Posts about Chevy Chase MD
Development
Does redevelopment along transit have to be 18 floors?
Last Friday, I spoke to the Bethesda Chamber of Commerce. My interest spiked when I heard the first speaker, a visiting fellow in Brookings' Metropolitan Policy program, criticize the Planning Department. In his opinion, we were not maximizing the opportunity presented by the Purple Line in Chevy Chase Lake.
Photo by patrickd on Flickr.
Specifically, he referred to the Chevy Chase Land Company's holdings at Connecticut and the Capital Crescent Trail. He mentioned he thought it was critical to maximize the transit investment.
I quickly added a slide to my presentation to address his comments. And what I told the assembled when I had the floor was that there is no transit system in the world that creates 18-story buildings at every transit stop. In fact, most transit stops have very little density relative to what the Brookings speaker may have thought is appropriate.
I included in my presentation a video I took at a major intersection in Toronto on a cold spring day around 4 p.m. More than a dozen street cars go through this intersection in about 30 seconds. The buildings are all four floors or less.
This intersection is about 2.0 km from downtown. Count the streetcars going through the intersection in about 35 seconds. Even a guy on a bike. How tall are the buildings? Were we not maximizing the transit investment? Or is this a great example of how transit serves its purpose The same is true for the Toronto subway stations. The one I used for commuting if I did not take a streetcar passed through neighborhoods of three to five-story buildings all along the corridor. The subway line ran under Danforth Ave, including Greektown, an incredibly vibrant 24-hour neighborhood, then continued for miles, with a stop every four blocks or so. (Cue the movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding). In sum, a pedestrian-oriented, active, mixed use, diverse corridor with three-story buildings on top of a subway line with about a dozen stops. Any Toronto resident would say we capitalized on our transit infrastructure. This is the 502 street car line in Toronto I used to ride to work every day. There were two other lines that shared some of the route. It traveled for over 20 km across the width of the city. Check out the buildings that line the street. Ends was a terrific clothing store with some apartments up top. For the most part, the buildings are two and three floors along the route except at major street intersections. During rush hour, you never wait for more than four minutes for a ride.
The point is simple. Not every transit station has to be downtown Silver Spring or Bethesda. In reality, the best transit systems have a very diverse network of transit stops. A month ago, I spoke to residents in Park Hills, located around the Wayne-Dale intersection west of downtown Silver Spring. Great people, willing to listen about change, transition, transit and stable residential neighborhoods. They asked about the changes the Purple Line might bring to the Wayne- Dale intersection in terms of land use. Well, not much, for a number of reasons. For those of us who have run streetcars into new emerging neighborhoods, who rode them each day through vibrant, ethnic, low-scale neighborhoods to reach the 50-story buildings downtown, we understand how transit connects people and neighborhoods. Rockville Pike has a subway under it, and, we hope, terrific bus service in the future. This building height/use relationship is terrific; after a few months, everyone seems happy, except for a few people quoted in the paper saying they are not used to parking in a parking structure to go grocery shopping. (Welcome to the 90s There is road capacity on the Pike. There is an existing transit line with lots of capacity. The location is a major regional shopping node, and it can be designed so that within a block, there are townhouses. Chevy Chase Lake meets none of those characteristics. In Chevy Chase Lake: We believe there should be orderly development structured around reasonable expectations of what might and should happen within this small node along a busy street. We have floated the idea that the near-term strategy should reflect the current approvals for development that has existed for many years We also suggest that once the Purple Line is under construction, additional floor area capacity be raised another 750,000 square feet, for a total of just over one million additional square feet. Those recommendations fall right within the Brookings fellow's criteria for upzoning around transit. With the exception of a transit corridor running out of Dallas, I believe he will be hard pressed to say the early ideas for this plan are not building on transit investment. I stated to the Bethesda Chamber that the role of the planning department in master planning was not to increase land values, but to manage expectations. This means creating plans that have both short- and long- term scenarios. It also means setting the stage to maximize real estate where it makes sense, and at a scale appropriate to the immediate environment. I have asked the staff working on several master plans to look at implementing "phased" zoning, where changes are made now in expectation of local potential, and then, when certain conditions and infrastructure change occur, maybe additional capacity is freed up. In this way, the community understands how the future landscape can evolve over time, and builders and landowners realize how their land holdings may develop over the next five, 10 and 20 years. The County has had many master plans built on grand visions that had little basis in reality. Not every commercial area has the potential of White Flint, not even the area north of Montrose, as I wrote about a few weeks ago. And this is a good thing. MoCo is very fortunate to have such a diverse set of neighborhoods. Our planning efforts should capitalize on the individuality of each of those communities to help them grow and thrive and, more importantly, help the diverse people living in our communities realize the potential of their neighborhoods.
