For Immediate Release: Monday, March 20, 2017
Montgomery Council committee to
discuss transportation and staging
for proposed Bethesda Downtown plan
On Monday, March 20: Montgomery College facilities
ROCKVILLE, Md., March 17, 2017—The Montgomery County Council’s Planning, Housing and Economic Development (PHED) Committee at 2 p.m. on Monday, March 20, will discuss transportation and staging issues related to the proposed Bethesda Downtown Sector Plan. Staging refers to requiring certain infrastructure to be in place before approval is given for development.
The PHED Committee, which is chaired by Councilmember Nancy Floreen and includes Councilmembers George Leventhal and Hans Riemer, will meet in the Seventh Floor Conference Room of the Council Office Building at 100 Maryland Ave. in Rockville.
Regarding transportation issues on the Bethesda Plan, on Feb. 27 the committee did not reach a conclusion about the three gateway intersections that fail the Subdivision Staging Policy (SSP) peak-period delay threshold of 80 seconds per vehicle. Each intersection fails today, but the congestion will increase at each of them with the buildout of the Bethesda Plan unless there is a combination of physical improvements to the intersections and a more aggressive transit and travel demand management strategy.
The committee also has been left to consider two differing traffic studies about the plan. The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission hired a traffic consultant, as did the Town of Chevy Chase. Each presented theories of congestion based on their methodology, but they reached very different conclusions on some major issues.
The committee will again take up potential maximum heights of specific buildings along Wisconsin Avenue.
Public benefits that would be required as part of the plan also will be discussed on Monday. Those benefits include affordable housing and public open space.
At 2 p.m. in the Third Floor Conference Room, the Education Committee, which is chaired by Councilmember Craig Rice and includes Councilmembers Marc Elrich and Nancy Navarro, will address Capital Improvements funding for Montgomery College.
The meeting of the Education Committee will be will be televised live by County Cable Montgomery (CCM), which can be viewed on Cable Channels 996 (high definition) and 6 (standard definition) on Comcast; Channels 1056 (HD) and 6 (SD) on RCN; and Channel 30 on Verizon. The sessions also will be available live via streaming through the Council web site at http://tinyurl.com/z9982v8 .
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Release ID: 17-090