E-DAY FOR

BETHESDA

Today is the day the Montgomery County Council is scheduled to vote on the funding of a south entrance to the Bethesda Metro station.

The council session begins at 9:30 AM; the issue will come up later.

Elevators would not only provide speedy access to the Metro platform, but also to the future Bethesda Row Purple Line light rail station. The new entrance would be located at the southwest corner of the 355-Elm Street intersection, by the Apex Building.

Prior to completion of the Purple Line, the new entrance would serve as an alternative to the station's current, failing escalator entrance at the Bethesda Metro Center.

The so-called competitor for these funds, a Wall Street-style $42 million dollar bailout of developers in downtown Wheaton, has been removed.

Yesterday, the council voted to fund an alternative proposal. But don't be fooled. The council's alternative will still force out small businesses, and eventually lead to the demolition of the entire Wheaton Triangle retail district. That is an unacceptable outcome. Not only do the demo-inducing provisions of the 2011 Wheaton Sector Plan remain in place, but merchants will lose most of the parking spaces currently used by their customers. It's clear that the council wants to boost pressure on any remaining profitable businesses in Wheaton to move elsewhere. Does it make sense to have a new office tower jammed right in the center of two-level commercial space? What happened to old-fashioned planning rules? The proposed office building is incompatible with the surrounding structures. Don't get me started about the "town square" scam! Sure, the council's increasingly-embarrassing $42M bailout is temporarily tabled. But their new plan is six of one, half-a-dozen of the other.

Hopefully, yesterday's grandstanding has freed up funds for the new Metro entrance, however. It's the right decision for increased transit ridership, public health and safety, and the Purple Line.