Photo by Geof Burbridge.
The new JBG building, just under 300 feet high, stands a block away from townhouses on Woodglen Drive, which are across the street from a seven-story building that houses a new Whole Foods on the ground floor.
Planner Elza Hisel-McCoy narrates a presentation explaining the Planning Department's preliminary recommendations for the Chevy Chase Lake Sector Plan.
Pedestrians
How pedestrians "interfere with traffic"
Videographer Jay Mallin was outraged when Prince William County gave a man a ticket for "interfering with traffic" after he was hit trying to cross Route 1 in Woodbridge. He created this great video of how many of our suburban areas ignore the needs of people on foot:
In that area of Woodbridge, the nearest marked crosswalk is a half mile away or more, and not visible due to a hill. Mallin goes to other areas of Bethesda and Chevy Chase where getting to a bus stop also requires crossing Wisconsin Avenue where there are no marked crosswalks in sight.
The Woodbridge area where Mallin tried to cross does have an intersection nearby without a marked crosswalk. Technically, this counts as an unmarked crosswalk, and pedestrians could legally cross here, though it's no safer than crossing anywhere else in the middle of the street.
(Comment)
Roads
Maryland SHA pushing stupid growth on Connecticut Avenue
As part of their proposals for BRAC-related infrastructure adjustments, the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) proposed adding an extra reversible lane on Connecticut Avenue between the Beltway and Manor lane. No matter the area, the state's highwaymen continue floating more lanes as the solution to every problem, despite reversible lanes' poor track record in Silver Spring.
Silver Spring. Photo by thisisbossi.
The new lane would eliminate the need to widen the road near Jones Bridge Road, making the previously discussed demolition of five houses along Connecticut Avenue unnecessary, although the existing median would have to be eliminated.A friend of a friend who lives on Connecticut Avenue between the Beltway and Jones Bridge Road recently received a letter from the Maryland SHA telling him that he might have to sell his house in order to make way for another two lanes of car traffic. Fortunately, it would appear that the state has decided against this option. However, why do they need to widen the road? Maryland does need some infrastructure adjustments to accommodate the upcoming BRAC-related jobs moves. However, why are they so focused on cars and traffic? After all, if you only plan for more cars and traffic, you only get more cars and traffic.
Fortunately, the scope of the road widening projects around the county is being reduced:
Several of the changes reduce the scope of the projects. They include eliminating proposed widening of Rockville Pike south of Jones Bridge Road near Glenbrook Village and adjacent to the Boy Scouts of the National Capital Area Council building and eliminating a proposed right-turn-only lane on Oakmont Avenue at the intersection of West Cedar Lane and Old Georgetown Road. Lane widths along the Pike at Cedar Lane and Jones Bridge Road would also be reduced.However, despite the scaling back of the road projects, they will still induce more traffic. Just like with the misguided proposal to widen I-270, the existence of the wider road will cause more people with the choice to drive their car rather than take transit. Also, the wider roads will incentivize potential residential real estate buyers to live farther from their jobs. All the extra motorists will jam up the road. Just like with the I-270 widening from the late 1980's, the county will be right back at square one with traffic congestion. All the money that was spent on roads with the intention of relieving traffic will have gone right down the toilet. On top of that, the county/state will have a larger road maintenance bill, and the wider roads will make it less likely that more energy-saving walkable urban human settlements will ever be built near the widened traffic-sewer roads. It's the gift that keeps on giving.
Local residents understand the correlation between road widening, increased traffic, and demand for more road widening in response. They are appropriately skeptical:
While he [Andy Scott, special assistant for economic development to Acting State Transportation Secretary Beverley K. Swaim-Staley] said SHA should "fast track" the Connecticut Avenue and Jones Bridge Road intersection study because of the possibility of property seizures, Ken Strickland of the Chevy Chase Valley Citizens Association also asked SHA to look at the intersections comprehensively, such as improving access onto Jones Bridge Road eastbound for residents of his neighborhood.Adding the extra lane on Connecticut Avenue would make the road even more of a traffic sewer than it already is. Rather than focusing on cars and traffic, we need to focus on moving people. The recent change in the language about the proposal to improve access allowing for a second entrance to the Medical Center Metro from the eastern side of Rockville Pike rather than only a pedestrian tunnel under the road is a step in the right direction. Adding additional Metro stations on the western Red Line in order to increase the land in walking distance to transit that serves Medical Center is another good strategy to move more people. Building the Purple Line so more people are connected to the western Red Line with rail transit is another such strategy. Improving MARC service from Frederick is another strategy. There are many ways, both large and incremental, that can move people to the new jobs surrounding the Medical Center Metro. Road widening projects will cost as much or more as similarly scaled transit projects, move fewer people, and will eventually choke on their own induced traffic."We don't want to revisit this in three years," Strickland warned officials about the intersections.
