Rockville City Council votes to reroute CCT out of town

Transit

Rockville City Council votes to reroute CCT out of town

by Dan Reed • January 20, 2011 1:41 pm

Rockville's City Council voted Tuesday to ask the Maryland Transit Administration to move the Corridor Cities Transitway out of King Farm, a new urban community that was designed around the proposed line, after residents complained about its potential impact on their homes.

King Farm Boulevard was designed for the CCT. Photo by the author.

Both Montgomery County and the City of Rockville planned a dense, mixed-use community at the King Farm site for decades before the community finally opened in 1997. Today, the 430-acre development has been recognized by both the Congress for New Urbanism and the EPA as a good example of walkable, transit-oriented design.

The neighborhood has 3,400 homes, a "village center" with apartments over shops, and a substantial office district where the Department of Health and Human Services is considering relocating. King Farm Boulevard, the neighborhood's main street, connects all of these uses; from the beginning, it was designed to carry cars in addition to transit vehicles. Two stops on the CCT are planned within King Farm.

The Corridor Cities Transitway's winding route has long been criticized by urbanists for being too circuitous, though plans to bring the line through existing and emerging activity centers like Crown Farm and "Science City" will make the line more effective and useful to riders. Unlike past adjustments, routing the CCT around King Farm would hurt the project, avoiding thousands of people who would otherwise live within walking distance of the line.

Some activists may be hoping that if they can stymie the CCT, they might stop Science City, officially called the Great Seneca Science Corridor (formerly Gaithersburg West). When that controversial master plan for the area was approved, it included staging requirements that Montgomery County build the CCT before most development can proceed. The possibility of having many workers use transit was one of the arguments in favor.

However, there's enough momentum and muscle behind Science City at this point that if the CCT doesn't happen, the Council is more likely to simply waive the staging requirements. That will just mean even more traffic on the area's roads.

Joan Hannan founded the Coalition for the Preservation of King Farm after realizing that transit vehicles could run in front of her condominium on King Farm Boulevard. She claims that the builder never told her about the CCT and fear that it could force the closure of through-streets in the neighborhood.

The Gazette reports that seven people spoke against the CCT in King Farm at Tuesday's City Council meeting, though the online petition Hannan is circulating has just one signature.

Nonetheless, four out of five City Council members were swayed by opponents' arguments. Rockville Central reports that Councilmember Piotr Gajewski, a King Farm resident, said the Corridor Cities Transitway would give "no benefits" to the neighborhood while being "incredibly disruptive."

Another Councilmember, Mark Pierzchala, made a motion to suggest moving the line to the middle of I-370, which would bypass King Farm entirely. Only Councilmember John Britton, who noted that the Corridor Cities Transitway will serve King Farm residents going to the future Science City and other destinations in the upcounty, voted against the route change.

Meanwhile, residents in the New Urban community of Kentlands in Gaithersburg, to which King Farm is often compared, not only support light-rail for the CCT but have also gotten the MTA to consider rerouting the line into their neighborhood.

Rockville officials should look beyond the immediate, knee-jerk anti-transit views of a few King Farm officials. The whole city will be far better off with the CCT giving people a real alternative to driving right through Rockville, whether from communities like King Farm to jobs downcounty and in DC, or from points south and east to the new jobs in Science City and elsewhere.

42 comments

Tags: anti neighbors, Corridor Cities Transitway, King Farm, Maryland, Montgomery, Rockville

Gaithersbungle: Planning Board staff latest to ignore better way for Gaithersburg (Jun 29, 2009)
Montgomery Council agrees on 270 widening, debates BRT versus light rail (Nov 10, 2009)
Gaithersbungle, part 7: 30% mode share is totally unrealistic (Jul 31, 2009)
ACT creates Montgomery County transit vision (Feb 16, 2010)
Gaithersbungle, part 6: What else $3.8 billion could buy, more specifically (Jul 29, 2009)

A planner and architect by training, Dan Reed is interested in suburban retrofits. Dan works for the Friends of White Flint, writes his own blog, Just Up the Pike, and serves as the Land Use Chair for the Action Committee for Transit. Dan lives in Silver Spring.

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Idiots. Why would you move somewhere designed around a proposed rail line? And what's with this Science City stuff? Why not just build things where we already have developed land?

by Martin on Jan 20, 2011 1:48 pm • link • report

I say this a lot, but whatever promising plans we see proposed outside-the-Beltway, at the end of the day, we can always depend on the exurbs to cave to reactionary pressure and do the wrong thing.

