Duncan Urges County Council to Relieve Traffic Congestion, Approve The Montrose Parkway

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Contact: David Weaver, 240-777-6530
John Clark, 240-777-7200

For Immediate Release: March 9, 2000

DUNCAN URGES COUNTY COUNCIL
TO RELIEVE TRAFFIC CONGESTION,
APPROVE THE MONTROSE PARKWAY

Standing alongside Montrose Rd., County Executive Douglas M. Duncan today urged the County Council to appropriate funds for the Montrose Parkway Project, reiterating the need to relieve traffic congestion, decrease neighborhood cut-through traffic, reduce accidents, and improve pedestrian safety.

"The Montrose Parkway is the most studied County road project in Montgomery's history," said Duncan. "Through the master planning process, the Council has crafted a vision for the future of North Bethesda that will double the residential and employment development. Now, while we have the money, is the time to allocate the funds to build the transportation network that will support this planned development."

In his fiscal year 2001 Capital Improvements Budget, Duncan recommended construction of the $63 million Montrose Parkway located between I-270 and Route 355.

By 2010, County officials estimate that well over 60,000 vehicles a day will use Montrose Rd., with more than 1,800 cars per hour travelling though some intersections.

"The Montrose Parkway is part of a balanced transportation system that includes increased transit service and new bikeway and pedestrian facilities," said Al Genetti, director of the County's Department of Public Works and Transportation. "If we don't take action now to build the Parkway, we are doomed to ever-increasing gridlock."

The project will create safe places for pedestrians to cross Montrose Road and a hiker-biker trail that will ultimately connect the Matthew Henson State Park, Rock Creek Regional Park, Old Farm Creek, and Cabin John Regional Park.

A majority of the project will be within a 300-ft.wide right of way that will provide a buffer for adjacent properties.

As proposed, the Montrose Parkway will provide a continuous link with the Maryland State Highway Administration's planned improvements along Montrose/Randolph Rds. between Old Georgetown Rd. and Parklawn Dr. To relieve congestion and improve safety, the State will improve the intersection with Maryland Route 355 and eliminate the need for traffic to cross the CSX railroad tracks. With completion of the final section of the Montrose Parkway between Parklawn Dr. and Viers Mill Rd., a continuous east-west transportation link will be established.

For more than 40 years, the County's Master Plan has included an east-west road along the Montrose Parkway corridor. Based on those plans, land has been reserved by private owners or purchased by the State for the anticipated road.

In 1989, a public process began to update the North Bethesda Master Plan. The final plan, approved by the County Council in 1992, recommended the Montrose Parkway Project. A five-year planning study for the road, begun in 1995, was conducted to examine the viability, benefits, and impacts of the project.

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