Montgomery County planners would like to see a few changes to plans for a new White Flint road network in the county’s next six-year capital budget, which will be finalized next year.
In a list of priorities to be sent to County Executive Isiah Leggett, planners want the county to connect Hoya Street (behind Mid-Pike Plaza) to Old Georgetown Road and to add a shared-use bike path into the design of a realigned Executive Boulevard.
Both are part of the 2010 White Flint Master Plan, which included a new road network to make the area more pedestrian and bicycle friendly.
But getting the State Highway Administration and County Department of Transportation to agree on a more walkable set of roads has been slow going. Residents and developers have expressed concern that the county is too focused on moving cars through the area, when it should add wider sidewalks and take away lanes from the stretch of Old Georgetown Road that extends east toward Rockville Pike.
In June, DOT engineering chief Bruce Johnston said if the county were to go ahead and connect Hoya Street, what has long been a service road behind Mid-Pike Plaza, the SHA has indicated it would be more open to allowing eastbound bike lanes on Old Georgetown Road. A connected Hoya Street could allow some of the north-south traffic flow to avoid east-west Old Georgetown.
The list of priorities also includes a proposed change that would allow public agencies (Parks, Recreation, Libraries and Regional Services Centers) to begin programming and planning for future public facilities in White Flint.
The list actually ranks the top 100 projects planners would like to see included in the next capital budget based on a point system.
Additional school capacity for Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School comes in at No. 12. MCPS hopes a planned addition for the school is included in Leggett’s budget. Additional school capacity for Whitman High School is the No. 14 priority.
A variety of road construction projects for White Flint, including a bridge over the White Flint Metro station platform, come in as the No. 22, No. 23 and No. 24 priorities.
The addition of pedestrian traffic signals at Old Georgetown Road and Fairmont Avenue, Cordell Avenue and Glenbrook Road are the No. 26, No. 27 and No. 28 priorities.
Additional middle school capacity for Walter Johnson High School is the No. 34 priority.
The Planning Board is scheduled to discuss the list on Thursday and approve it for submittal to Leggett. Leggett started a series of public forums to address the capital budget and hear priorities from residents. He’ll hold a forum at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center (4805 Edgemoor Lane) at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, July 30.
