MONTGOMERY COUNTY PLANNING BOARD RECOMMENDS GRADE-SEPARATED INTERCHANGE FOR MONTROSE PARKWAY AT PARKLAWN, AGAINST CLOSURE OF RANDOLPH ROAD

The Montgomery County Planning Board made two White Flint-related recommendations requested by transportation authorities yesterday.

Maryland's State Highway Administration and the Montgomery County Department of Transportation sought the board's input on whether or not to close Randolph Road permanently at the CSX railroad crossing, and what type of interchange the Montrose Parkway should have at Parklawn Drive.

After public testimony and discussion, the board recommended to keep Randolph open.

The commissioners voted 4-1 to recommend a grade-separated, single-point urban interchange for the Montrose Parkway at Parklawn.  Commissioner Casey Anderson cast the lone dissenting vote.

I believe these were both good decisions for White Flint, and the county as a whole.

Leaving Randolph open will allow residents and patrons of businesses access, while also making it easier to travel to the new White Flint development via bicycle from Randolph Hills.

And keeping through traffic moving with the highway-style interchange will keep it off the new street grid in White Flint, allowing safer movement for pedestrians and cyclists.

By retaining the original express traffic concept, the larger Rockville Facility remains viable to construct the long-delayed Rockville Freeway. The Rockville Freeway, if you are not a regular reader of this blog, includes the built and planned Montrose Parkway segments, but would continue northeast to Connecticut Avenue, Georgia Avenue, and Layhill Road, ending at an interchange with the ICC near Indian Spring Country Club.

AMERICAN LEGION BRIDGE STUDIES PROVE ROCKVILLE FREEWAY, OUTER BELTWAY WOULD EASE BETHESDA BELTWAY CONGESTION

LEGION BRIDGE

ISN'T THE PROBLEM,

THE MISSING

HIGHWAYS AND

BRIDGES ARE

Another Robert Dyer @ Bethesda Row Exclusive

"Hooray!  Finally, someone is doing nothing about something!"

I don't know if that was an exact quote, but the above sentence sums up the decidedly-awestruck tone of media coverage of a recent "high tea" party, held by the Montgomery and Fairfax County Councils.  The meeting was presided over by Ronald Kirby, Transportation Planning Director for the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.

Which is an Orwellian title indeed, as the sum of Kirby's public statements suggests he shares the Montgomery County Council's anti-highway, anti-car fervor - and promotion of transit-only policies that benefit development interests.

No surprise, then, that all parties involved conveniently reached a consensus that the solution to Beltway gridlock is... buses.  Never mind that there used to be a Bethesda-Tysons Corner bus that was terminated for lack of ridership.  "Rapid" bus?  Uh, what are you going to do, put bus stops on the shoulder?

Also predictably, we're told that widening the bridge would cost $800 million, and Beltway HOT lanes on the Maryland side would be even more cost prohibitive.

The good news I have for those doomsayers, is that we actually don't need to do either of those things.

What we need to do, is finish our 50-year-old master plan highway system. The twist is that the very numbers anti-highway Kirby touted, actually prove that he and the County Council are wrong, and I - and the planners of five decades ago - are right.

These studies clarify the missing highway capacity of the unbuilt Rockville Freeway and Outer Beltway.

Virginia drivers, the studies say, are headed to Interstate 270 27% of the time when they cross the Legion Bridge.  And a whopping 63% want to go east on the Beltway.

The 270 folks would use Potomac River bridges planned for the Outer Beltway and the Rockville Freeway to reach western Montgomery County and 270.  If one or both bridges were built, you'd have 27% of American Legion Bridge cars off the Beltway right there.

That 63% heading east?  It's likely some portion of that group could use the Rockville Freeway and ICC to reach their eastern destinations.  A Beltway-ICC link via the unbuilt Northern Parkway would further decrease that 63% group of cars headed east from Virginia.

How about Maryland drivers?

