Brian Lewis/The Gazette Students who live in Clarksburg Town Center or Clarksburg Highlands must walk to and from Clarksburg High School. Some opt to take Md. 355, even though there are no sidewalks, because it is shorter than the suggested route.

• 
• 
Brian Lewis/The Gazette Students who live in Clarksburg Town Center or Clarksburg Highlands must walk to and from Clarksburg High School. Some opt to take Md. 355, even though there are no sidewalks, because it is shorter than the suggested route.
• 
Brian Lewis/The Gazette Students who live in Clarksburg Town Center or Clarksburg Highlands must walk to and from Clarksburg High School. Some opt to take Md. 355, even though there are no sidewalks, because it is shorter than the suggested route.
• 
Brian Lewis/The Gazette Students who live in Clarksburg Town Center or Clarksburg Highlands must walk to and from Clarksburg High School. Some opt to take Md. 355, even though there are no sidewalks, because it is shorter than the suggested route.

Brian Lewis/The Gazette Students who live in Clarksburg Town Center or Clarksburg Highlands must walk to and from Clarksburg High School. Some opt to take Md. 355, even though there are no sidewalks, because it is shorter than the suggested route.

<< Prev

Next >>

More News

Mixed-use development proposed for Laurel’s arts district

Thurmont to ask Congress to reimburse money spent during G-8

Takoma Park police aim to catch fleeing thieves

State chamber: Income tax hike will unfairly hurt Montgomery

Push for Shady Grove arena refueled

Clarksburg parents hope Montgomery County will pay for a path along Md. 355 so their children can safely walk to school, rather than taking a longer, approved route.

Montgomery County Public Schools does not provide bus transportation to students living within 2 miles of a high school or 1.5 miles of a middle school, as long as students have a safe path to the school. As such, students who live in the Clarksburg Town Center or Clarksburg Highlands neighborhoods are expected to walk to school.

They walk along Md. 355 — although there is no sidewalk or path — because it is the shortest route.

“For almost eight years now, I’ve been saying, ‘What does it take to get sidewalks? Does someone have to get killed?” asked Laurie Broseker, who lives in Clarksburg Town Center and usually drives her teenage children to school.

“My son will say he’s staying after school and will walk home, and I say, ‘No you’re not,’” Broseker said.

Now, the county Department of Transportation is studying the design of a hiker-biker trail along the west side of Md. 355 from Brink Road to Stringtown Road, said Bruce Johnston, chief of the department’s Division of Transportation Engineering.

The two-year study, expected to be completed this summer, will cost $702,000, he said. An 8-foot-wide, 2.5-mile trail would cost between $2 million and $2.4 million to build.

Johnston said he does not know whether the project will make the final cut when County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) submits his budget proposal on Jan. 15.

“There’s a lot of competition in this year’s [capital budget],” he said.

The State Highway Administration had studied building a sidewalk from Wims Road to Stringtown Road at the request of the Clarksburg PTAs in 2009 and found numerous problems: The state does not own all of the rights of way, utilities would have to be relocated, trees would have to be removed, curbs would have to be built and retaining walls would have to be constructed to deal with drainage issues, SHA spokesman Charlie Gischlar said.

Clarksburg High School Principal James Koutsos agreed that Md. 355 is not safe for walkers. Students are supposed to walk through the Clarksburg Village community and along Foreman Boulevard to cross at a traffic light.

Students’ other solution is to ride with classmates who are not legally supposed to drive passengers, Broseker said.

“Our community has to rally around this,” she said.

ssingerbart@gazette.net