Councilmember Roger Berliner criticized county transportation planners for not reducing the number of lanes on Old Georgetown Road in the latest volley in an ongoing public controversy over a small stretch of road in White Flint that has become ground zero of the county’s smart growth discussion.
Berliner, in a post Wednesday on the regional transportation and news blog Greater Greater Washington, said the county needs to “get it right the first time.”
The central question surrounding the state road is whether it should it be rebuilt with six to eight lanes to handle the current amount of traffic or should be narrowed to four travel lanes with a bike lane and shared use path.
The White Flint Sector Plan calls for a narrower road with bike and pedestrian infrastructure improvements, but state and county traffic engineers say significant backups will result if the six travel lanes and additional turn lanes aren’t in place.
“Indeed, for many of us, this fight over the number of lanes is about the future direction of our county,” Berliner wrote. “It is about honoring the hard work our planning board and county council put into transforming a classic suburban strip mall into the new White Flint, a huge boon to our residents. It is about old transportation thinking versus new school.”
County Executive Isiah Leggett has attempted to quell residents’ concerns about the planned width of the road by saying the road can be narrowed once future infrastructure improvements are built. In a memo issued last week, he said, “It has never been a question of ‘if’ we get to four lanes on Old Georgetown Road but more of a question of how and when we get there.”
Leggett also echoed traffic engineers who said additional infrastructure improvements, such as an extended Hoya Street and a grid system, need to be constructed in White Flint before lanes on Old Georgetown can be reduced.
Berliner said he has talked to state officials, who told him they’re following the county’s lead. He said the county needs to lead “strongly.”
“We can always add more lanes at a later date,” Berliner said in the post and said the bike lanes and shared use path should be installed now to meet the sector plan goals.
Berliner also called on the county to reconstruct Hoya Street as a four-lane road that connects southbound Rockville Pike with Old Georgetown Road at Executive Boulevard.
“It is a much better route for those traveling north or south via Old Georgetown,” Berliner said. “With that option available and the new grid of streets we are creating, we don’t need to sacrifice bike lanes, pedestrian facilities or the new urbanism experience we are trying to create.”
.PNG)
The section of Old Georgetown Road currently at the center of the debate highlighted in yellow. Blue line shows Hoya Street connection some officials are calling for to ease traffic on the stretch of Old Georgetown.