Good for inside-the-Beltway property values, though.

by oboe on Jan 20, 2011 2:00 pm • link • report

Funny, I was just driving through King Farm yesterday (on the way to get my emissions test) and thinking that I would consider moving there if there was good transit someday. Oh well. Thanks Rockville council. Good to know that I voted against so many of you.

by doug on Jan 20, 2011 2:05 pm • link • report

Another win for TOD without the T and O.

by Bossi on Jan 20, 2011 2:20 pm • link • report

I hope the MTA will ignore this "request". I believe they will find it not only a burden on the project, but a completely idiotic gesture. Not only would this line add an incredible amenity to those condo owners who live along the line, but the noise from it would be less than that of even passing buses and cars! In fact, the grassy median can even remain! It's not a heavy rail system, it's a light rail system. Cross streets, stop signs, everything would remain.

by Eric on Jan 20, 2011 2:26 pm • link • report

So this is obviously incredible shortsighted but out of curiosity where do they think they'd put it on I-370? Since construction of the ICC there is no longer a sizable median and there never will be one again.

by Craig on Jan 20, 2011 2:36 pm • link • report

DHHS would consolidate undisclosed suburban space, not relocate its HQ. It's unlikely that any cabinet agency would abandon a close-in HQ. Moreover, King Farm is one of several sites.

by Rich on Jan 20, 2011 2:40 pm • link • report

One of the key elements of the HUD/EPA/DOT Livability initiative is that livability is defined at the local level. Oh, well...

Next time they should put the tracks in first, then the resident will know going into the purchase decision that transit isn't going to be a "suggestion" but reality.

by Some Ideas on Jan 20, 2011 2:45 pm • link • report

I am sure this stupid move will be blamed on Virginia somehow.

by NikolasM on Jan 20, 2011 3:06 pm • link • report

Are BRT or light rail quieter?

I'm going to go with LRT? NO? electricity? There are going to be some groans and squeaks with the tracks, but I can't imagine they are that loud.

All in all, fairly petty.

by charlie on Jan 20, 2011 3:07 pm • link • report

Note to Ms. Hannan, 3 people who's word you should never take too seriously include home builders, real estate agents, and car salesmen.

by spookiness on Jan 20, 2011 3:13 pm • link • report

What is wrong with these people?

Unbelievable that people can't see the incredible long-term benefits that would come with a few months of construction "disruption."

by MLD on Jan 20, 2011 3:15 pm • link • report

This isn't *only* incredibly stupid and short-sighted, it's also timed almost perfectly to disrupt the planning process. So much so that I wonder if it isn't on purpose.

MTA //just finished// a year-long planning process looking at a number of route changes. To suggest another change now will delay planning on the line by another year, if MTA decides to look at it seriously (which they shouldn't).

by BeyondDC on Jan 20, 2011 3:26 pm • link • report

You've got to be kidding! A development that was specifically designed for the corridor to be run through it, and people want to stop it? This is beyond stupid. These people should feel ashamed of themselves.

by Robbie T. on Jan 20, 2011 3:26 pm • link • report

Having lived directly above a LRT stop (E Line in Boston) I can inform anyone that you will not hear it (and my building was much older and creaker then a newly built condo) and it's the worldest greatest convenience. Idiots

by J on Jan 20, 2011 3:43 pm • link • report

I lived right on King Farm Boulevard for two years and would have loved to have the CCT come through the community. I can also confirm that King Farm has a small number of very vocal idiots that live there and post on the community listserv.

by Jeremy on Jan 20, 2011 4:08 pm • link • report

If only this dumb (or cunning) move could torpedo the whole thing so MTA could start over (and consider the ACT's proposal).

These councilmembers are only saying "no benefits" because they can't imagine anyone taking this line to the Rio or Kentlands or Science City. And it's already easy enough to walk to Shady Grove station from much of King Farm. All in all, extremely short-sighted.

by Reza on Jan 20, 2011 4:14 pm • link • report

Way to go rockville council. Makes alot of sense to listen to the voices of a few complaining individuals at the expense of many people and future generations

by Mike on Jan 20, 2011 4:19 pm • link • report

If they build the transit line, it would become part of the ambiance of King Farm, such that people would wonder how they ever lived without it. I'm sure that within six months, Ms. Hannan would be so used to it that if it weren't there, she would miss it.

by Steve on Jan 20, 2011 5:20 pm • link • report

When i lived in Boston, i had friends who lived on the B and the C lines of the Green Line. Much quieter than buses or heavy rail, could barely hear them in my friends' places. OTOH, one building i worked in had the Blue Line subway running under the street beside it. Every time a train passed, our offices on the 9th and 11th floors shook.

