Montgomery County Planning Department staff swept aside public input received less than 24 hours earlier, and made a final recommendation at 2:05 PM yesterday that the Planning Board approve a permanent road diet for Little Falls Parkway in Bethesda at its April 13, 2023 meeting. If approved, it would make permanent the controversial current 2-lane configuration of the road between Arlington Road and Dorset Avenue.
There is no way that staff would have had time to review all of the written and electronic material submitted by residents Thursday only a day later. As such, the quick decision by staff reflects the failure to solicit and consider public input that has characterized the road diet process from the beginning. They could at least show the residents who pay their salaries some respect, that their input, data, and opinions were being given the most basic courtesy of a review. This should trouble anyone, regardless of their position on the issue. What a slap in the face to the public by the Montgomery County Planning Department.
35 comments:
This indeed a slap to all of the taxpayers. We need new blood running all departments. Increased taxes and less voting power absolutely reeks!
Absolutely shameful.
Disgusting and yet again an indication of how zealotry has overwhelmed common sense and fairness
Contemporary overlords ruling over lowly serfs.
Thank you for staying on top of this. Why isn't the Washington Post covering any of this? (Or have I missed it?)
Excellent! Keep 2 lanes open for traffic and 2 for pedestrian-park use.
Seems like a very sensible option. Keep the 2 lanes open for peds
8:26: The Post did their usual snarky, Whiny-Rich-People-of-Chevy Chase-type story on it last month, but does not appear to have covered the public hearing this week.
It sounds like a single two-lane, two-way road, might be the easiest way to minimize the risk at the CCT crossing. The road currently necks down to only two lanes at that point, so traffic flow is really regulated by how many cars can safely pass through that point.
Obviously keeping the four lanes and moving the CCT to the nearby intersection would have worked, but it seems the planners believe bicyclists and walks would still cut across at the easiest location. A pedestrian/bike bridge over the existing 4 lane road would have worked, but at quite a cost, and would inconvenient for young cyclists.
The road diet of removing two lanes seems to be the best alternative for safety and create green-space. I’m not sure more green-space is really needed at that location, but if it solves the dangerous CCT crossing, it seems like a reasonable idea.
Perhaps the concern of having too little space for emergency vehicles to pass on a two lane road could be eliminated by including a narrow shoulder on one or both sides.
It still seems that the easiest solution would be to keep the four lanes, and create a fully signalized intersection at the CCT crossing. The extra stoplight might slow the traffic flow a bit, but would maintain two lanes of traffic in both directions and would mitigate the loss of traffic flow. I don’t understand why this option is not on the table.
". . . . believe bicyclists and walk[er]s would still cut across at the easiest location."
Not an unreasonable prediction, particularly for anyone who's watched how (some, not all) bikers handle the existing intersection.
Shocker said by no one. But isn't the lawsuit still in play? In that case, a judge would have to look into this and the issue makes its way thru Rockville Courthouse. In the absence of the legal filing, yes, they have carte blanche to do whatever they want and mostly will. "If approved"? They are all part of a radical cabal. Without legal action, who could or would stop them?
Their world; we just live in it.
11:44: Yes, the lawsuit is still going. Which is why I found it so interesting that the Parks planner was suddenly speaking about having been in touch with the NCPC from the beginning. The lack of approval from the NCPC is at the heart of the lawsuit, so this was either a mistake to be talking about that - - or part of their attorneys' defense strategy.
Robert, thank you! Not over yet.
Sadly, this is no surprise.
The County Council and the prior and current bogus Planning Board don't care what the residents overwhelmingly say and want. This has been going on for years.
I was active in our neighborhood group all through the development of the 2017 Downtown Bethesda strategic plan, and we were rebuffed each step of the way, most significantly when the final plan was approved. Considerations given to the residents, including some provisions the developers said they supported, were removed/voted down in the end. Does anyone remember the resident survey that I believe Clark sent out? Ignored completely in the end, totally opposite of what the developer rep who attended our neighborhood group meetings said to us. (I know, we were all naive to believe them ...)
