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| Cars enter and exit the Old Georgetown garage off of Grand Park Avenue |
Also making tremendous progress - but not pictured here - is the REI building out front, near the central stoplight on Rockville Pike. REI is one retail stop at Pike & Rose where you apparently won't find yourself shopping on Thanksgiving or Black Friday. Beyond these buildings are those of Phase II tenants Pinstripes and, eventually, Porsche of Rockville.
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| Dead end of Grand Park Avenue at Phase I; Phase II beyond fence |
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| Future home of H&M |
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| Looking north on Grand Park Avenue: apartment building (left), Canopy by Hilton hotel and 930 Rose condos (right) |
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| Future home of Lucky Brand |
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| Tower crane over Canopy/930 Rose |
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| Canopy/930 Rose |
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| Apartment building |
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| Phase I meets Phase II at PerSei Place |
How much does Federal pay you?
ReplyDelete#SponsoredContent
6:52: They've paid me zero.
ReplyDeleteCranes! All signs of moribund economy.
ReplyDelete7:07: The residential real estate market in Montgomery County has never been described as "moribund." MoCo's private sector economy (a.k.a. private sector job growth) has indeed been described as moribund. And not just by me, but by the Washington Post and Councilmember Hans Riemer's former chief of staff, among others. It's the strength of our residential real estate market vs. the weakness of our private sector job growth that led County Executive Ike Leggett to warn that we are becoming "a bedroom community."
ReplyDelete"but by the Washington Post"
ReplyDeleteThat's a lie. One reporter, described Eastern MoCo's economy as moribund, which isn't far from the truth.
By the way, last I checked the residential real estate market in Montgomery County is part of its economy. Construction jobs make up a sizable amount of the region's labor force.
7:28: Biotech is also part of the economy. Unfortunately, the economy is much larger than both of those sectors combined, and we are therefore moribund. Nothing bad about creating construction jobs, but it would be helpful if a larger percentage of them were created for building corporate headquarters, and research and high-tech manufacturing facilities. Then our County budget wouldn't be in the red Every. Single. Year. We'd also have less traffic on the roads, if people could live closer to their jobs, if those jobs were located in MoCo instead of NoVa and D.C.
ReplyDeleteDyer is trying to claim that every sector of MoCo's economy EXCEPT biotech and construction is "moribund".
ReplyDeleteThat's such a steaming pile of bullshit.
8:44: Yes, every other private sector of the MoCo economy is indeed moribund. Negative private sector job growth when all the jurisdictions around us experienced growth. Loss of over 2000 retail jobs since 2000, according to the Maryland Retailers Association. No major corporate headquarters attracted in the last two decades.
DeleteIt's just your word against my facts, the same facts cited by The Post, Adam Pagnucco, Leggett, et al. The only BS is coming from you, and your alternate universe.
The Council and their friends certainly are nasty with journalists that don't stick to their PR message.
ReplyDeleteWe still have some folks in legacy local media who have a thrill go up their leg if a Councilmember gives them a shout out or retweet. Does congratulations from the politicians they cover mean they're doing a good job?
8:53: The famous MoCo cartel "attaboy" via social media! I've got screen captures of some of them, and they are ongoing.
DeleteCan you imagine Nixon tweeting or Facebooking an "attaboy" to Woodward & Bernstein? Neither can I.
I can't "imagine Nixon tweeting" anything. He died 12 years before Twatter was established, you Birdbrain.
Delete10:02: "Love the article! ATTABOY! - @GeorgeLeventhal"
DeleteNo imagination necessary, punk.
@652 - all the lies
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete@9:23AM must have spent those weeks thinking up that one.
ReplyDeleteSo, except for the parts of the economy that aren't moribund, the economy is moribund. Yeah, ok...
ReplyDelete9:57: Yep, except for that small sliver of the whole economy, the MoCo economy is moribund. You're making progress.
DeleteWhy does MoCo need those corporate jobs? Why is it so bad if someone lives in MoCo and drives to NoVa for their job? Their state income tax ends up in MD anyway, due to reciprocity between MD and VA.
ReplyDeleteIs it state corporate income tax you're referring to as being missed out because the company is not located in MoCo?