Transit
Madaleno opposes Jones Bridge BRT in public, supports it in private
Last week, I wrote about how Maryland State Senator Richard Madaleno's (D-District 18, Montgomery) position against transit funding and in favor of HOT lanes was "penny-wise and pound-foolish." More recently, he has been opposing a BRT Purple Line on Jones Bridge Road in public, while accompanying pro-BRT on Jones Bridge representatives from the Town of Chevy Chase to meet with Governor O'Malley (D) in private, according to the Action Committee for Transit (PDF).
Map of BRT on Jones Bridge Road. Image by BeyondDC.
In testimony and public statements, Sen. Madaleno has opposed the plan to convert two lanes of Jones Bridge Road into a Bus Rapid Transit line....The Town of Chevy Chase has opposed the Purple Line for 20 years. When the political calculus appeared to start to favor the construction of the Purple Line, a proposal for "Bus Rapid Transit" on Jones Bridge Road appeared as part of the Purple Line study.But ACT has learned that Sen. Madaleno recently accompanied Town of Chevy Chase officials on an unpublicized visit to Governor Martin O'Malley to lobby in favor of the busway. The town strongly favors the Jones Bridge Road busway, which it has spent more than $400,000 to promote.
Meanwhile Town of Chevy Chase residents have raised questions on a local listserv about whether the Madaleno meeting violated open meeting rules. A listserv contributor cited reports that three of the town's five council members had attended the meeting and asked whether what might amount to a council meeting had complied with open meeting laws.
Since then, the Prince George's and Montgomery County councils both unanimously voted in favor of a Light Rail Purple Line. Both County Executives have signed off on those council resolutions. It is most likely that Governor O'Malley would select the locally preferred alternative. In the New Starts process, a governor's decision that is contrary to the locally preferred alternative is not regarded favorably. The Purple Line will be competing for scarce federal funds and needs to conform to FTA metrics as much as possible in order to be successful.
Why would Mr. Madaleno say one thing in public and another in private? His district encompasses Chevy Chase, Kensington, western Silver Spring (Woodside), and Wheaton. (Disclosure: I reside in District 18.) Support for the Purple Line is high within District 18. The few pockets of opposition come from the Town of Chevy Chase. Why would an elected official say something in public that pleases a majority of his constituents while doing something in private that pleases less than 100 at the expense of thousands?
Also, why would a state level representative of Montgomery County privately lobby for things that are contrary to the will of the duly elected county government of his district? Both Montgomery and Prince George's counties have been working for many decades to make the Purple Line a reality. Bus Rapid Transit on Jones Bridge Road would not work because the buses would be stuck in heavy rush hour automobile traffic and is a bad idea for many other reasons. Being penny-wise and pound-foolish is one thing. Representing the will of a handful of constituents against the wishes of thousands of others is a whole other can of worms.
Mr. Madaleno should cut out the back-door lobbying on behalf of a small constituency of anti-neighbors and work hard in Annapolis to make sure that the will of the majority of the citizens of District 18, Montgomery County, and the Montgomery and Prince George's County Councils come to fruition. The Washington region, including District and Virginia residents, Maryland as a whole, and our daily lives will become more economically vibrant and ecologically sustainable with a rail Purple Line.
Roads
Afternoon Links: University vs. Residents
By ElvertBarnes on Flickr
Roads
Design for speed, collect the dough
Maryland is considering a bill to allow more speed cameras throughout the state. Supporters argue that the goal is safety, while opponents claim that local jurisdictions use the cameras more as a revenue tool than anything else. They're both right.
Logo for Montgomery County's speed camera program.
Lon Anderson, director of public and government affairs at AAA Mid-Atlantic, felt that Chevy Chase had taken advantage of the pilot program by designating Connecticut Avenue, a six-lane boulevard that leads into Washington, as a "neighborhood street." Last year, the city reported $1.2 million dollars in earnings from the cameras, he said.I actually agree with Lon this time. Chevy Chase, and Montgomery in general, has created a double standard with Connecticut. On the one hand, it's a huge, six-lane road with
The average driver would argue that we need a higher speed limit. Maybe. But there's another side to this coin: If the road didn't feel like such a freeway, people would drive slower even without the speed traps. As soon as drivers cross into DC, they slow down. That's not because the speed limit drops, but because the road feels slower. Lanes are narrower. Buildings come right up to the sidewalk. All of the visual cues tell drivers that this is a 25- or 30-mph area instead of a 50-mph area.