We've been told for years that nobody crossing the Legion Bridge in the morning from Maryland is going to Dulles.  Common sense told us that was bunk.  And now, the studies confirm it was complete and utter bunk.

23% of Maryland bridge-crossers are headed for the Dulles area.  Just consider that for a moment:  a Potomac crossing to Dulles via the unbuilt Outer Beltway and/or unbuilt Rockville Freeway, would take a full fourth of Virginia-bound cars off the Legion Bridge like a magic wand.

Another 24% of Maryland crossers were headed to areas of Northern Virginia that would be accessible to drivers on proposed bridges via the Rockville Freeway (Fairfax County Parkway) or Outer Beltway (Sully Road/Rt. 28, or the now-talked-about alternative west of Dulles).

In total, one or two additional bridges would reduce Virginia-bound traffic by nearly 50%.  And reduce Maryland-bound traffic by at least 50%.

And there are actually people opposed to new highways and bridges?!

Yes!  The scary thing is, among those opponents, are the very people discussing the future of the American Legion Bridge at this comedic farce of a meeting.

Best of all?  The $800 million cost of the unnecessary American Legion Bridge widening would could pay for the construction of most of the Rockville Freeway within Montgomery County, between 270 and the ICC.

Federal funds, as well as private/toll-funded options, could very realistically be secured to build at least one new Potomac River bridge.  Even if the Rockville Freeway only ran between 270 and the ICC (at Indian Spring Country Club), drivers crossing an I-370/ICC bridge could easily access it via 270.  The Rockville Freeway's 270 interchange already exists; most today know it as Montrose Road.

The good news is that one of Bethesda's biggest traffic nightmares, the American Legion Bridge, can be fixed without widening the bridge or the Beltway.  And if your home is one that would be demolished to make way for that widening, I suspect you'd have a strong self-interest in supporting the Rockville Freeway and Outer Beltway (both can be built without destroying homes within Montgomery County, as can the Northern Parkway).

The bad news, is that your county council and the wise people at COG have studied the same data I've presented to you here, and concluded that the answer is to do something short of nothing.

"Hooray!" for "leadership."

OUTER BELTWAY,

NEW POTOMAC CROSSING

OFFICIALLY ON THE

TABLE

Governors McDonnell, O'Malley Begin

Discussion on Top Regional

Transportation Priority

Isn't it great to be ahead of the curve? In addition to advocating for the construction of the DC Outer Beltway on this blog, I've also been keeping you up to date on the small moving parts behind the scenes on the issue. Like the "Outer Beltway bills" in Richmond, the redesignation of corridors, Sen. Mark Warner getting on board, etc.

So now that it is being discussed at the highest level, regular readers have known this was coming long ago.

Yes, the Outer Beltway is finally going to happen after 60 years of delay.

What does the Outer Beltway mean for Bethesda? It means great news: finally, the gridlock between Tysons Corner, the I-270 spur and Gaithersburg will be relieved. If the Rockville Freeway is also built, the spur backups would be entirely eliminated. With eventual completion of the I-270 widening, the Watkins Mill interchange, and the M-83 Highway, I-270 would essentially be jam-free.

If I-95 were one day completed through DC - as it was planned to - and the North Central Freeway and Northern Parkway were built, so too would the Beltway gridlock be a memory of the past.

But in a day of tight budgets, the Potomac Crossing is the first step.

Where will the Outer Beltway go?

There are only two reasonable route options, and only two matching connections on the Virginia side.

On our side, we have the ICC/I-370 (the final Outer Beltway alignment chosen by planners in the 1970s), and the Rockville Freeway right-of-way (Rockville Facility).

The ICC is the likely choice, as it now reaches the Sam Eig interchange of 270, as well as I-95 at its eastern end. And it's already built.

The Rockville Freeway/Facility provides access to both interstates, as well. Currently known as Matthew Henson State Park, this highway facility reaches the ICC near Indian Spring Country Club. Hence I-95 traffic could take the ICC, and exit onto the future Rockville Freeway.