2:59: For starters, it's REALLY bad for traffic congestion if people live here and drive to Virginia during rush hour to get to work.
DeleteBesides the obvious loss of revenue to the County and State when corporations headquarter elsewhere, there is the loss of the 3rd party jobs and economic development halo effect these major firms create.
Ike Leggett acknowledged this in his recent statement on MoCo retaining - not gaining, but simply retaining - Marriott, in which he explicitly referred to that halo effect which companies of that size can provide. Marriott employees will put money into downtown Bethesda restaurants and retail during the day when your proverbial MD-to-VA commuter is in Dulles or Tysons at work.
Dyer's fantasy commutes to Virginia do not seem to involve actually driving in Virginia.
ReplyDelete6:08: What you wrote makes absolutely no sense. Try telling somebody on the Legion bridge tomorrow morning about their fantasy commute. They'll probably punch you in the face, and it will be well-deserved.
DeleteUnlike Robert Dyer, the staff of Bethesda Magazine never fantasize about acts of violence against their readers.
Deleteit took me 25 minutes to go from Bethesda to Tysons yesterday morning, which is equivalent to normal on a weekend with no traffic.
ReplyDeleteBut yes, you know what you're talking about when you're strolling around taking crappy photographs.
5:05: And how long did it take you to come back to Bethesda from Tysons during the evening rush hour? #ThugLife
ReplyDeleteI know better than anybody about the failed transportation system in Montgomery County, because I waste hours and hours sitting in daily traffic jams on the Beltway, I-270, Rockville Pike, Old Georgetown Road, East-West Highway, etc. every year. Just because morons like you keep the very stupid people "leading" us in office.
So what is your proposal for reducing traffic on East-West Highway? On Old Georgetown Road? On Rockville Pike?
DeleteI agree with Dyer on this one. Am Legion Bridge is a mess and something needs to be done. Took me 45 minutes to get from Tysons to Bethesda at 5:30pm on Wednesday this week. That's a 6-mile drive.
ReplyDelete5:51: Yeah, they mainly just fantasize about having readers.
ReplyDelete5:54: New Potomac River crossing, express lanes on I-270 and the Beltway, M-83 Midcounty Highway extended upcounty, and extend Montrose Parkway to the ICC.
In terms of smaller projects in the corridors you mentioned, East-West Highway should be upgraded and widened from Bethesda to Colesville Road, and Walter Reed should be forced to open the exit ramp into their campus that was built years ago. The Jones Bridge-Connecticut Ave. BRAC project COMPLETELY FAILED. It was a complete waste of taxpayer money. And we should examine upgrading Beach Drive.
"Force Walter Reed to open the exit ramp" would only take away a small amount of the traffic currently using Jones Bridge Road. And it would not help the worst bottleneck - the left turn from eastbound Jones Bridge Road to northbound Connecticut Avenue - in the slightest.
ReplyDeleteRegarding widening East-West Highway, you do not seem to be aware how close the houses are to the existing 4-lane highway.
Also, what is your proposal to relieve traffic on Rockville Pike and Old Georgetown Road?
6:55: I think if everyone from Walter Reed was entering and exiting directly from the Beltway, that would solve the left turn issue at Connecticut. They blew it with the "fix" they wasted our money on there. It's backed up just like it was before. And now the on-ramp to the Beltway NB on Conn. backs up into the road! Let it back up into Walter Reed, instead.
ReplyDeleteThere are service roads along East-West east of Connecticut. Plenty of room to add a couple of lanes there.
Fix I-270 as described above, so people can switch from those roads to the interstate when going North-South in that corridor. That will free up capacity on both roads. Again, I'd like to study what can be done to upgrade Beach Drive to add capacity, as well.
There is "more space" on East-West Highway between Brookville Road and Sundale Drive/Washington Street, but having only that middle stretch widened would only create two bottlenecks at each end.
ReplyDeleteTraffic on Rockville Pike is local traffic and would not be affected by your proposal to widen I-270 yet again, from 12 to... how many lanes?
Good luck with your proposal to enlarge Beach Drive. Let's see how far you get with that. What do you propose to do about Jones Mill Road?
