Author: michelledesiderio

Save the date for the 2nd annual Montgomery Hills Street Fest.  The Fest is Saturday, September 21st from 3-7 pm.

It was frustrating and disappointing to hear that the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) decided to not file for a federal BUILD grant to help fund the Georgia Ave improvements.  But we still have an opportunity to convince State and County officials that the Georgia Ave improvements are worthy of funding. This makes the Straat Fest this year even more important!

Residents from the neighborhoods adjoining Montgomery Hills, the geographic area surrounding Georgia Avenue from 16th Street to Forest Glen Road, will gather on Sat., Sept. 21, 2019, at the 2nd Annual Montgomery Hills Street Fest, to generate support for fixing the unsafe, congested seven-lane roadway, improving pedestrian access, and enhancing the retail environment. More than one dozen elected officials, including Rep. Jamie Raskin (MD-08), State Delegates from District 18 and 20, Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich and Councilmember Tom Hucker, are expected to join the gathering to hear locals’ opinions on why funding the redesign of Georgia Ave. should be a top priority. Attendees will also experience all Montgomery Hills has to offer, including food from area establishments, beer from our local breweries, and a variety of entertainment including carnival games (from local PTAs), and neighborhood bands.

We will post updates here in the upcoming weeks – or you can follow the Fest on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/events/544233966342615.

We can’t wait to see you there!

Letter of Support for BUILD Grant to SHA FINAL

We have made progress and are so close to getting the funding for the Georgia Ave improvements to go from plan to reality.

The State is committing to providing funding. The County has also agreed to provide some cost-share. On our request, the State is considering filing a grant for federal funding. Georgia Ave is one of two projects being considered. But SHA wants to make sure that the improvements have broad support from the community.

Please take a minute to send a letter to SHA Administrator Greg Slater to encourage him to file the grant and implement the road improvements. Below is a rendering of what Georgia Ave could look like. Just imagine how much better it can be!

A sample letter is available at the link above. Feel free to modify this or write your own letter. If you use the sample letter please make sure to personalize it with you name and address and why the improvements are important to you. PLEASE send a copy of your email or letter to us at FixGeorgiaAve@gmail.com and to the elected officials at the bottom of the letter.

Once again it is time for the residents surrounding Georgia Ave from 16^th Street to Forest Glen Road to support the recommendations of Alternative 5B in the MD 97 Georgia Ave Study.

On page 26 of the Forest Glen/Montgomery Hills Sector Plan PUBLIC HEARING DRAFT (dated APRIL 2019) Planning Staff recommendations support the design elements in SHA’s Alternative 5B. We remain solidly in support of the modified Alternative 5B design elements and affirm our strong support for these recommendations.

Please consider sending letters of support via e-mail to MCP-Chair@mncppc-mc.org, faxed to Chair Casey Anderson at 301-495-1320, or addressed to: Casey Anderson, Chair, Montgomery County Planning Board, 8787 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910. Comments must be received by May 29, 2019.

Over 900 residents signed a petition urging SHA to proceed promptly with Alternative 5B. This level and unanimity of support for a SHA project is unprecedented. You can see the signatures along with residents’ support here – or sign for yourself: http://chng.it/K7BhnrXFxM

Over the past year or so we have been working to do everything possible to make sure that the modified Alternative 5B is formally selected by the SHA Administrator, that plans are completed, and that construction and the necessary right-of-way acquisition is fully funded.

The problems of Georgia Ave between 16^th Street and Forest Glen Road have long plagued the neighborhoods and the boulevard solution is not new. In 1927 planners proposed the “boulevarding of Georgia Ave” (See ad above from the [Washington, D.C.] Evening Star, September 17, 1927, page 9, courtesy of WPCA resident Bob Oshel)

Forward forty years, and in the late 1970s, frustrated with the problems created by Georgia Ave, residents drafted their own master plan to fix Georgia Ave.  Consequently, a boulevard design for Georgia Ave was proposed by Planning in the 1978 North Silver Spring Sector Plan, recommended again in the 1996 Forest Glen Master Plan,  reaffirmed in the 2000 North and West Silver Spring Master Plan, and cemented in the 2008 Georgia Ave Study: An Urban Design Framework.

We hope that after 40 years of waiting the current plan will finally remake Georgia Ave into a corridor that connects and enlivens, rather than divides and blights.

Please send in your comments to Chairperson Anderson. It would help to copy Councilmember Tom Hucker via councilmember.Hucker@montgomerycountymd.gov and County Executive Marc Elrich via marc.elrich@montgomerycountymd.gov so they can help secure the funding to make the plans a reality.

Join us at the Woodside Deli on Friday, February 1st from 5-7:30 pm.

We’ll be there from 5-7:30 pm. Warm up with some friends & neighbors. Learn about efforts to #FixGeorgiaAve. Support a local business. Have a beer (they sell beer and wine!)

Hope to see you there!

Please join the Transportation, Energy, and Environment (TREE) Committee of the Silver Spring Citizen’s Advisory Board (SSCAB) for a presentation and discussionWith Greg Slater, Administrator, Maryland State Highway Administration, Katie Mencarini, Senior Planner, Montgomery County Planning Department, and Gary Erenrich, Special Assistant to the Director, Montgomery County DOT

Monday, January 28^th 7:00 pm

Silver Spring Civic Building

Georgia Ave serves as a gateway to downtown Silver Spring, and the section between the Beltway and 16^th Street is one of the most highly-traveled, congested, and unsafe corridors in Maryland. SHA’s Purpose and Need Study reports crashes of all types occur at rates significantly higher than the statewide average for those crash types on similar roads. The current design of the roadway and intersections is both unsafe and unwelcoming to pedestrians and bicyclists, and therefore even with two nearby Metro Stations (Forest Glen and Silver Spring) few dare to walk or bike. The volume of vehicles, minimal pedestrian or bicycle safety measures, lack of greenery, hodgepodge of traffic signage, and overhead clutter make the area ugly and unwelcoming leading to stagnation of the neighborhood retail area and making it hard for businesses to thrive and for redevelopment to occur.

SHA, and Montgomery County Planning, and MCDOT have been working on a redesign of Georgia Ave that would create a pedestrian-scaled streetscape with improved sidewalks, a tree-lined median, and dedicated bike facilities. Efforts to improve traffic flow are also being studied, but within the context of prioritizing safety for all modes. Please come out and hear from Administrator Slater and Senior Planner Mencarini as they present interim- and long-term proposed roadway improvements and discuss the estimated timeline for implementation.

We hope you can join us.

The Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA) and its 6,500 members and the thousands of people that support improving options for safe and convenient biking, sent SHA Administrator Slater a letter to support complete funding for the Georgia Ave improvements.

You can read the entire letter here: WABA Letter of Support_MD97 Montgomery Hills_Oct 2018