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Construction traffic for school worries Walnut Hill residents

MCPS works to alleviate concerns surrounding long-awaited addition to Washington Grove Elementary

Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2006

A project aimed at increasing classroom space for Washington Grove Elementary School in Gaithersburg could boost already hazardous traffic in the surrounding neighborhood, some residents say.

The $13.9 million improvement project will add 14 classrooms and eliminate nine portables. Construction is slated to last from this July to August 2008.

During a public meeting earlier this month, numerous Walnut Hill residents warned Montgomery County Public School officials that a tentative plan to move heavy equipment through their neighborhood could endanger pedestrians, many of whom walk in the street because there are no sidewalks.

Brian K. Edwards, MCPS spokesman, said school officials currently are seeking alternate routes.

‘‘We are aware of the community’s concerns for regular access to the school site and we’re actively working to see if we can resolve those issues,” he said.

Leo Kabatt, president of the Walnut Hill Citizens Association, said it’s strictly traffic issues, not school improvement, that riled area residents.

‘‘They want to expand the elementary, and I don’t think there’s anybody in the neighborhood that’s opposed to that. It’s a nice school and our children go there,” he said.

However, the streets are already clogged with people parking their cars on both sides of the street, Kabatt said. He recalled situations where 18-wheelers would get stuck in Walnut Hill while trying to cut through to Oakmont Street.

‘‘We have a safety issue here, a traffic issue and this construction, which would add to that,” Kabatt said. ‘‘We feel we have a nice neighborhood and we’d like to keep it that way.”

Kabatt suggested the equipment travel along commercial streets, like Oakmont Street. School officials are investigating those options, but use of Oakmont, portions of which are privately owned, will require permission from the industrial property owners.

‘‘We’re still exploring these options and we have to work with the neighborhood representatives and county officials once we identify what are our available routes,” said Sean Gallagher, assistant director of the MCPS department of facilities management. ‘‘Obviously, we’ll take every precaution possible to make it a safe project and minimize the impact to the neighborhood.”

The upgrade has been in the works since before 2004, and will add six regular classrooms, five kindergarten classrooms and three special education classrooms. No new jobs will be added as part of the upgrade, Gallagher said.

The construction is the first in a two-phase improvement project, with Phase II work scheduled from August 2008 to August 2009.

Phase II improvements include resolving air quality issues by demolishing and rebuilding a wing containing six classrooms. The wing was constructed over an underground stream, and the method of engineering has consistently caused mold problems, said Susan Barranger, principal of Washington Grove Elementary.

Funding has not yet been allotted for Phase II.

‘‘We’re very, very excited. It has been a long time coming,” Barranger said.

Washington Grove Elementary was originally constructed in 1956. It has 21 classrooms and houses 42 professional staff members and about 400 students.