If Montgomery County or Chevy Chase Village wants a 30-mph neighborhood street, they ought to design one. Unfortunately, Montgomery is moving the opposite direction. The recent Road Code, which our buddy Lon helped write, bans trees in the medians of boulevards to avoid narrowing drivers' fields of vision. The longer sight lines from treeless medians encourages faster driving. If Maryland officials are serious about slowing traffic instead of just raking in the dough in Chevy Chase, they'd allow trees and start slowing drivers by designing slower streets from the start.
Public Spaces
Town of Chevy Chase takes ball, goes home, calls referee a cheat
The Town of Chevy Chase's official comments (large PDF) on the Purple Line DEIS
take up about 50 pages plus 90 pages of attachments. Citing many sources and statutes, it appears written by lawyers. Presumably that's the work of their pro bono attorneys from nationally prominent law firm Sidley Austin, whose policy of helping needy organizations seems to extend to DC's richest towns. The comments basically attack (or should we say, declare war on) Maryland MTA's analysis.
Charlotte LYNX light rail. Photo by James Willamor on Flickr.
The entire document tries to poke holes in the MTA's data, methodology, and statistics. Given the legalistic tone of the document, I'm concerned that the Town and Sidley Austin are trying to build a case for challenging the DEIS in court. They may argue that the MTA broke the law by intentionally rigging the study against the Town's preferred alternative, Low Investment BRT.
The Action Committee for Transit has a non-technical analysis of Town's preferred Jones Bridge Road alternative. Not only would such a route have to fight through heavy automobile traffic, it would run right in front of North Chevy Chase Elementary School. A train bus would pass the school every 30 seconds to two minutes, at 40 miles per hour. Meanwhile, the Town of Chevy Chase recently voted to lower the speed limit in front of Chevy Chase Elementary School to 15 miles per hour. Won't someone please think of the children?
Meanwhile, that alternative would also send buses on the Georgetown Branch (future Capital Crescent Trail and Purple Line) east of Jones Mill Road. Apparently they want to "save" the trail only along the border of the Town of Chevy Chase and the Columbia Country Club. Meanwhile, our region will get more sprawl, automobile emissions, and will lose the opportunity to encourage more energy-saving transit-oriented development. All so a handful of people can continue to use public land as their little private park.
The Town included 90 pages of attachments to reinforce the argument that the MTA intentionally rigged the study. However, some of them support the opposite conclusion. On page 52 of the comments, there is a letter from the MTA to the Town responding to a request for more technical information about the light rail alternatives. Maybe a Sidley Austin lawyer can explain how this letter "proves" that the state rigged the study.
On page 59, there is a letter from the Washington Area Bicyclist Association to Montgomery Park and Planning outlining specific technical concerns for the future Capital Crescent Trail. The letter talks about speed limits on the future trail and ways for cyclists and pedestrians to coexist. WABA has endorsed the light rail Purple Line. They know that building the train is the only way to complete the Capital Crescent Trail into Silver Spring.
Page 69 is a letter by Town of Chevy Chase resident Mr. David Saltzman, Ph.D. in physics. I have a B.S. in physics, giving me a particular personal interest in this letter. Saltzman writes, "As a physicist I have to respect the hard data," then manipulates the data to support his conclusion. He insists that BRT is always "cleaner" or "greener" than light rail. But the initial boundary conditions of the analysis use numbers and assumptions that essentially guarantee that the result will support the author's thesis. It's circular reasoning. Saltzman's analysis ignores the fact that you can hold more people on one rail car than a bus. Nor does it account for the fact that you can put multiple rail cars together to form a train. His analysis does not consider that transit-oriented neighborhoods use less energy, that water lines are much more efficient in a walkable place, and so on.
According to the Action Committee for Transit, "pro-bus think tank" World Research Institute analyzed light rail versus buses. Light rail beat the bus alternatives on five of the six pollutants they analyzed. And:
WRI found that light rail's performance on CO2 (although still worse than bus) was better than stated in the DEISDid any of you take your ball and go home when you were losing a pick-up basketball game as a kid? Did you then turn around and accuse everyone else of cheating? I bet the other kids were really glad that you couldn't secure pro bono legal counsel to block the basketball game. The Town of Chevy Chase, however, is a different story.— the added emissions would be only half as much. Furthermore, the DEIS and WRI analyses only include direct changes in energy emissions from transportation — they omit the indirect effects of mass transit in changing land use. A recent government-funded study carried out by the American Public Transportation Association finds that the indirect effects of transit on CO2 emissions are four times larger than the direct effects.
@ggwash
- Successful speed cameras require fair speed limits
- Amid scandal, don't lose sight of Gray's policy achievements
- Montgomery plans 160-mile, "gold standard" BRT system
- VDOT ignores own data, pushes widening I-66
- DC's parks are 5th best in the nation, says "Park Score"
- Bethesda gets new but terrible bike racks
- DC's divide need not be black and white
Greater Washington
District of Columbia