The Rockville Freeway would then connect to the existing Montrose Parkway (a silly road squatting on a portion of the Rockville Freeway right-of-way). Originally, the freeway was to occupy the full west portion of Montrose Road over 270. That right of way remains all the way to Falls Road. In fact, I have seen the real estate records for the purchases of land around the future freeway's intersections with Seven Locks Road and Falls Road. (Cloverleaf interchanges would have been built at both).

Two advantages the Rockville Freeway alignment would have over the ICC are shorter distance to Virginia (hence, far cheaper), and a clearer path to the Potomac River west of 270 (cheaper yet! Those eminent domain seizures and lawsuits are expensive).

Originally, the Rockville Freeway was planned as the Outer Beltway, and was to cross the Potomac near Virginia's Riverbend Park.

That brings us to the waiting connections across the river.

The two options are VA Rt. 28, and VA Rt. 286 (formerly SR 7100) a.k.a. Fairfax County Parkway.

In a world of sensible people, both get connected to Maryland. But it's complicated.

The Rockville Freeway was designed to line up with the Fairfax County Parkway to create the western half of the Outer Beltway. Once the ICC alignment was chosen for the Outer Beltway, planners dropped the Rockville Freeway crossing.

At that point, planners on both sides began to consider the Rt. 28/Dulles Airport corridor for the Virginia portion of the Outer Beltway.

If the ICC is selected as the Potomac Crossing route, you can be pretty sure it will connect with Rt. 28 (a.k.a. Sully Road for its northern section).

Wait a minute, you might ask, why would they take the longer route?

Good question!

To answer it, pretend you are a leprechaun. I'm serious.

Now open Google Maps, and search for "Dulles Town Center" (Sterling, VA).

Ok, just to the left of that is Sully Road. Now, Lucky the Leprechaun, scroll south on Sully Road, and start counting the cloverleafs. Each one of those is a grade-separated interchange (like the Beltway, the Outer Beltway will have exits, not traffic signaled intersections).

Wow, this is your lucky day! There are a ton of them!

Now look at Fairfax County Parkway. Uh-oh. Lots of work to be done.

One of the many stealth actions smarter planners on the Virginia side have taken is to prepare Rt. 28 for interstate highway designation.

They've also taken smaller steps towards that on the Fairfax County Parkway, but as you can tell from the map, it's nowhere near ready. 28 needs work too, once you get into Centreville. But there's plenty of room there to expand.

So if you're gambling, put your money on the ICC-370-Potomac River Bridge-VA Rt. 28 alignment.

There's plenty of time and room to bring Fairfax County Parkway up to interstate standards, and one day connect it to the future Rockville Freeway via another Potomac River bridge, as originally planned.

How will the Outer Beltway be completed?

It's interesting. Remember I told you a few weeks back my prediction that the ICC will be extended to Bowie? That gets you to MD Rt. 301.

Now, take VA Rt. 28 to its end. Then take Route 17. You've got an interchange with I-95 there as you head east. You've made a critical connection with Fredericksburg. Now keep following 17 east, and then Rt. 218 east. Eventually, you connect to...

Rt. 301! You've made a complete circle. An Outer Beltway.

But there are many alternative routes to accomplish that.

Right now, expect the governors to concentrate on the bridge crossing, and handling interstate volumes between western Montgomery County and the Dulles area.

And, alas, rumor has it that there will be tolls!

ROCKVILLE FREEWAY

UPDATE

Fellow supporters of the Rockville Freeway:

Several developments favoring construction of this long-delayed, 6-lane highway connecting the Montrose Parkway east of 355 to the ICC near Indian Spring Country Club have occurred.

The biggest news is the oversized town center known as Twinbrook Metro Place. A development equal to or larger than Rockville Town Center itself, the project includes no highway improvements to ameliorate the traffic it will generate.

