495-270 Expansion Public Meeting near Mount Rainier

I'm writing to call your attention to an upcoming series of meetings on the badly misguided proposal to invest billions of dollars in widening I-270 and I-495. This is a huge diversion of resources from communities needing reinvestment that creates additional equity problems by incentivizing and subsidizing driving, which many people cannot afford, instead of prioritizing projects that serve people instead of automobiles. Oh, and building. new. highway. lanes. does. not. reduce. traffic.  

I encourage you to speak out against this boondoggle. In their haste to build new highways, MDOT has already dropped the transit alternatives and is moving forward with only options that add lanes:

MDOT SHA recommends Alternatives 1, 5, 8, 9, 10, 13B, and 13C be carried forward for further analysis and environmental evaluation. All alternatives, other than the No Build, include managed lanes, either High Occupancy Toll Lanes also known as HOT lanes or Express Toll Lanes also known as ETLs, combine congestion pricing and lane management to control the number of vehicles entering the lane to keep traffic flowing. Link: Screened Alternatives

Thursday, April 11, 2019

6:30 pm – 8:30 pm

Prince George’s Sports
and Learning Complex
8001 Sheriff Rd
Landover, MD 20785

PLANNING BOARD BUDGET FORUM - October 1

Passing this on to Mount Rainer folks...

PLANNING BOARD BUDGET FORUM

The Prince George’s County Planning Board of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) has scheduled two public forums this fall to solicit comments on the Commission’s budget for planning, parks, and recreation in Prince George’s County for the next fiscal year which begins July 1, 2019.

Monday, October 1, 7pm-9pm. Department of Parks and Recreation Administration Building – Auditorium 6600 Kenilworth Avenue, Riverdale. Tuesday, October 2, 7pm-9pm. Harmony Hall Regional Center – John Addison Concert Hall. 10701 Livingston Road, Fort Washington.

Individuals and representatives of community organizations who wish to speak at the public forum may register in advance online at www.pgplanningboard.org or by calling 301-952-4584, TTY 301-952-4366. Written comments will also be accepted until the close of business on Tuesday, October 16. Comments may be addressed to: Elizabeht M. Hewlett, Chairman, Prince George’s County Planning Board, 14741 Governor Oden Bowie Drive, Upper Marlboro, Maryland 20772. Comments may also be faxed to Chairman Hewlett at 301-952-5074 or via email to Public Affairs@ppd.mncppc.org

The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission encourages the participation of persons with disabilities in all its programs and services. For special assistance (ie: large print materials, assistive listening devices, sign language interpretation, etc) call the Public Affairs Office at 301-952-4584

PGC Zoning Ordinance Rewrite

Just a reminder that Prince George's County is rewriting the Zoning Ordinance for the first time in 50 years. This is a good thing! The new plan will make it a lot easier to get the kind of redevelopment we want and need in older communities like Mount Rainier.

The County Council reconvenes on Tuesday, September 4, 2018 and will begin considering the bills that together make-up the legislation needed to enact the zoning rewrite. The Council must wrap up its business 30 days from the November 6, 2018 election, leaving only about five weeks to get the Zoning Ordinance amended and passed. Resident voices will be needed to get the rewrite over the finish line, so I encourage you to tune in!

Keep up with the progress of the new plan at the Zoning Ordinance Rewrite Portal.

PGC Strategic Trails Plan

The Parks Department has released a draft Strategic Trails Plan, with a public comment period running through September 7, 2018. There's a lot to like in the Strategic Trails Plan Part 1 - Plan Summary, Priorities, and Recommendations (PDF) including recommendations for improving the trail network by filling in gaps, and recommendations to increase the utility of certain trails for transportation. If you care about off road trails for walking and cycling, please send comments to Robert.Patten@pgparks.com. Subject Line: Strategic Trails Plan.

There are two major trail improvements expected to come online in 2019, bith in the Anacostia River Tributary Trails Network:

• The Little Paint Branch Extension Project that will connect, via Cherry Hill Road, the existing Paint Branch Trail through College Park to the existing Little Paint Branch Trail in Beltsville.
• The College Park Woods Connector Trail that will link the existing Paint Branch Trail in College Park to the College Park Woods neighborhood to the West.

Map of College Park Woods Connector Trail

MDOT Workshop on Beltway Sprawl Plan - July 24

As you may be aware, Governor Hogan has proposed adding toll lanes to I-270 and I-495 to "reduce congestion." Aside from the fact that widening roads doesn't decrease traffic, this multi-billion dollar outlay would be better directed to improving service in existing high capacity networks such as MARC train, Metro rail and bus, and regional bus. Let's make existing things better and more useful before building new things (especially new things that don't work, like new lanes on highways).

MDOT is hosting a series of workshops that is one of the first opportunities for the public to weigh in. From https://495-270-p3.com/your-participation/upcoming-events/ -

MDOT SHA is hosting a series of public workshops in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties to present:

• Study status and schedule;
• Purpose and Need summary;
• Preliminary Range of Alternatives developed from the scoping process; and
• Screening Criteria to evaluate the alternatives

The meeting formats will include static board displays, scheduled general presentations, and small working group tables. The general presentations will occur at 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and last approximately 30 minutes. The boards and small working group tables will be available throughout the meeting with technical staff available for discussion of comments and questions. Alternative descriptions and simple graphics featuring typical details of the potential improvements will be presented. Environmental and property information will not be available at this stage of the study.  A virtual workshop will also be available on the program website 495-270-p3.com starting July 17, 2018.

Tuesday, July 24, 2018
Central High School
200 Cabin Branch Road
Capitol Heights, MD 20743

Regional Transit Survey

I recently completed the Regional Travel Survey, an important tool from The National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board. TPB has conducted this type of household travel survey once every decade since 1968. Keep your eyes on your snail mail in case you are selected and sent a packet.

If you are selected to participate, please do! The information collected is absolutely critical to regional planning decisions around transit and transportation. As a Greater Greater Washington contributor I am obviously a transportation policy enthusiast, but I promise the survey is worth your time too.

The survey begins with a brief online form to get baseline info about the travel patterns of you and your household, and then you are assigned a future day on which you are asked to track all of your trips. I ended up being assigned a day that was very different than my regular commute, but I walked, drove, rode MARC to Baltimore, and took buses while in Baltimore City. That is a lot of transit modes in one day, which should be interesting info for transportation planners.