In the midst of painful budget cuts and transit fare increases, the Montgomery County Council is on the verge of voting to spend $89 million, or $80,000 per space, for a 1,150 space parking garage in the heart of the walking and biking-oriented Bethesda Row district. The new garage will be adjacent to the Capital Crescent Trail and a block away from the planned South entrance of the Bethesda Metro station. The Council’s transportation committee voted for the garage on Friday, before sending the issue to the full Council.

A few days before a regional pedestrian safety summit, the Coalition for Smarter Growth released a new study of pedestrian safety in the Washington, D.C., region. The report finds that suburban jurisdictions are the least safe for walkers, especially Fairfax County, Virginia, and Prince George’s County, Maryland. While jurisdictions are taking steps to improve safety, the Coalition is calling on our region’s leaders to redouble their efforts to ensure that walking is a safe means of travel, and to commit to reducing by half the number of pedestrian crashes that result in death and severe injury in our communities.

This Friday and next Wednesday, the Maryland House of Delegates Environmental Matters Committee will hold public hearings on bills that would stop state expenditures on controversial Intercounty Connector until Maryland agencies assess and disclose the highway’s climate and public health impacts.

Reports this week indicate that tolls on the Bay Bridge and Baltimore-area bridges and tunnels would have to be significantly increased, and in some cases doubled, to pay for Montgomery County’s Intercounty Connector.

Seven citizens’ organizations – National Trust for Historic Preservation, Scenic Virginia, APVA Preservation Virginia, Virginia Organizing Project, Valley Conservation Council, Rockbridge Area Conservation Council and Sierra Club – Thursday joined a federal lawsuit to block plans to widen I-81 to eight or more lanes throughout most of western Virginia. (Amended Complaint) Meanwhile, the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates passed bills mandating legislative oversight of I-81 and prior approval should tolls be proposed.