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Rockville's Pike
Design Charrette Can you imagine a place where you do not try to avoid going to the Pike, but instead say: “Let’s go to the Pike” because you look forward to going there?
The Rockville’s Pike: Envisioning a Great Place project attempts to make that place a reality by involving community members in a planning process for the roughly 2.24-mile stretch of Rockville Pike (Route 355) between Richard Montgomery Drive and Bou Avenue near Twinbrook Parkway.
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The kick-off of Rockville’s Pike: Envisioning a Great Place occurred in December 2007. The City made significant progress through 2008, with a design charrette and numerous meetings, presentations, and analysis.
A preliminary draft of the plan was delivered in August 2008, and City staff finalized its review and comments by the beginning of 2009. There were many comments and recommendations in an effort to make it a better document, and several technical questions about some of the details of the proposed transportation solutions.
A revised draft was delivered in March 2009. City staff has worked with the consultant since that time to address a few complex details of the proposed Pike redesign like intersections, travel speeds and weave patterns. The City and consultant have also worked to better incorporate the Metro line and its two stations as well as economic data about trends and absorption into the plan. At the same time, the City has continued to monitor the county’s White Flint Plan and talk to county staff about their plans for the section of the Pike outside of the City limits.
In the coming months the City plans to:
- Meet with the consultant team to resolve the few remaining transportation challenges.
- Obtain and review a third draft of the proposed plan.
- Present the draft to the Planning Commission, Mayor and Council.
- Release the draft plan for public review and comment.
- Conduct a public hearing of the draft plan with the Planning Commission early in 2010.
- Forward the draft plan to the Mayor and Council for review, approval, and adoption by summer 2010.
Through the recent “Capital for a Day” event with the Governor and his Cabinet, the City was able to bring the priority of the Rockville Pike Corridor Plan to light with the Maryland Departments of Planning and Transportation, State Highway Administration and Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. It was a very successful effort, and resulted in the opportunity to raise State awareness of the pedestrian, transit and traffic problems near the Metro Stations and hopefully elevate their priority. It also allowed Rockville to show how it has coordinated its land use and transportation decisions toward the goal of transit-oriented development.
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