LEGGETT'S

"BAD NEWS" CIP

BUDGET HAS

GOOD NEWS FOR

MONTGOMERY MALL

AND THE

ROCKVILLE FREEWAY

Amidst all the justified complaints over the exclusion of the new Bethesda Metro Center elevators in Montgomery County's proposed capital budget, there was good transportation news.

County Executive Ike Leggett has included funding for a new transit center at Westfield Montgomery Mall, and has postponed funding for Montrose Parkway East.

The new, improved mall transit center was approved in 2005 as a condition for 500,000 square feet of mall expansion.

Westfield will pay for the new bus bays, utilities and foundation structures. Montgomery County will pick up the tab for wind and weather screens, a rain canopy above waiting riders, and a driver restroom. The new transit center will be located adjacent to I-270.

With the recent announcement of a new, 15 screen multiplex theater and new restaurants, Bethesda's beloved mall is getting a new lease on life. Let's hope Montgomery Mall has continued success and growth, rather than sharing the fate of White Flint, now scheduled for demolition. Demolishing perfectly good malls is embarrassing, but you'll find greedy developers pushing this trend through media coverage designed to convince you that the enclosed mall concept is "dead." Tyson's Corner and Montgomery Mall are proving them wrong, but we the public need to support our malls. And to stay engaged in the planning process to let the politicians know we don't want our malls turned into "town centers."

Now, how is the postponement of Montrose Parkway East good news for the Rockville Freeway?

Well, Montrose Parkway is the county's latest example of what I call "right-of-way creep." Montrose Parkway is using part of the Rockville Freeway's right-of-way. However, once the future east section crosses over the railroad tracks north of Randolph Road, planners diverted it from the RF r.o.w., to dead-end at Veirs Mill Road.

I testified against this last summer. The CIP budget delay gives a chance to avoid making this foolish and costly mistake. A 4-lane parkway that ends at Veirs Mill is virtually useless in this east-west corridor.

The county should revert back to the original Rockville Freeway plan. This would not only mean constructing a grade-separated interchange at Veirs Mill, but continuing the rest of the way to the ICC. Montrose Parkway was an abuse of an expensive highway facility. But what's done is done, and we at least got the critical 355/Montrose interchange built.

Now we have the opportunity to make 60 years of boneheaded delay into the highway of the future. The Rockville Freeway is the only way we can possibly handle the traffic that the White Flint plan will generate. And accomodate the rapidly growing traffic flow between White Flint and Columbia, two major emerging employment and housing centers.

A new transit center and a critical highway link wouldn't be bad news at all.