERE:
Park and Planning Headquarters
8787 Georgia Ave.
Silver Spring, MD
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SILVER SPRING – Montgomery County’s traffic congestion has remained at the same level for the past two years, according to the Mobility Assessment Report, a bi-annual study by county transportation planners that monitors local transportation trends.
The Planning Board will consider the report at its meeting on Thursday, October 27.
The mobility assessment, which also measures transit ridership, bike use and pedestrian activity, finds that the county’s network of roads continues to be strained by increasing numbers of residents and commuters relying on cars as their primary means of travel.
To improve the road network, but recognizing that roads alone can’t address congestion, planners are addressing new options, such as expanded transit, bike paths and sidewalks to achieve more sustainable, less congested communities. Moreover, building future homes near transit will create more opportunities for people to avoid driving.
Particularly bad for commuters, according to travel time indexing: southbound US 29 between Howard County and University Boulevard in the mornings and eastbound University Boulevard between Georgia and New Hampshire avenues in the evenings.
The travel time assessment is based on 50 real-time travel observations collected along priority corridors – MD 355/Rockville Pike, MD 185/Connecticut Avenue, U.S. 29/Columbia Pike and MD 586/Veirs Mill Road – that have a history of the greatest congestion. Planners analyze travel conditions by comparing the slowest time traveled along a corridor compared to a vehicle traveling at the speed limit.
The report also ranks the county’s most congested intersections based on critical lane volume data gathered between 2008 and 2011. Critical lane volume data takes snapshots of intersection performance, literally capturing traffic volume at a particular time and place.
The top most congested intersections include:
- Old Georgetown Road at Democracy Boulevard
- Darnestown Road at Riffle Ford Road
- Shady Grove Road at Choke Cherry Lane
- Rockville Pike at West Cedar Lane
- Georgia Avenue at Norbeck Road
- MD 355 at Edmonston Drive
- Great Seneca Highway at Muddy Branch Road
- Connecticut Avenue at Jones Bridge Road
WHO:
Montgomery County Planning Board
WHAT:
2011 Mobility Assessment Report
WHEN:
Thursday, October 27, approximately 3 p.m.
WHERE:
Park and Planning Headquarters
8787 Georgia Ave.
Silver Spring, MD
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SILVER SPRING – Would you like a better alternative to traffic congestion in Montgomery County?
Montgomery County planners are hosting a community meeting on Monday, October 24 to discuss a promising solution — bus rapid transit (BRT). Rapid transit, similar to light rail, offers bus priority on dedicated lanes, fast passenger boarding, and speedy fare collection.
Planners are kicking off a plan for a BRT system that will examine 16 corridors covering 150 miles. Corridors include MD 355/Rockville Pike, US 29/Columbia Pike and MD 97/Georgia Avenue, among others. As part of the plan, staff will analyze ridership potential and identify where dedicated lanes may be needed through acquiring right-of-way or converting traffic lanes to bus lanes to help move people faster.
At Monday’s open house, planners will provide background on the project and show where the service is proposed. Visitors to the open house can browse through informational stations and let planners know how they think BRT service could fit into their communities.
The bus rapid transit study will advance the recommendations of a county rapid transit task force that in August identified 16 corridors covering 150 miles on which the transit system could run.
The bus rapid transit network will become part of the county Master Plan of Highways and Transitways, a planning document that guides major transportation projects and any right-of-way requirements.
WHO:
Montgomery County Planning Department
WHAT:
Bus Rapid Transit Open House
WHEN:
Monday, October 24, 5:30-8:30 p.m. (drop in anytime)
WHERE:
Park and Planning Headquarters
8787 Georgia Ave.
Silver Spring, MD
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