Here's the full text of the press release:
Montgomery County Council Approves
Plans for Bus Rapid Transit System
Completed System Would Cover 82 Miles, 110 Stations
ROCKVILLE, Md., November 26, 2013—The Montgomery County
today unanimously approved the Countywide Transit Corridors Functional Master
Plan. The main purpose of that plan is to establish the routes and possible
station locations of the proposed countywide Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system.
BRT is a plan for specially designed buses to travel over
mostly dedicated lines throughout the County. The plan approved by the Council
provides a framework for future transit that would enhance transit already
available in the County in the form of Ride On, Metrobus and Metrorail and MARC
Commuter rail, as well as the future Purple Line and Corridor Cities Transitway
(CCT).
The Countywide Transit Corridors Functional Master Plan
recommends a network of Bus Rapid Transit lines covering about 82 miles and 110
stations, not including the already master-planned CCT.
The master plan approved by the Council recommends the
routes, the station locations and, for each segment, the minimum right-of-way.
The recommended plan also states whether there would be dedicated lanes or not,
and whether there would be up to 0, 1 or 2 lanes added in the road's
cross-section dedicated to BRT.
The recommendations in the approved plan will serve as
guidelines. Subsequent project planning studies could indicate that a route
should be diverted slightly to serve a major destination. A station location in
the plan means that there would be a station in the vicinity.
"I’m happy we are at this point today of adding Bus
Rapid Transit routes to the master plan and acknowledging the importance of
transit in our county. Seven years ago I asked my staff to find some
roads where we could put transit that connected people from where they live to
where they work. I knew that with all the existing congestion and all the
planned and already approved development, we needed more and better transit to
deal with traffic congestion and reduce carbon emissions" said Councilmember
Marc Elrich, who introduced the concept of BRT for the County.
“Today our Council has set out a bold course toward a less
congested future,” said Councilmember Roger Berliner, who chairs the Council’s
Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy and Environment Committee. “A network of
10 Bus Rapid Transit corridors—in dedicated lanes—is at the heart of the plan
unanimously adopted by our Council. It is an aspirational plan that
will be implemented only after extensive community involvement, and if
achieved, will make our County a transit leader in the country. It is a
plan that focuses on moving people most efficiently utilizing our existing
infrastructure, not just cars, and by doing so we will improve our quality of
life, our environment, and our competitiveness in the region.”
The master plan does not recommend specific approaches
on how BRT would be implemented on certain routes. For example, where the plan
recommends dedicated lanes and adding one transit lane to the cross-section, it
does not specify whether it would be a reversible lane (one direction in the
morning peak, the opposite in the evening peak) or bi-directional lane (both
directions in both peak periods, with a periodic lane to allow buses to pass).
Including the CCT, the plan identifies about 81 miles of
dedicated lanes and 21 miles of mixed traffic operations. Subsequent project
planning will determine the details of each route and there will be
opportunities for considerable public input.
"I was very proud to preside over the passage of the
Countywide Transit Corridors Master Plan, a plan to augment our public
transportation system with an ambitious network of dedicated lanes for buses,”
said Council President Nancy Navarro. “By itself, the plan we approved today
will not alter the flow of traffic on any road in the County. We still have
many years of funding decisions, public hearings, design and analysis before
the first shovel can touch the ground for any of the routes in the plan. But we
have put down an important marker—the Council understands that the only way to
accommodate growth without traffic screeching to a halt is investing big in
transit."
Councilmember Valerie Ervin said: “As the Council’s
representative on the County’s Pedestrian, Bicycle and Traffic Safety Advisory
Committee, I appreciate the designation of additional Bicycle-Pedestrian
Priority Areas, which will promote better accommodation of non-automotive modes
of transportation and increase safety, as part of the Countywide Transit
Corridors Functional Master Plan. In addition, I recognize how interconnected
improved transit is to our land use decisions, especially in eastern Montgomery
County.”
Councilmember Hans Riemer said: "As a member of the
transportation committee I am pleased to see the transit master plan earn such
strong support. Recognizing that most people will continue driving, this plan
seeks to add fewer new cars to our roads in the future by gradually building a
high quality public transportation alternative. We should proceed immediately with
the Corridor Cities Transitway as our demonstration project."
The corridor routes in the recommended plan are:
Corridor 1: Georgia Avenue North.
A proposed 9.6-mile corridor that would run nearly entirely on Georgia
Avenue (Maryland Route 97) between the Wheaton Metro Station and Olney.
-
Corridor 2: Georgia Avenue South. A proposed 3.9-mile corridor that
would run nearly entirely on Georgia Avenue between the Wheaton Metro Station
and the District of Columbia line.
-
Corridor 3: Maryland 355 North. A proposed 15.3-mile corridor that would
run almost entirely on Maryland 355 between the Rockville Metro Station and
Redgrave Place in Clarksburg, with two routes in Germantown East. The southern
portion of the corridor lies within the City of Rockville and the center
portion lies within the City of Gaithersburg.
-
Corridor 4: Maryland 355 South. A proposed 7.8-mile corridor that would
run entirely on Rockville Pike/Wisconsin Avenue (Maryland 355) between the
Rockville and Bethesda Metro Stations. Despite the fact that it would run
directly parallel to the Red Line, it is projected to carry more riders than
any other proposed BRT route in this plan.
-
Corridor 5: New Hampshire Avenue. A proposed 8.5-mile corridor that
would run on New Hampshire Avenue (Maryland 650) from the Colesville
park-and-ride lot south to Eastern Avenue at the District of Columbia line.
This corridor is distinctive because it will require cooperation with Prince
George's County and the District of Columbia.
-
Corridor 6: North Bethesda Transitway. A proposed 2.7-mile corridor that
would run from either the Grosvenor or White Flint Metro Station to Old
Georgetown Road, south on Old Georgetown Road to Rock Spring Drive, and west on
Rock Spring drive and Fernwood Road to Montgomery Mall. There would also
be a new interchange connecting Fernwood Road to the HOV lane to and from the
south on I-270. This is part of a planned transit/HOV lane that would connect
to the HOT lanes in Virginia.
-
Corridor 7: Randolph Road. A proposed 10.l-mile corridor that would run
in mixed traffic nearly entirely on Randolph Road between the White Flint Metro
Station and the U.S. Route 29 corridor station at Tech Road. In the
western segment of the corridor, an alternative would be to add a BRT lane on
Montrose Parkway between Veirs Mill Road and Rockville Pike.
-
Corridor 8: University Boulevard. A proposed 5.5-mile corridor that
would run on University Boulevard (Maryland 193) between the Wheaton Metro
Station and Langley Park. It would also connect to—and, for a short stretch,
run concurrent with—the Purple Line, as well to five other proposed BRT
corridors: Veirs Mill Road, Georgia Avenue North, Georgia Avenue South, U.S. 29
and New Hampshire Avenue.
-
Corridor 9: U.S. Route 29. A proposed 12.3-mile corridor that generally
would run along Colesville Road and Columbia Pike between the District of
Columbia boundary and Burtonsville, with two routes in the White Oak area.
-
Corridor 10: Veirs Mill Road. A proposed 6.2-mile corridor that would
run almost entirely on Veirs Mill Road (Maryland 586) between the Wheaton and
Rockville Metro Stations.
