Category: Prince George’s County

MD 214/Central Ave. safety workshop comments (Prince George’s)

MD 214/Central Ave. safety workshop comments (Prince George’s)

Posted on by Cheryl Cort

RE: MD 214/Central Ave. 12/10/24 safety workshop comments

TO: Mulowa K. Kajoba, Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) Project Manager, mkajoba@mdot.maryland.gov

FROM: Cheryl Cort, Policy Director, Coalition for Smarter Growth

DATE: December 16, 2024

Dear Project Manager Kajoba: 

Thank you for holding a public input workshop regarding MD 214/Central Avenue. We have been working with community members in this corridor for several years. We are excited to see important safety measures be contemplated by SHA. We are hopeful that they can be implemented as soon as possible, taking advantage of quick build low cost solutions.

Regarding the MD 214 12/10/24 display boards “Improvement Opportunities,” we wish to add some comments to this excellent list. Overall, we hope to see retrofits that create a 30 MPH design speed/operating speed roadway, which is the posted speed limit in portions of the corridor. A design speed of 30 MPH better reflects the Metro station local center designation by the County’s General Plan, and better utilizes the state’s investment in the Metrorail system. 

  • Construct missing sidewalk – Yes, and Old Central Av. at Zelma should be closed.
  • Tighten curb radii – All intersections should be assessed for tighter turns (15′ turning radius standard or 25’ effective radii for truck/bus routes), and driveways can be narrowed or closed across public ROW too. These and other measures should narrow crossing distances and slow vehicle speeds to benefit pedestrians.
  • Remove channelized turn lanes or improve sight distance for pedestrians and drivers – Yes, closing off slip lanes would be a big help for pedestrians, and slow vehicle operating speeds.
  • Add new signals or pedestrian hybrid beacons – Yes — Cabin Branch Rd should be a top priority for a new signal, but should be done with travelway narrowing and other measures to slow operating speeds to ensure compliance with the signal and posted speed limit of 30 MPH (near Cabin Branch Road). 
  • Implement road diet to add buffered bike lanes – Yes, the traffic volume of 30,000 vehicles/day does not justify a six lane roadway, thus the oversized road encourages drivers to greatly exceed the posted speed limit of 30 MPH. This urban area — by 2 Metro stations, a high school, local businesses should have an urban roadway designed to encourage slower, safe operating speeds and safe, easy crossings for people walking, biking and riding transit. A road diet configuring the roadway for four rather than six lanes is sufficient to address vehicular traffic. 

Further, travel lane widths can be narrowed consistent with PG DPW&T’s Urban Street Design Standards of 10’ for general lanes and 11’ bus routes. 

We support a buffered bike lane as a good use of the excess space, however these lanes should be vertically separated to ensure both safety for cyclists and visually narrowing of the roadway to reduce operating speeds to safe levels. The new AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities can help address the most appropriate design to match this high-volume location. Interim, less expensive protected bike lane elements that can be deployed quickly should be done as soon as possible to improve roadway safety, followed by more expensive permanent measures. 

Better walking conditions created by buffered bike lane: We note that a buffered bike lane will also improve the safety and comfort for people walking along the road. In our walk audit of Central Avenue, Central High School students identified the discomfort of walking on a sidewalk next to high speed traffic as a problem, and also occasional vegetation or standing water as a partial obstruction of sidewalks and crossings, and narrowness of some sidewalk segments. 

  • Provide bus stop connectivity – Yes, this is a problem in several places along the corridor but is acute for students who ride the bus to and from Central High School. SHA should make a special effort to solve for safe access for these students, and other bus stop users. 
  • Provide bus stop amenities [my addition] — add a bench and shelter to the Cabin Branch Rd stops. If SHA does not normally do this, it should work with agencies like MTA to install facilities to give students and other bus riders a more comfortable trip. 
  • Replace and upgrade signs – yes, and look at ways to consolidate, narrow and close driveways unnecessarily intruding on the public sidewalk and roadway creating extra or elongated conflict points. 
  • Add lighting – yes.

Making Capitol Heights more bike friendly: Establishing protected bike lanes to Central Ave. will greatly enhance bike connectivity in the corridor. The Central Ave. Connector Trail will also do this, but is not in conflict with bike lanes on Central Ave. Repurposing travel lanes to bike lanes is a good way to improve safety for drivers, bikers & pedestrians. 

Quick build, low cost, tactical measures: Many interventions can be done quickly at low cost but deliver big benefits to safety, and can even lower maintenance costs over time. Given the budget constraints faced by Maryland, deploying low cost tactical measures within months or the next year will have major benefits to safety and support transit-oriented development. As more funding is available, more permanent retrofits can be implemented. Other jurisdictions often use this approach – quick build temporary safety measures right away, followed by more expensive permanent elements later.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment. Please keep us informed as this important project moves forward.

Testimony: West Hyattsville-Queens Chapel Sector Plan and Proposed Sectional Map Amendment (Prince George’s, Support)

Posted on by Ayesha Amsa

Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony in support of the Staff Draft West Hyattsville-Queens Chapel Sector Plan and Proposed Sectional Map Amendment (SMA) (CR-002-2022). This plan will shape growth and change in this area to enhance housing choices, improve walk and bicycle access, and better connect the community to two Metrorail stations. This plan would provide increased access to jobs, services and homes, in a way that minimizes automobile trips and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. This plan is comprehensive and extensive. We will only be able highlight a few of the important recommendations.