It's wonderful to have the convenience of light rail nearby. Silly people.

by dcseain on Jan 20, 2011 5:22 pm • link • report

With such a convoluted route, the CCT has always seemed like a gift to a few big developers/landowners on the western side of 270. I'd mind it less if it was paid for by a special property tax on development close to the stations or on parking spaces, but I doubt that's how it will be paid for.

Selfishly, I'd rather have a street car running up 355 to reinforce the existing development and infrastructure sites. Replacing the awful RideOn 55 with a limited stop service would really speed things up.

by shy on Jan 20, 2011 5:32 pm • link • report

I went to the CCT MTA meeting back in Dec. I heard the people from King Farm complain. Most of them were in their sixties and really thought that the CCT was going to be just like having the Red Line run down the middle of their street. Cement Walls, Chain Link Fences, Weed infested gravel bed, rusty rails. One guy likened it to a "Berlin Wall" in the middle of their neighborhood.

Now if I thought that was going to be the way it was going to be constructed, then I would oppose it too. But I know that light rail can be so much better. I have seen the European pictures of grassy medians with thin ribbons on steel being the only way to detect the line. The thin overhead wires almost invisible.

The big problem here, is that we don't know what the MTA is going to build. I would love to think that its going to be very open and unobtrusive. I would like to think that there will not be *ANY* barriers built on the King Farm Blvd. But the truth be told, I just don't know what the MTA has planned. And until I do, I don't know how to support it. I will say that rerouting is the idiots solution and hopefully the MTA has enough power to keep on track (yay a pun!)

The people on King Farm don't know how much of a Gold mine a decently constructed CCT would be to their property values. Of course most of them will be in retirement homes by the time it opens anyway.

by Cyclone on Jan 20, 2011 6:11 pm • link • report

So, as per usual a small group of people in their 60's most likely retired try to block a smart transit oriented development because they dont truly understand it and they would rather end up depriving their children and grand children from the benefits. And of course the Rockville leaders support this small group just like they did with gaitherburg west

by Mike on Jan 20, 2011 7:04 pm • link • report

In fact, there's already a retirement home in King Farm, right on the CCT right-of-way.

And to second what Reza said: depending on where you live in King Farm, the Shady Grove Metro station is between a half-mile and a little over a mile away, and a private shuttle currently runs between there and the neighborhood. So there is some transit at King Farm currently, but it's only useful if you're going south towards D.C.

by dan reed! on Jan 20, 2011 7:59 pm • link • report

Mark Pierzchala, who rode a bike around town with is campaign signs, is a hypocrite. You cant have a transit/pedestrian/bicycle friendly community when you have a major transit line in the non-existant median of 370. The right of way through King Farm has been designated when King Farm was a dairy farm. A light rail station in the office district will also serve the Upper Rock development around the SAMSA building, creating a major activity center. Rerouting the line is not feasible and NIMBY hypocrites like Pierzchala and Marrucio. The Rockville City Council is run by amateurs and city policy is NIBMY oriented with the city fighting massive growth proposals for Rockville Pike, Downtown, and Tower Oaks.

by Cyrus on Jan 20, 2011 9:22 pm • link • report

dont give in to the people that knew transit was possible before they moved in, you knew this was on the books well before King Farm openned

by Jerome on Jan 21, 2011 8:00 am • link • report

Shame really because lets be hones many of the people who currently live in Kings farm are likly not to be there in 20 years or more it would be before the project was finished.

The value of the homes would skyrocket if transit was placed there too.

by Matt R on Jan 21, 2011 9:11 am • link • report

Gaithersburg's Kentlands & Lakelands is TOD in form and didn't really plan for rail transit, but now wants direct CCT service; while Rockville's King Farm was specifically built and designed for the CCT and now the city wants it to go around the development. Crazy stuff.

by FormerG'burgPlanner on Jan 21, 2011 10:14 am • link • report

Funny when I was considering buying at King Farm years ago, and I visited many times, the sales people pointed the light rail out every time - it seems stupidity and fear rules at King Farm - I am glad I did to purchase there.

by Michael on Jan 21, 2011 11:58 am • link • report

Geez, these MoCo people (some of them, anyway) don't appreciate what they have. I wish so many good professional jobs could be a short transit ride away from us in Prince George's County. I'm unemployed, and it seems that every job I'm qualified for is in MoCo, DC, Tysons or Arlington. Not that I can afford to move to any of those places, either.

by Greenbelt Gal on Jan 21, 2011 12:44 pm • link • report

After having looked at literally thousands of plans for New Urbanist developments around the world, I learned to to groan and roll my eyes whenever one had either (a) a green semicircle or (b) a "promised rail transit line" somewhere on the plan. These were cliches that every plan seemed to have, and those promised transit lines never actually seem to materialize.

