County gears up to enhance public transit (PG!!! Seriously!)

[Tristan]

This article from the PG Gazette is the shock of the year:

County gears up to enhance public transit
New transportation plan avoids adding roads                         
by Daniel Valentine | Staff Writer

Prince George's County residents will have more walking, biking and public transit options, according to the latest transportation master plan. The plan, designed to guide road and development decisions in the next decade, calls for no new major roads to be built. Officials instead plan to focus on extending bus and rail service, and adding more sidewalks and walking trails to accommodate travelers.

Early drafts were unveiled at a public meeting July 24. Formal drafts will be posted in county buildings and libraries this fall, as well as online.

The transit-oriented plan offers a new approach for the county, said Eric Foster, county transportation project manager. Traffic jams, rising gas prices and other factors make public transit a more viable option, he said.

"There's great interest in changing modes of transportation and not driving as much, though a lot of it depends on what happens on the federal level and world economics," said Foster, who said this marks the first time transit has been an active part of the county's master plan. "What we can do is give people options."

Transit options include extending the Purple Line, a state-funded light rail or bus route proposed to connect Montgomery County to Prince George's. Though the current line is being designed to end in New Carrollton, planners propose to set a goal of eventually sending it farther south, to the National Harbor waterfront in Oxon Hill.

"It would link most of the major spots," Foster said. The extension is proposed to stop at FedEx Field in Landover, Largo Town Center, Prince George's Community College in Largo and Andrews Air Force Base in Camp Springs.

Officials also hope to boost bus service through regular and more frequent stops, and to promote developments that center around public transit hubs. Recent studies have noted that the county hasn't capitalized on building mixed-use apartments and shops near its Metro stations and bus stops.

Pedestrian improvements also top the priority list on the plan, which would replace an older plan developed in 1982. Drafts propose altering and reworking roads to include bike lanes and sidewalks, while the county would also look at installing walking trails along the side of Suitland Parkway in the south and New Hampshire Avenue in the north.

One thing that wasn't added is roads. Though the plan states that longstanding highway projects like the Intercounty Connector, an 18-mile toll highway that will link I-270 in Montgomery County to Route 1 and I-95 in Prince George's, and other streets near Konterra, a $3 billion mixed-use development just outside the Laurel city limits, should still proceed, no other major routes are planned for road construction, Foster said.

"With all the development we have, there aren't a whole lot of places you could improve without getting into some serious impacts," he said.

Public transit will be used to accommodate additional traffic, said Foster, who said this is the first time long-range transit goals have been part of the plan.

Also off-limits is the Rural Tier in the eastern and southern sections of the county, where development and transit projects are to be minimal.

According to figures from the U.S. Census Bureau, 397,000 motorists travel out of the county each day for work and more than half head west to Washington, D.C.

Some county residents questioned omissions in the transportation plan, which was based on resident comments and focus groups this spring.

"There need to be some changes," said Lee Walker, Landover Hills mayor, who said the county should spell out what it plans to do about traffic jams on the Route 450 corridor near New Carrollton twice a day.

  "It's a major artery," said Walker, who raised his concerns at the meeting.

Main roads could be upgraded in the future under the plan, Foster said. County officials have already proposed reclassifying Route 197 between Laurel and Bowie as an artery road, which could make the two-lane highway eligible to be widened to six lanes in the future.

  That idea isn't sitting well with Bowie city officials, who say enlarging the road could encourage speeding and more traffic.

"Our policy is that there are certain roads that shouldn't be more than four lanes," said Joe Meinert, planning director for Bowie.

Meinert said the city supports the county's push for more public transit, which includes running a bus or train line along Route 50 from the New Carrollton station to Bowie for commuters.

  "It's much more direct," Meinert said. "And you could even think of extending it to Annapolis some day."

  The County Council is scheduled to begin reviewing the transportation master plan this fall and adopting it in early 2009.

  E-mail Daniel Valentine at dvalentine@gazette.net.

[Perry]

They probably should do a pilot program on one corridor such as Route 1 and see how that goes, then they can see if they get the backing to continue across the rest of the county.  The plan sounds fine, but I doubt that it will get that much implemented.

[rideonrulez]

I hope that they're serious because they are REALLY lacking some transit service. The demand is there, the service isn't.   

[79MetroExtraMD]

I hope that there serious because they are REALLY lacking some transit service. The demand is there, the service isn't.   

I hope so as well. PG has as much potential to be on par (well at least somewhere there) with Montgomery County as a livable county. It's becoming very developed especially with the National Harbor and the new urbanism developments in the region. There is transit-oriented developed around the Metro stations, but there still is that lack of a complete intermodal system that is reliable. The Metro area is striving to have a complete and reliable intermodal system with all of its cogs in place, well oiled, and fine tuned. PG is that one cog that screws up the system. They have to shift their focus more toward mass transit than it is now. You can't just have a weekday only system for a county in which the notion is that people only work 9-5 and don't go out in the evenings. I'm sure there are people who want to go shopping on the weekends or go out latenight on Fridays and Saturdays but you either get no bus service at all, or you have to cut your night short just to get the last bus leaving at 10 or 11pm.

[RailBus63]

There's 'hoping' to expand public transit service, and then there's actually spending the money to do so.  I'll wait until I see some dollars being expended before I'm impressed.

[Tristan]

When does Dwayne Wayne Jack Johnson's reign end?!

[79MetroExtraMD]

When does Dwayne Wayne Jack Johnson's reign end?!

When the hell did he start?

[Tristan]

Let's see, PG took a turn for the worst: 2002
Jack B. Johnson took office: 2002

Coincidence? 

[WayneNYC]

The bad part is that given the shape Prince George's county is in... They still re-elected Jack!  Not that the next guy would've necessarily been better, but Jack proved that he wasn't about anything other than photo ops.  It sucks because to anyone not familair with the area, they could think Prince George's is a great place.  It's only great for the well-to-do folks including Jack and his cronies.  If you're a have-not, you'd better get used to sub-par services or move out of the county.

[WES]

I have one word to describe their transit plans

HA!!!


They did this s*** a few years ago and nothing came about it, so being the pessimist I am, the day we see more transit in PG will be the day they elect Mr. Will as president.

[Perry]

Wes, didn't you have a copy of a PG County transit plan?  I seem to remember the page being 'intentionally left blank". LOL

[WES]

Yea, I do, I need to post that one again.   I think someone told them that Saturday and Sunday are days also and that people might want to do stuff on that requiring buses.

I remember being at the "workshops" and one gentleman remarked that it is going to cost money to implement new routes and stuff.

No s*** sherlock. 

And does it really cost 2 million to implement a new route like this same dude said?

[WayneNYC]

I remember being at the "workshops" and one gentleman remarked that it is going to cost money to implement new routes and stuff.

No s*** sherlock. 

And does it really cost 2 million to implement a new route like this same dude said?

My understanding is that PG county taxes are actually a bit higher than Montgomery county taxes.  Sure... investing in transit will take money.  It also takes money to put Jack's "I love myself" tribute all over the lobby of the County Executive buiding, but they got it done.

[WES]

If that's the case then TRIM isn't working too well.  TRIM was supposed to put a cap on taxes........OH WELL.