7:31: I'm more optimistic about what can be done on East-West and Beach than you are. The problem we have now is that, like any other unfinished piece of our highway system, no one on the current Council will do anything about it. They're too low energy.
DeleteRockville Pike traffic is hardly just local - it is heavily commuter from Frederick County to Bethesda and into DC. First you have you unclog the I-270 artery, by adding a new Potomac River crossing to funnel off those headed to and from Dulles area, and add M-83 to get Clarksburg, Damascus and Mt. Airy traffic off 270 at Watkins Mill. There you open more capacity on the road. You can further add capacity by adding Express Lanes.
I wasn't aware something could be done with Jones Mill, but it should benefit from the other projects I mentioned. I mean, you can't turn Jones Mill into a highway, whereas East-West Highway is...a highway, and needs to start operating more like one.
No one uses Rockville Pike to commute from Bethesda to Frederick, Birdbrain.
ReplyDelete8:21: Clearly, your IQ is lower than your belt size if you believe what you just wrote is true.
DeleteWhat kind of idiot would commute all the way from Bethesda to Frederick, using MD 355 alone? One of Dyer's fellow Birdbrains, obviously.
Delete6:37: Check the map, "Mr. Dumass." I've done it myself.
DeleteI travel EW highway daily so I don't seem to understand. Step by step, how would it be widened? Are we talking splitting up where traffic funnels? Going through neighborhoods? Taking away sidewalks and curbs to create more lanes?
ReplyDelete8:25: Adding two lanes. Maybe further limiting access points. #JustDoIt
DeleteJust Dolt? LOL
DeleteGet rid of the sidewalks on EW Hwy. They only bring people from PG County who come to burgularize your houses.
ReplyDelete8:50 AM Your tired stereotypes of Bethesda residents are boring.
ReplyDeleteAnd your spelling is atrocious, 8:50. Always the extra "u." As if one of you wasn't too much to begin with.
ReplyDelete6:37AM Of course no one travels Bethesda to Frederick using 355 alone. It's full of commuters trying to avoid 270 adding to the local traffic creating gridlock.
ReplyDeleteIt's actually a pretty cool drive from DC line to Frederick. Go on a Sunday morning at sunrise. So little traffic you can actually look around at what's new and what's missing.
ReplyDeleteAnd you get to Frederick ready for apple picking.
@ 7:54 AM - Unless you pick apples for a living, what you described is not a "commute".
DeleteWhat a thread. So much nonsense posted by Dyer.
ReplyDeleteRobert Dyer said...
7:31
"adding a new Potomac River crossing to funnel off those headed to and from Dulles area"
Nobody wants an idiotic multi-billion dollar bridge that will bulldoze through residential neighborhoods and help VA more than MD. Even your governor thinks its a dumb idea.
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Anonymous said...
"What kind of idiot would commute all the way from Bethesda to Frederick, using MD 355 alone?"
Robert Dyer said...
6:37 "I've done it myself."
Well there's your answer anon. It's no use trying. Dyer's clearly doesn't understand the stupidity of regularly commuting 1.5 hours up/down MD 355 each way when there's a parallel interstate.
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Blogger Robert Dyer said...
8:21: "Clearly, your IQ is lower than your belt size if you believe what you just wrote is true."
Haha. Dyer is the very last person to be insulting anyone else's IQ.
I never said it was @7:06AM.
ReplyDeleteLove and bacon, 7:54AM
how do you know 10:14AM? What are you doing in Hans pants?
ReplyDeleteTo all those morons who oppose any road improvements. I agree with Dyer on new Potomac river crossing and a road to ICC without any exits till I-270 - too keep all the anti-growth sitting in potomac happy. I live in upcounty and commute to bethesda everday, when I-270 has an emergency, traffic incident 355 is the only straight back-up - this happens atleast 10 times a month.
ReplyDeleteAll those who oppose development why don't you suggest tearing down 10 acre lot homes in potomac and bethesda, which is so close to city and then allow high-density development. No you won't do that and avoid any new potomac crossings for people whose only choice was to go farther out due to your mcmansions.
ReplyDeleteFor 2 million people - one single river crossing is a joke of epic proportions.
ReplyDelete