White Flint proposal
» Up to 18,000 jobs
» Up to 9,800 homes in high-rise buildings up to 300 feet tall
» Two more public hearings: Dec. 7 and Dec. 10
To make the redevelopment work, organizers want people to stop driving cars by encouraging carpooling and mass transit. The proposed “master plan” calls for rapid bus routes, a revamped Metro station and pedestrian-friendly walkways. The county planning boardfloated the Montrose Road and Rockville Pike projects as the best way to discourage cars. But Elrich and his colleagues were having none of it. Elrich said the plans would turn Rockville Pike, already crowded, “into a parking lot.” “Northern Virginia would have everybody on transit if intolerable traffic was the way to get people on transit,” Elrich said. Nancy Floreen, D-at large, said it was hard enough to cross Rockville Pike safely and said she was “worried” about a widened Pike. “I’m having trouble connecting the dots,” she said. “It’s a very unsafe environment today.” Elrich suggested limiting parking spaces in the new developments and making them an expensive proposition. “If you can’t park, you won’t drive,” he said. Legislative staffer Glenn Orlin, who helped craft the road proposal, said he and the rest of the staff would crunch numbers for Elrich’s proposal and report back to the committee. He warned, though, that reducing incoming traffic may mean that officials would have to rethink the size and scope of the White Flint development. Planning Board Chairman Royce Hanson, who attended Monday’s hearing, said the controversy stems from the fact that suburban leaders are trying to learn a new development language. “Pedestrian mobility is a new and untried mode of transportation in the suburbs,” he told Floreen.
