Leggett: Old Georgetown Road Plans for White Flint Nothing New

County executive says misinformation has created confusion; county wants a walkable White Flint

October 3, 2014 10:37 a.m.

County Executive Isiah Leggett wants residents concerned about plans for an expanded Old Georgetown Road to know that the county is working toward a walkable White Flint.

In a statement issued Wednesday, Leggett said the state determined in January 2012 that the six travel lanes on Old Georgetown Road near the intersection of Executive Boulevard must be maintained until improvements are constructed on Rockville Pike. The road is adjacent to Federal Realty’s Pike & Rose development, which is beginning to open its first retail stores, restaurants and apartments.

“That is nothing new,” Leggett said. “It has been known for over two years and was a condition of the Federal Realty 2012 preliminary plan approval.”

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The design for the roadway sparked concern from a White Flint nonprofit and smart growth advocates, which criticized the plans as being not bike- and pedestrian-friendly and asked that the road be narrowed to four lanes to include a bike lane and shared-use path.

Leggett responded to the advocates’ concerns by noting that the county has been working on a plan to connect Hoya Street to Old Georgetown Road and included funds for the construction in this year’s capital budget. When the connection is completed,  it will “take significant traffic off Old Georgetown Road with the goal to secure [state] approval to reduce lanes for advancing walkability in White Flint,” Leggett said.

“We are currently reviewing a traffic report to see if the Hoya Street project might allow us to ask [the State Highway Administration] to move ahead with narrowing Old Georgetown Road sooner than originally anticipated,” he added.

The 70 percent plans for the roadway are still not completed "as some have said", according to Leggett.

An engineer from the State Highway Administration said Friday if the county can show the Hoya Street connector reduces traffic on Old Georgetown, then engineers can pursue reducing lanes on the state roadway.

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Leggett added that the $100 million committed by the county for road projects in White Flint is twice the amount that the County Council originally designated. He also noted that striped bicycle lanes have been painted on Marinelli Drive and the county’s first cycle track is coming to Woodglen Drive, which are two projects he says are “above and beyond what is called for in the [White Flint] Sector Plan.”

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