Event Materials: “Complete Streets” Policy Update (Prince George’s)

Event Materials: “Complete Streets” Policy Update (Prince George’s)

Posted on by Ayesha Amsa

People walking to transit, stores, schools, and elsewhere are often at risk as they traverse wide, high-speed roads. With Prince George’s leading the region in traffic and pedestrian deaths, we’ve been asking how we can make roads safer for people walking or biking to their destinations.

Event Materials: Complete Streets Training for Prince George’s County

Event Materials: Complete Streets Training for Prince George’s County

Posted on by Ayesha Amsa

Toole Design expert trainers, Jeremy Chrzan and Cipriana Patterson conducted a four-hour, in-person training covering key elements of NACTO’s Urban Street Design Guide, Prince George’s County’s Urban Street Design Standards, as well as practical content from the US Access Board’s Accessibility Guidelines for Pedestrian Facilities in the Public Right of Way (PROWAG) and the forthcoming AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities (Bike Guide). The training explained the practical relevance of complete streets guidance to address safety and comfort for people walking, biking, and taking transit.

Testimony: CB 15 – Omnibus revisions to Zoning Ordinance to implement Plan 2035 (Prince George’s, Support)

Posted on by Ayesha Amsa

March 20, 2024 (updated 4/17/2024)

Hon. Tom Dernoga, Chair
PHED Committee
Prince George’s County Council 
Wayne Curry Administration Building
1301 McCormick Drive, Largo MD

Dear Chair Dernoga and members of the Committee:

Please accept this testimony on behalf of the Coalition for Smarter Growth (CSG), the leading organization advocating for walkable, bikeable, inclusive, transit-oriented communities as the most sustainable and equitable way for the Washington, DC region to grow and provide opportunities for all. We also support and work closely with RISE Prince George’s, a group of county residents and allies advocating for policies and practices that build shared, sustainable prosperity in Prince George’s County by creating safe, walkable, inclusive and transit-oriented communities.

We urge your support for CB 15. This is essential legislation to ensure the efficient, transparent, and effective use of the new zoning code, which implements the goals of Plan 2035. This new code supports Plan 2035’s priority focus on transit-oriented mixed use centers as a leading approach for strengthening the county’s economic competitiveness and tax base, and livability and sustainability. Much of the county’s future success depends on implementing the new, modern zoning code.

We participated in the extensive process to create the new zoning code, following the adoption of Plan 2035 in 2014. The new zoning code replaced a 50-year-old, outdated, confusing ordinance. It was a major advance for the county. It has been effective since April 2022. During this time, the need for further refinements to the code have been identified. CB 15 addresses these needs by including these key provisions: 

  • clarifying transition provisions – such as: grandfathering, access to prior zone uses for 10 years, fire loss reconstruction provisions, Woodmore Town Center access to prior approvals
  • Limitations on residential growth in the (Commercial, General and Office) CGO Zone outside the Beltway
  • Increased baseline residential density for Transit-Oriented/Activity Center zones

We strongly support the proposed changes to the NAC, TAC, LTO and RTO zones to allow increased numbers of homes per acre and some adjustments in height.  We have long expressed concern about the low densities permitted around transit stations in the new zoning code. The importance of allowing sufficient housing capacity around transit stations and major transit corridors is to attract quality investment that is feasible. Limiting sites in close proximity to high-capacity transit stations to low numbers of homes will waste the value of the taxpayer investment in transit, the many benefits of accessibility of transit, and discourage investment in quality mixed-use development.

We need more homes in multifamily buildings around transit stations and transit corridors to create a vibrant, mixed use, energetic environment that fosters walkability, thriving retail streets, and the kind of places that more people want to live in, work in, and visit. The proposed increased densities for Transit-Oriented/Activity Center zones help to advance the vision of great, walkable, transit-oriented communities.

We also support adding location standards to ensure that Transit-Oriented/Activity Centers are limited to the transit stations best suited for the level of development we expect in these centers.

Limiting residential growth outside the Beltway

We support the approach in the original legislation requiring that residential development outside the beltway in the CGO zone be reviewed and approved only through a Planned Development process. While the Planning Board revised this recommendation to allow multifamily, two-family, and townhouse dwellings on CGO sites of 25 or fewer acres with the approval of a Special Exception, we disagree. Given the permissibility of a Special Exception and the significant impact of growth outside the beltway, we recommend either specifying detailed Special Exception criteria or at least scaling back the number of acres allowed for Special Exception to five acres or less, or both. 

We know that many in the development industry are urging further delay in implementation of the new zoning code. We think further delay harms the county’s ability to attract new quality investment. The new code offers streamlined, easy to understand zoning regulations, and omnibus bill CB 15 provides helpful revisions.

We urge the Council to pass this bill without delay, while continuing to work to ensure the zoning code is supporting Plan 2035’s goals to focus most growth in Regional and Local transit centers, and inside the beltway.  

Thank you for your consideration. 

Sincerely,
Cheryl Cort
Policy Director

Testimony: SB 943 – Better Bus Service Act of 2024 (MD, Support)

Posted on by Ayesha Amsa

We are excited about plans for tactical bus lanes on Georgia Avenue in Montgomery County, and Silver Hill Road in Prince George’s County. These projects are collaborations between the State Highway Administration, WMATA, and each county’s Department of Transportation. They reflect a shared commitment to providing better transit service to those who depend on it, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transportation by attracting new riders.

Testimony: SB 1123, School Facilities and Public Safety Surcharges and Report – Sunset Extension (Prince George’s, Support)

Posted on by Ayesha Amsa

We want to express our strong support for SB 1123, which would extend the current 50% reduced school facilities surcharge for multifamily housing projects located close to Metro and MARC stations. It also states that Purple Line stations can receive the same treatment by the governing body of the county.