It might sound counterintuitive, but the health of the Potomac River might be improving thanks to large-scale development in places like Tysons Corner and Rockville.
Tag: rockville
Aligning the Rockville School Standards with Montgomery County’s School Standards
Young people and families increasingly want to live in walkable, transit-accessible communities like Rockville, with its mix of both old and new walkable neighborhoods. Empty-nesters looking to downsize are looking for new housing options that allow them to stay in and continue to contribute to the community.
Transit supporters to host Rockville open house
Supporters of a countywide transit system will hold an open house to discuss the system Wednesday in Rockville.
Two groups, the Coalition for Smarter Growth and Communities for Transit, are sponsoring the forum at Rockville Memorial Library, where residents will be able to learn more about the county’s planned 81-mile bus rapid transit system.
When: 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 25
Where: First floor large meeting room, Rockville Memorial Library, 21 Maryland Avenue, Rockville
What: Rockville Rapid Transit Open House
RSVP at http://bit.ly/rockvilleRTS
It will feature a basic overview of bus rapid transit and what is planned for the county and the Rockville area in particular, said Kelly Blynn of the Coalition for Smarter Growth.
Blynn said the system will connect areas not served by Metro and help link downtown areas with surrounding residential areas.
There also will be a presentation from Rockville staff on how the city wants the system to fit into its downtown, she said.
Organizers will discuss how people can help plan the system, Blynn said.
In Rockville, three bus rapid transit corridors are planned to converge at or near the Rockville Metro station on Md. 355.
From there, the lines would run north to Clarksburg, south to Washington and southeast to Wheaton.
City officials have expressed some concern about the impact the system will have on Rockville Town Center.
The forum, which runs from 6:30 to 8 p.m., is free, and Blynn said a sign language interpreter will be provided. More information is at smartergrowth.net.
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Discussing the Future of Rapid Transit in Rockville
On Wednesday, June 25th, Communities for Transit and Coalition for Smarter Growth are holding a free, open event from 6:30-8:00 p.m. at Rockville Memorial Library to discuss Montgomery County’s planned 81-mile bus rapid transit (BRT) system. What is bus rapid transit, and how would it affect our city?
Rockville rapid transit options in open house
An open house will be held at the Rockville Memorial Library on June 25 to provide information about Montgomery County’s planned Rapid Transit System (RTS).
Planners Say Rockville Pike Could Handle Major Bus Rapid Transit System
Montgomery County planners think Rockville Pike is the county’s best candidate for a “true” Bus Rapid Transit route, meaning the traffic-clogged artery could support a two-lane median busway similar to major systems that serve millions of riders in other countries.
The finding came today in a briefing from planners in front of the Montgomery County Planning Board and a little more than a week after it was revealed that an outside consultant found a potential 150-mile BRT system in Montgomery County would not have enough riders.
Today, planners presented a modified 87-mile BRT system they said would attract more riders than the outside report from the New York-based Institution for Transportation and Development Policy suggested.
“ITDP’s report’s focus is on which corridors are best suited to high-quality “true” BRT with frequent all day service. The report finds that MD355 is the best candidate for this treatment, but expresses a concern that if future BRT ridership is only double the existing bus ridership, it would be very low compared to other BRT operations nationwide,” reads the Planning Staff’s memo. “ITDP did not do any ridership forecasting however, whereas our transportation modeling work has shown that the forecast 2040 ridership on MD355 is far higher and we are confident that we should begin planning for a two-lane median busway for most of this corridor.”
The Planning Staff briefing also found that the proposed North Bethesda Transitway BRT route (with a previously estimated daily ridership of 8,000 to 10,000 riders) was a corridor that could stand alone, without the benefit of a county-wide network.
The Coalition for Smarter Growth, a D.C.-based nonprofit lobbying for smart growth initiatives and transit funding, had supportive words for the latest proposal.
“The planning staff’s network is smaller than the full Transit Task Force proposal but also much larger than the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) proposal. The staff’s analysis is both rigorous and practical, and results in a network that can be effectively implemented,” Coalition for Smarter Growth Stewart Schwartz said in a statement.
Daily ridership projections by 2040 presented at a Coalition for Smarter Growth meeting last week show between 44,000 and 49,000 riders for a southbound MD 355 system and between 22,000 and 34,000 riders for a northbound MD 355 system. The projections for the North Bethesda Transitway range from 4,000 daily riders to 10,000.
Photo by Juanman 3 via Wikipedia; route map via Montgomery County Planning Department
Testimony before Rockville City Planning Commission:Support for Site Plan Application STP 2012-00112, 1900 Chapman Ave
We are pleased to express our support for the 1900 Chapman Ave project which will replace the old Syms building and surface parking lot with two street-oriented moderate-density apartment buildings. These new homes will be within a few hundred feet of the Twinbrook Metro station. We commend this proposal as the kind of transit-oriented development this city and region needs to remain sustainable and competitive.