New apartment construction on East Diamond Avenue, Gaithersburg

Here is my letter to the Gaithersburg Planning Commission concerning the current and future traffic issues resulting from a new apartment complex:

Gaithersburg Planning Commission

City Hall

31 S Summit Ave

Gaithersburg, MD 20877

Attn: Trudy Schwarz, Staff Liaison

Dear Ms. Schwarz:

As I am not the only one who will be confronted by this problem, I am writing the planning commission (John Bauer, Matthew Hopkins, Lloyd S. Kaufman, Geri Lanier, Danny Winborne) as a concerned citizen whose work commute brings me through Old Town via East Diamond Avenue to access the Gaithersburg MARC station.

I e-mailed the planning commission on April 11^th about current and expected traffic issues regarding the apartment complex being built across from the train station. Mr. Mumpower responded to this e-mail and briefly explained that the City was working with the builder to avoid current traffic woes. He did not address my question about what will be done to prevent severe morning tie ups on two-lane roads when the residents are all in place and, like me, trying to get to work in the morning.

To date, it takes me three times longer than it should given the distance and only two stop lights. Additional housing units on North Summit and on Goshen have added their share of traffic to underdeveloped area roads. Unless there are plans in the works, the traffic situation can only get worse. It doesn’t have to be this way if there is proper traffic planning and accommodation.

I hope the Planning Commission has effective planning in place already and that my concerns are unwarranted. If not, then I hope to open a dialog where we can start as soon as possible to make needed adjustments before many of us are late to work and stuck in carbon emitting traffic.

Sincerely,

Transportation Planning and Mass Transit Funding

I understand there is discussion about a gas tax and, if implemented, about how those funds would be used - with one option being widening I-270 and the other being increasing mass transit options. Here are my thoughts:

Recommendation: No to widening I-270

Justification: Initial Cost, Maintenance Cost, Not eco-friendly

Overview: Development estimates of $4B will put an unsustainable tax burden on residents, the majority of whom do not use this highway to commute to work. Tolls would not recoup the cost. Likewise, long-term cost of maintenance, not usually included in initial cost estimates. More cars means more traffic congestion, air pollution, and noise pollution. Finally, using a gas tax to put more cars on the road is ironic at best.

Also note that only 1/3 of the Governor's estimated drivers are using the Intercounty Connector. Why will they be right about widening I-270?

Recommendation: Yes to All-day, two-way MARC Service

Justification: Lower cost with wider benefit, more options for maintenance funding, eco-friendly

Overview: Expansion estimates of $560M dwarf by comparison to widening I-270. More commuters admit they would take the train if all-day service were available. Mechanisms are already in place to effectively maintain the trains. Having reliable all-day transportation would increase the area’s tax base because more homeowners would move into our area. Finally, to make the obvious point, fossil fuels are a finite resource. We need to get away from them in our lifetime. Trains have the most efficient fuel use of our available systems.

Recommendation: Yes To Building A Third Commuter Train Track

Justification: Part of the difficulty in using MARC train service is that they have to defer to the CSX freight trains. The VRE passengers do not because Virginia built a third set of tracks for the commuter trains to cross-over avoiding congestion. This is far more inexpensive than the other options on the table

Contact:

Maryland's Governor, Montgomery County House Delegates, Montgomery County Senators, Montgomery County Council

PEPCO Power line-related Failures

Before I moved here 18 years ago, I experienced the occasional weather-related power outages. As many of you know, here it’s a regular occurrence even on sunny days because trees knock down overhead power lines. When the head got yelled at by Maryland officials, he wanted to say it was more than the trees. However, PEPCO blamed subsequent failures on trees.  PEPCO’s May newsletter pats themselves on the back for getting “tree trimming in full swing.” They want to play it both ways and we shouldn’t let them. They cry about cost and what a big job it is to put cables underground. If they had started putting them underground 18 years ago, they’d be done by now. [See http://dev.www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/Storm-downs-trees_-cutting-power-to-over-300_000-homes-1003523-99204629.html]

Drop a note of support for converting to underground cables to:

Pepco's Media Relations Department:

Bob Hainey
Manager Media Relations
Phone: (202) 872-2680
email: rshainey@pepcoholdings.com

Clay Anderson
Sr. Media Representative
Phone: (202) 872-2680
email: canderson@pepcoholdings.com

Corporate Correspondence
Pepco
701 Ninth St., N.W.
Washington, DC 20068

Alert: Parking lot safety - the managed "right of way”

Fact 1:
Pedestrians do not always have the right of way.

Fact 2:
A car backing up (e.g. parking lot) has a managed ‘right of way’ because the driver does not have ‘full visibility’.

Action:
When a car is backing up, pedestrians should not continue to walk behind the moving car.
When a car is backing up, approaching cars should yield the right-of-way to the car backing out. This is especially true if the car backing up is more than half-way out.

Alert: Drivers Using Hand-held Devices (e.g., cell phones)

Distracted driving quadruples your chances of getting into an accident resulting in injuries, even death. Teens are especially vulnerable. In a recent survey, teens said drunken driven is more likely to cause a fatal crash than texting. The odds are the same! Join W*USA 9’s movement called “Great Hang Up” to put down your cell phone while driving. “http://www.wusa9.com/greathangup/default.aspx

Maryland and the District passed laws recently to limit cell phone use while driving. Starting October, 2010, Maryland drivers can't use a Cell Phone without a Hands Free Device.The fine for a first offense is $40 and subsequent offenses are $100.