Montgomery County’s Public Works department has spent nearly $40 million during the past decade on a rare program thatupgrades older county neighborhoods, according to a new progress report. The program, Renew Montgomery, began in 1996 and includes a wide range of improvement services ranging from American with Disabilities Act compliance to street lighting.
So far 67 neighborhoods have reaped the benefits of the Renew Montgomery program. A large number have been in Silver Spring and Bethesda. According to the progress report, selected communities with some of the more extensive efforts include Parkwood in Kensington, Montgomery Hills and Calverton– each of which included major sidewalk and curb repairs.
According to department spokesman Tom Pogue, what makes the effort different is that it looks at communities as a whole, rather than taking a piece-meal approach and fixing one item at a time per street.
That’s why it might take five years from start to finish when a neighborhood is selected, he added, as workers will give the entire area a makeover.
“It’s very forward thinking,” Pogue said, “because when we go into a community we bring all different resources into that area.”
Overwhelmingly, the bulk of the $37 million the county has spent on Renew Montgomery so far has gone into curb enhancement work. This type of job is particularly important in some communities where the curbs are crumbling, Pogue said.
The one type of refurbishment in which there’s a backlog is road resurfacing. Each year the focus of Renew Montgomery — and on what tasks the money will go toward — changes, so it’s unclear yet if the allocations for resurfacing will rise, he added.
To be considered for the program, neighborhood groups or individuals simply have to make a request to Public Works in which they explain the level of need for funds.
From there, the process often takes at least three years.
“This is true maintenance work in every sense of the word, so it takes time,” Tom Pogue said.