It seems that they used the same game plan for the so-called Thrive 2050 plan.
So much for "all politics are local" -- that only applies if the elected officials actually care.
Interesting option, thanks. Not that I suppose the aboard cares.
Good to hear
Travesty to just ignore inputs with the quick rubber-stamp vote.
The only way to change anything in MoCo is to vote all these people out. The county exec race was close but should have beena complete and total blow out. Comrade Elrich is beyond horrible. But again, they all need to go. They get rubber stamped every, single time
Marc Elrich is the one of the few Montgomery County officials who has actually listened to — and sided with — residents on land use issues. He sensibly recommended that further long-term study be made before permanently closing 2 lanes on Little Falls Parkway.
7:41 - Everyone is entitled to their opinion. But Marc Elrich being a " man of the people" is just laughable. He's as Far Left as you can get and doesn't give a flying flip about what the citizens want. They are going to do what they've done at Little Falls all over the place. Even state roads like Old Georgetown they have major influence. One party county and one party state. They green light whatever they want. Watch Wes Moore. Everything people want, banned and everything we don't, forwarded. They are actually going to enshrine abortion into the state's constitution. Did the citizens of Maryland approve that they do that? Of course not. Some support it, sure. But the majority of the state which is widespread and diverse? Nope. Lastly, Elrich just got reelected so his rein is far from done.
“Vote all these people out!” say the people who will thankfully never be a majority of the voters in our County.
The Post has the same radical mentality as the woke bureaucrats who pushed this through, most likely.
10:43 - Reality check is calling, you may want to pick up.
You believe that you will become a majority in liberal Bethesda? Keep dreaming my friend.
The pendulum is swinging back! They seemed to have forgotten that Alinsky never addressed what happens then. Al
Count the bikes in the winter - 0
The number of people with diminished physical capacities are being marginalized as well. Plenty of people needing a car to get to their “other” job that don’t have the privilege of afternoon bike outings
We voted overwhelmingly in 2016 for term limits for members of the County Council (68.9% voted in favor of term limits) and the County Executive, with the hope that this might break the log-jam of prior councils and help advance policies and laws that actually benefit county residents. *sigh*
https://wjla.com/news/local/montgomery-county-voters-to-decide-again-on-term-limits-for-county-council-executive
It doesn't seem to have helped. Next steps/ideas, anyone?
This is such great news! There is so much potential for the linear park to add value and connectivity to our community. So glad that those who support the current setup were heard.
We love the linear park and use it every weekend. It is great for young families. Traffic isn’t an issue and I’ve driven on the road during rush hour. Traffic issues abound with the Westbard construction and some of that may spill over and cause some of the complainers in Kenwood.
Marc Elrich would rather save a dandelion than ease traffic in this county. He's squeaked by twice in the elections. Who keeps voting for this person? In America, the most powerful way to be heard is to vote.
Old Georgetown Road is still a fiasco. Just drive it or ask anyone who lives there. Neighborhood roads are now used as thoroughfares. I've seen maybe 6 bicycles out. what a waste.
Have we talked about the soft on crime Will Jawando's proposal? We need to let the police do their job, unrestrained by elected officials with a different agenda. Mr.Dyer, have you seen this proposal?
Good to see that the Planning board still will consider the lives and well-being of people exercising and commuting in less destructive ways to be more valuable than a few minutes of auto-commutets using a park road! Go Montgomery Co!
Stop voting Democrat. Democrats believe they know what's best for everyone. They abhor individual voters imput if it disagrees with the Democrat dogma.
If you want change change your vote. Vote Republican.
Stop presuming that you know exactly what happened here. The inner workings of govt may sometimes look dysfunctional to people on the outside, but they work if you let them do their job.
Also, as a parent of an anxious bike-riding kid, our safety should always outweigh vehicle speeds/times for commuters and local drivers. Glad to see that MoCo Parks is moving forward with this plan!
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