More News

The Montgomery County Department of Transportation held a public meeting Oct. 27 to review plans for a project to add multiple use lanes to Bradley Boulevard between Wilson Lane and Goldsboro Road. The concept started out several years ago in response to a request to look into a sidewalk along this stretch of road. What has ensued is an elaborate plan to add not a sidewalk, but multiple routes for varying degrees of bicycle speeds, shared pedestrian paths, ditches, and transition strips.

The county, along with the engineering firm that was hired to study the project, have taken a simple request and created what amounts to the Montgomery County version of a "Bridge to Nowhere," during a time when the county is trying to find ways to close a $370 million budget deficit.

There was no alternative proposed that simply added a sidewalk to either side of the study area. An issue that was raised early in the process was creating safe access to downtown Bethesda for Kenwood Park residents. If the county has that kind of money to burn, why not just build a sidewalk on the southern portion of this route with crosswalks at Wilson Lane and Goldsboro Road?

Because of the elaborate nature of the proposed paths, a large number of existing mature trees along Bradley Boulevard will be destroyed. A checklist accompanying the impact study indicated that land values would not be altered as a result of the project. How was this determined? During the Oct. 27 meeting, the issue of snow removal responsibility was brought up. A posting was added to the project Web site for Montgomery County, stating that the county code holds property owners adjacent to shared use paths responsible for snow removal. Given the intrusive nature of the project, along with the added liability that comes with the associated snow removal responsibility for a 12-foot wide path, property values will be affected.

An environmental impact checklist that was completed by the project team indicates that traffic flow and volume will not be affected. How can this be the case when there will be additional lanes that have to crossed when entering and exiting Bradley Boulevard along this stretch?

A considerable amount of time has been spent by the project team assembling the overdone alternatives, however the public was provided with only a two week period following the meeting to respond.

The concepts developed by the project participants for building along Bradley are an extravagant indulgence that the county cannot afford.

Janet and Eric Schroeder, Bethesda