How can we build more homes while ensuring neighborhood-friendly buildings and great public spaces? Emerging approaches to zoning offer simpler rules for creating great places, while reducing delay, uncertainty, and the cost of new housing.
Author: Ayesha Amsa
Event Materials: Transportation and Climate Alignment Act virtual rally
Thank you so much for attending the Transportation and Climate Alignment Act Virtual Rally! If you missed it, check out the recording and slides. If you are interested in getting more involved or receiving email updates about the bill, please take a couple minutes to fill out our action form.
CSG in the News: County board split over possible I-495 toll lanes from Springfield into Maryland
“That the additional capacity of the HOT lanes would generate more traffic trying to travel to and from the lanes via connecting roads like Route 1, Telegraph and Van Dorn wouldn’t be surprising,” Bill Pugh, a senior policy fellow at the organization, said in a statement released by CSG after the committee meeting.
Comments: MD-410 PSAP draft plan (Maryland, Support)
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on these SHA concepts for MD 410. We greatly appreciate the efforts of MDOT and SHA to address safety and access for all users through the Pedestrian Safety Action Plan process and the Complete Streets Program. We wish to endorse the thoughtful comments submitted by Dan Behrend. Here are additional specific comments:
RELEASE: VDOT briefs flawed I-495 Southside Study to Fairfax County Board of Supervisors
“In addition to ignoring induced demand and relying on flawed traffic models, VDOT’s study is compromised at the outset by its ‘conclusions-first’ approach,” said Pugh. “The agency’s stated project purpose is ‘to extend and provide continuity of the Express Lanes system’ and their evaluation criteria reinforce this predetermined conclusion. They have also excluded viable alternatives from study.”
Op-ed: Adopt fix-it-first, climate-resilient, sustainable transportation priorities (Maryland Matters)
In short, sustainable land use, transit, and a fix-it-first and resilience-first approach to Maryland transportation and infrastructure spending is essential for Maryland’s future.
MDOT FY 25-FY 30 Consolidated Transportation Program (Prince George’s, Comments)
Overall, we want to commend the MDOT’s priorities in a difficult budget year. We applaud the state’s leadership on meeting the obligation for WMATA funding.
Action Alert: Montgomery County needs transit and connected communities, not more highways
Dear friend,
Since the 1950s, traffic engineers have told us new highways would solve traffic. We now know that’s not true. We also know that highways divide neighborhoods and pollute our air. We know that more walkable communities linked to transit provide a better, more sustainable approach.
If built, the outdated Mid-County Highway Extended (M-83) would destroy farmland, forests and wetlands in its path through the Seneca Creek watershed. It is time to remove this destructive and unnecessary proposed highway from the county’s official master plans.
Contact the Planning Board today to ask them to remove M-83 from the Master Plan of Highways and Transit (MPOHT).
Take action: Don’t build this harmful highway
For years, CSG and partners have put forward a transit-based combination of solutions, including bus rapid transit, better street connectivity, and improved bike and pedestrian connections upcounty as an alternative to building M-83.
Analysis by CSG and the TAME Coalition, and later, by the county’s own Department of Transportation—has found that forthcoming transit investments, including bus rapid transit (BRT) on MD-355, will provide significant transportation improvements without the environmental harms of M-83.
Strong support for removing M-83 from county plans
County leadership and community and environmental organizations alike join CSG in supporting M-83’s removal from the Master Plan of Highways and Transitways, including:
- County Executive Marc Elrich
- Montgomery County Department of Transportation
- Transit Alternatives to Mid-County Highway Extended (TAME)
- Sierra Club of Montgomery County
- Action Committee for Transit
- Montgomery Village Foundation
- Muddy Branch Alliance
- Seneca Creek Watershed Partners
- Climate Coalition Montgomery County (including CCAN, Montgomery Countryside Alliance, and MCFACS)
Read our 2015 report and visit TAME’s website to learn more.
What’s next, and how you can help
In addition to using our alert to contact the board, please also consider attending these upcoming community meetings and hearings about M-83 and the Master Plan of Highways and Transit:
October 21, 2024: Virtual Public Meeting, 6PM (RSVP)
October 23, 2024: In-Person Public Meeting at Neelsville Middle School, 6PM (RSVP)
November 14, 2024: Planning Board Hearing on MPOHT (sign up to testify)
Contact the Planning Board: Remove M-83 from the MPOHT
Let’s take a step forward for better, more sustainable transportation upcounty, and away from an outdated and environmentally harmful project.
Thank you for joining us at Smart Growth Social!
Thank you to everyone who joined us last night for Smart Growth Social! Over 200 of you came together at Eastern Market to network, celebrate, and look ahead to the future. We hope you enjoyed the food and drinks—and maybe even snagged some extra pizza! Your incredible turnout and enthusiasm was truly energizing.
Testimony: Removing M-83 from Master Plan of Highways and Transitways (Montgomery County, Support)
We are grateful to Planning staff for their attention to the public feedback they have received concerning M-83. Organizations including CSG and Transit Alternatives to Mid-County Highway Extended (TAME) and other community members have been raising serious concerns about the community and environmental impact of M-83 for years. We have documented how M-83 is unnecessary and that local street connections combined with bus rapid transit and walkable, transit-accessible communities would meet future needs.