A new walkway connecting Triangle Lane to Georgia Avenue in downtown Wheaton opened this month, bringing pleasure to some pedestrians and sparking annoyance in several nearby business owners.
The walkway, located mid-block between Ennalls Avenue and Reedie Drive on Georgia Avenue, aims to greatly improve the flow of pedestrians and provide a crucial connection between Georgia Avenue and Triangle Lane, according to county officials.
And while it has proved useful for walkers in its first week —"It's a nice shortcut," said India Comer, who was using it last week to cut through to Georgia Avenue — business owners on Triangle Lane say it's also been popular with teen skateboarders.
"The walkway? Oh, you mean the skateboard park?" said Bert Walker, owner of Ray Picture Framing, which shares a wall with the walkway on Triangle Lane. Walker pointed to fresh scuff marks on the newly painted rails that he said were made by a plethora of skateboarders.
"If that's a week, imagine what the rails are going to look like in a year," he said.
The other day, The Little Bits Cake Shop co-owner Bob Schilke called the police on a particularly obstinate skateboarder who almost ran him over in the walkway.
"The walkway was a good idea, but now we need to regulate it," Schilke said.
The walkway, which opened Oct. 14, cost around $350,000 to build and grew out of a county-commissioned project on how to improve streetscaping and facades in downtown Wheaton. It connects shops on Georgia Avenue to the parking lot behind them off Triangle Lane. Previously, shoppers had to travel around the row of businesses by walking on Reedie Drive or Ennalls Avenue to get to Georgia Avenue.
The walkway falls under the jurisdiction of the Wheaton Urban District, which means the county can restrict what it's used for, said Gary Stith, the deputy director of the Department of General Services. County police and attorneys are considering banning skateboarding on the walkway, Stith said.
Skateboarding around pedestrians on a steep area with handicapped ramps, steps and handrails can be dangerous and take away from the original purpose of the walkway, Stith said.
"The pedestrian might decide not to go through there, because they're a little intimidated by the skateboarder flying through the air," he said.
Once any regulations for the walkway are decided, signs depicting rules for the walkway will be posted, he said.
Before it even opened, the walkway had its share of controversy.
To make way for it, the much-beloved Barry's Magic Shop, which sat at 11234 Georgia Ave. for 32 years, was demolished. The shop relocated to Rockville with the county's help, but not until after a protracted fight that got several County Council members and congressmen involved on behalf of the shop.
Now that the walkway's open, some residents are calling it a flop.
"Thanks to Montgomery County for another half-hearted attempt to help develop downtown Wheaton," wrote Silver Spring resident Dan Thompson in an Oct. 24 letter to the editor in The Gazette.
The walkway empties out in the middle of Georgia Avenue and not onto a crosswalk or next to a traffic light, doing less, not more, to make pedestrians safe, Thompson said.
And it's too secluded, with businesses towering next to it on either side and visible in its entirety only from the middle of Georgia Avenue or in the parking lot next to Triangle Lane, Walker said.
"Who's going to stand in the middle of Georgia Avenue and look at the walkway?" he said.
"I think the whole thing is ridiculous, to tell you the truth," he said. "It's a tremendous amount of money that could have gone to other purposes."
