Hanson floats toll idea for congestion

Report on worst intersections leads planners to consider a new approach to traffic control

Hanson suggested the time may be coming in Montgomery County to consider new traffic management approaches ‘‘rather than continue to do what we’re doing.”

His remarks came during a Planning Board meeting on Thursday at which planning staff presented the 2008 Highway Mobility Report. The report identifies the 10 most congested intersections in the county and discusses traffic trends and needs countywide.

The report’s data shows little or no progress in reducing overall traffic congestion in the county during the study period of 2004 to 2012 and raises ‘‘serious questions about the extent to which we want to improve traffic flow at intersections versus moving to a system of congestion pricing,” Hanson said.

Other members of the Planning Board agreed that the trends highlighted in the report indicate it could be time to consider a change in the county’s approach to improving traffic flow.

The Muddy Branch Road-Great Seneca Highway intersection in Gaithersburg headed the planners’ list of the 10 traffic crossings most likely to set drivers’ teeth gnashing. The others where traffic is most likely to flow at a glacial pace include: Georgia Avenue at Randolph Road in second place; Route 355 at King Boulevard, third; Connecticut Avenue at Jones Bridge Road, fourth; and Rockville Pike at West Cedar Lane, fifth.

The role of congested intersections is one of the most prominent parts of the mobility report that also found about one in seven intersections in the county, or 14 percent, is carrying excessive traffic, according to standards in the county’s new rules governing growth. The report also found trends showing that the county’s transportation capacity is running about even with the rate of new development, meaning that congestion remains excessive in many areas.

The report also confirmed an earlier decision designating the area of Germantown east of Interstate 270 as land requiring developers to meet tough — some critics call them impossible — traffic mitigation standards before construction can proceed.

The report also identified three other areas requiring the stiff standards: Gaithersburg, Montgomery Village⁄Airpark and North Potomac.

The report identified 11 other areas requiring weaker traffic mitigation steps. They include Bethesda⁄Chevy Chase, Potomac, Rockville and Silver Spring⁄Takoma Park.

County planners’ designation of the intersection of Muddy Branch Road and Great Seneca Highway as the most congested came as no surprise to some customers at a nearby Starbucks in Muddy Branch Square shopping center on Monday.

The mere mention of the intersection drew immediate frowns and grumbling.

‘‘The left turn lights are not long enough,” said Lexis Kastanis of Gaithersburg. ‘‘I guess you could say there’s just too many cars for that road.”

‘‘People put flowers there after accidents,” said Mona Serino, also of Gaithersburg.

Her husband, Vincent Serino, said most people resisted the temptation to try to accelerate through the intersection before the light turns red, but automated cameras at the intersection ‘‘might discourage those one or two idiots” who can cause an accident.

While the Serinos and Kastanis weren’t surprised to learn about the designation of the intersection as the worst in the county, others disputed some of the math used in the mobility report.

Marilyn Balcombe, president and CEO of the Gaithersburg-Germantown Chamber of Commerce, said the county is using faulty methods in determining that traffic in the Germantown East area requires 100 percent traffic mitigation. Those requirements are so stringent that they have the practical effect of blocking all development in the area, she said.

The standards involve a list of traffic-limiting options for developers. They include adding roadway capacity, improving transit options, and encouraging commuters to reduce their reliance on cars.

The county, using an analysis called Policy Area Mobility Review, has determined that Germantown, Gaithersburg, the Montgomery Village⁄Airpark area and North Potomac have too much development for their roads to carry. Balcombe argued that the Policy Area Mobility Review fails to distinguish between neighborhoods with good access to buses and light rail and those like Germantown where mass transit is spottier.

Under the mobility formula, heavily populated neighborhoods with good access to mass transit are allowed to have more traffic congestion before they reach a limit that would require traffic mitigation.

‘‘It just doesn’t make sense to apply the same calculation to a suburban neighborhood as it does to an urban setting,” Balcombe said.