Now, here we have a plan that has a "promised rail transit line," and it's coming so late in the game that it's facing NIMBYs from within the walkable neighborhood. Sigh.

The trouble with "putting tracks in first" -- which is how things used to happen with streetcar suburbs -- is that today's cost-effectiveness measures rightly demand that transit go where people live today, instead of where they might be living tomorrow.

by Payton on Jan 21, 2011 4:41 pm • link • report

They should have researched the house before they bought it.

by vanmo96 on Jan 21, 2011 11:28 pm • link • report

Let's just hope these short-sighted and self-indulgent city council people will be voted out next time. What a mistake to put them in there at all. I was shocked.

by Becky on Jan 25, 2011 9:13 am • link • report

Today, the 430-acre development has been recognized by both the Congress for New Urbanism and the EPA as a good example of walkable, transit-oriented design.

Regardless of this place's rejection of transit, I think this type of development is why the various ideological growth/design 'movements' lend themselves so easily to ridicule -- if you don't make a place bikeable, how do you expect anyone to take you seriously?

Oh wait - I guess I'm wrong -- most people _do_ take 'new urbanism', and 'smart growth', and 'landscape urbanism' seriously. That's a problem.

We don't need 'walkable/drivable/transit-oriented' design -- we need 'walkable/bikable' design first, and essentially -- anything else is of secondary importance.

by Peter Smith on Feb 2, 2011 11:24 pm • link • report

It just goes to show that there should have been signage along the planned route saying "Future home of transit serving your community".

by GregR on Feb 4, 2011 8:36 pm • link • report

I have a lot of Brio toys from when I was little... kind of makes me want to set up a long pair of little wooden tracks right down the median.

by Bossi on Feb 4, 2011 8:39 pm • link • report

The agreement to incorporate the King Farm into Rockville for development was predicated on the transitway which was seen a a wonderful addition to good urban planning and traffic reduction. The detailed layout of King Farm took into consideration the functioning of the transitway so that the neighborhood benefit from this transportation improvement. Now is not the time to go back on the promises the City made to the County and State but also to the residents who supported this approach.NIMBY-ism should not prevail in this important matter.

by Jim Coyle on May 18, 2011 10:11 am • link • report

I bought in King Farm in 2001 - no mention was made of the light rail plan and it is nowhere to be found in the documents provided. Why did King Farm and the builder's hide it? Because they knew people who pay hundred's of thousands of dollars for a condo, town home or single family would not buy in an area that will become a mass transit pass through.

I am already looking further out for a new home, although I love King Farm, I know from past experience what happens to nice neighborhoods once mass transit comes in.

by Laura Hill on Feb 2, 2012 10:43 am • link • report

Laura, what happens when mass transit comes in and where did you experience this ?

by Michael Stumpf on Feb 2, 2012 10:50 am • link • report

I am already looking further out for a new home, although I love King Farm, I know from past experience what happens to nice neighborhoods once mass transit comes in.

by Laura Hill on Feb 2, 2012 10:43 am

- They get better? Property values rise? New businesses come in? Also this is a light rail line and won't be completely grade separated like the metro?

by X on Feb 2, 2012 10:50 am • link • report

Maybe the word farm in King Farm confused people to believe they are moving to a rural environment. This corrodor is in urgent need to move forward, the very discussion of it is painful and the small minded NIMBY people should stop it. We cannot afford to wait any longer for infrastructure to be build....

by xyz on Feb 2, 2012 10:55 am • link • report

"I am sure this stupid move will be blamed on Virginia somehow. "

Ha.

Really, I don't think there's been any NIMBYISM this egregious anywhere in NoVa that I can think of. In NoVa they are more likely to ask why they can't have a metro rail station without having those terrible hi rises. I mean I know of a few individuals in NoVa who hate transit that much, but they would rarely be caught dead in a neighborhood like King Farm.

by AWalkerInTheCity on Feb 2, 2012 11:35 am • link • report