There’s no doubt that we are thinking big in White Flint. However, as Indianapolis-based blog Urban Indy recently pointed out, sometimes it’s easy to forget that the little things make a big difference in the way people experience a place. As we reported previously, the Downtown Advisory Committee has begun thinking about these very issues, from street trees to sidewalk materials to what the trash cans will look like.…
Part of an occasional series looking at how the new White Flint will come together.
Cranes are rising over White Flint as the vision of the White Flint Sector Plan becomes a reality. But while some projects are humming along towards opening day, others are proceeding more slowly. In our next Timeline post, let’s take a look at the status of four local developments in various stages of planning and construction.…
Earlier this month, NYC’s Department of Transportation released a major report, “Making Safer Streets” which outlines the various ways the department has re-imagined and redesigned their streets. The results include:
30% decline in fatalities since 2001
29% decline in people killed or severely injured since 2001
1,000 NYC lives have been saved by the decrease in traffic fatalities since 2001—including pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists, drivers, and passengers
The overarching aspect of safer streets is “[creating] the opportunity for drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists to move through the street network simply and easily, minimizing the unexpected, the confusing, and the potential for surprises.” More specifically, here are the five basic principles highlighted in the report:
Make the street easy to use by accommodating desire lines and minimizing the complexity of driving, walking, and biking, thus reducing crash risk by providing a direct, simple way to move through the street network.
Yesterday, the Montgomery County Council unanimously approved the 10-route, 81-mile Bus Rapid Transit system we have been working toward. Now that the routes are set, the more detailed work begins on the treatments for them. Public engagement is going to be necessary moving forward, with advisory groups for each route. We’ll keep you posted as things develop but, in the meantime, find more details on Greater Greater Washington!…
We’re really excited that Montgomery County now has Capital Bikeshare, and have written (a lot) about the many benefits of bicycle-friendly communities. However, as our community shifts from being auto-dominant to having more complete streets, there is a learning curve. Safety has been a concern throughout the process.…
Last week BethesdaNow.com, a newsblog featuring local and breaking news, ran an opinion piece questioning aspects of Bus Rapid Transit, particularly along the southern stretch of MD355. I had the opportunity to submit a counterpoint:
A letter from the Board of Education that was sent to the Planning Board at the request of Montgomery County Public Schools was the highlight of a Garrett Park Estates/White Flint Park Citizen’s Association meeting on Wednesday. Accordingly, Bruce Crispell, director of long range planning for MCPS, as well as Nkosi Yearwood and Brooke Farquhar from the Planning and Parks departments were there to explain the history of the school site and answer questions.…
One of the challenges in transforming White Flint into an urban place is that it largely developed after World War II, when car culture really took hold. Not only are there lots of big, fast roads and strip malls that are hard to navigate without a car, but there are fewer examples of how to redesign it.…
November 21st, 2013 will mark Montgomery County’s first Open Data Town Hall at the Bethesda/Chevy Chase Regional Services Center (located at 4805 Edgemoor Lane, Bethesda) from 7 to 9 p.m. The Innovation Program is excited to host this event. All Montgomery County residents are welcome.
The goal of the Open Data Town Hall is to gather information from residents about the types of data they would like to have available on our open data platform, dataMontgomery.…
The White Flint Downtown Advisory Committee met again on November 12th to continue discussing how to make the area a great downtown destination. In fact, Jeff Burton, deputy executive director of the Bethesda Urban Partnership (BUP) came to the meeting to discuss just that with members of the committee. The discussion started with the Bethesda Streetscape Plan, created in the early 90s to give Bethesda a specific feel.…