There is much dispute about whether the developer's plan to get a waiver for reduced parking will result in overflow vehicles parking in other nearby retail centers. The model used by so many developers today, is that spaces will vacate after 5:00, and restaurant diners and bar revelers will then fill them. In other words, as office drone A backs out of his parking space, Lounge Lizard A is tapping his steering wheel impatiently, ready to pull in for his bottom shelf margarita and so-so chicken sandwich at the Mixed Use Mixed Grill. Does this theory translate to reality? Not in Bethesda.

Height is another concern. While it makes sense to have tall buildings near Metro stations, not all Metro stations are in 360 degree urban surroundings. Twinbrook Metro, and this proposed development site at 1592 Rockville Pike, are backed primarily by homes in Twinbrook on Rockland, Lewis and Vandegrift Avenues, and Lemay, Holland and Halpine Roads.

It is not appropriate to have buildings of 15 stories looming over single-family homes. At the same time, Rockville's Mayor and Council gained a "concession" by the developer to make it 14 floors at last Monday's meeting. It seems if you're going to 14, one more floor won't make much of a difference.

Granting these parking and height concessions now makes them standard for every other future development within the Metro station's eligible proximity. Ultimately, this is the result not of a scheme by the developer, but of Rockville's recently-updated (and supremely developer-friendly) zoning code.

A Responsible Growth zoning code, and planning principles, would have acknowledged reality, and made clear that Twinbrook Metro will never have the density of a downtown DC stop. Unfortunately that didn't happen.

In totality, this and similar projects will overwhelm the Pike and other nearby roads. Only with the Rockville Freeway in place can adequate traffic capacity be provided in the 355 corridor.

Unlike the recent JBG announcement of its second White Flint project, Twinbrook Metro Place offers no unique architecture or sense of place, either. But the bottom line is, if you are bringing this many cars to Rockville Pike, the developer and the city have an obligation to provide the infrastructure required to support that growth.

With a second JBG project at White Flint, thousands of new units at the soon-to-be demolished White Flint Mall, the County Council trying to add apartments to the proposed Walmart site on Rockville Pike, and the Mid-Pike Plaza mini-Manhattan on the way, Twinbrook Metro Place only increases the pressure to build the Rockville Freeway. Without it, 355 simply cannot manage the coming volume requirements for traffic.

Finally, the council has tentatively tabled funding for the Montrose Parkway East. Like the existing Montrose Parkway, the extension will primarily use the existing right-of-way meant for the Rockville Freeway.

Stopping that project is good news. The Montrose Parkway is too narrow at 4 lanes, and its speed limit is too low. But worst of all, instead of building an interchange at Veirs Mill Road (as the Rockville Freeway would), Montrose Parkway East diverts from that route and connects to Veirs Mill across from Aspen Hill Road.

This alignment is a catastrophe. First, it means more land seizures from owners who had no way to know this would happen. The Rockville Freeway's long designated path requires virtually no demolitions of homes or other property.

Second, going forward with the parkway means having to pay for an intersection, but then building a ramped interchange anyway when the Rockville Freeway is built.

Third, we'd be making the same mistake again: 4 lanes when six are needed, and a silly parkway design rather than an interstate-standard highway. Why in the world is Montrose Parkway like that, when Montrose Road is six lanes, and has interstate-style sound barriers?

Fourth, the Parkway would dump eastbound traffic into the residential neighborhoods of Aspen Hill. In contrast, the Rockville Freeway would take cars closer to their ultimate destinations in Howard County, Baltimore and eastern Montgomery County.

The parkway delay is the perfect time to reassess the mess, and plan to build the Rockville Freeway instead. There is no other way to provide the capacity needed along Rockville Pike, Randolph Road, Edmonston Drive, Veirs Mill, Connecticut Avenue and Georgia Ave.

The Rockville Freeway will connect the burgeoning employment and residential hubs of White Flint and Columbia.

If it is built!