Planning recommendations aim to enhance safety, connectivity and neighborhood resources along the Veirs Mill corridor
SILVER SPRING, MD – The Montgomery County Planning Department, part of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, will present the Veirs Mill Corridor Master Plan Working Draft to the Planning Board on Thursday, March 8, 2018. The planning strategies address land use and zoning; urban design; transportation; parks, trails and open spaces; sustainability and community facilities.
View the Veirs Mill Corridor Master Plan Working Draft.
One of the chief goals of the plan is to improve safety for pedestrians, cyclists and transit users within the Veirs Mill corridor, in accordance with Montgomery County’s Vision Zero policy to reduce traffic-related fatalities and severe injuries.
The Planning Department launched a digital GIS-based feedback map for the Veirs Mill Corridor Master Plan to allow stakeholders to provide comments online based on the three categories of recommendations: safety, connectivity and enhanced community. Staff has considered this feedback in preparing the Veirs Mill Corridor Master Plan Working Draft and the public can still add comments to the Veirs Mill Preliminary Recommendations Feedback Map through early May 2018.
In developing the Veirs Mill Corridor Master Plan, the team held extensive community outreach meetings and events, including a presence at neighborhood events and festivals in the plan area and Wheaton. In addition to a previously released feedback map for collecting comments on challenges and opportunities in the plan area, Spanish language advertising of the planning effort was introduced to reach a broad audience.
Following the approval of the Working Draft, the Planning Board will hold a public hearing and work sessions, offering additional opportunities for the community to comment on the plan recommendations.
To review the Veirs Mill Corridor Master Plan Working Draft, go to montgomeryplanning.org/veirsmill.
About the Veirs Mill Corridor Master Plan
The Montgomery County Planning Department, under the guidance of the Montgomery County Planning Board and Montgomery County Council, initiated the Veirs Mill Corridor Master Plan in January 2017. To develop the plan, staff is seeking feedback from the community and reviewing current land uses and existing conditions in order to make recommendations for improvements in the area.
The Veirs Mill Corridor Master Plan extends approximately four miles, from the City of Rockville to the Wheaton Central Business District and Vicinity Sector Plan boundary. The plan boundaries roughly correspond to a ¼-mile area around each of the bus rapid transit (BRT) stations identified in the 2013 Countywide Transit Corridors Functional Master Plan.
The Veirs Mill Corridor Master Plan will:
- Evaluate and provide recommendations to guide future land uses along the Veirs Mill Road corridor from Wheaton to Rockville.
- Develop recommendations to improve the compatibility between the land uses adjacent to Veirs Mill Road and the future bus rapid transit corridor.
- Offer recommendations to improve pedestrian and bicycle accessibility, connectivity and safety within the plan area.
- Explore opportunities for redevelopment at strategic locations to provide more walkable, neighborhood-serving development.
- Consider a comprehensive streetscape design and opportunities for placemaking within the corridor.
The Veirs Mill Corridor Master Plan complements the Veirs Mill Road Bus Rapid Transit Study recently completed by the Maryland State Highway Administration in coordination with the Montgomery County Department of Transportation. This transit study evaluated alternatives for bus rapid transit service along Veirs Mill Road between Wheaton and Rockville, originally recommended as part of the 2013 Countywide Transit Corridors Functional Master Plan.
Learn more about the Veirs Mill Corridor Master Plan by signing up for the plan e-newsletter. For more information, contact lead planner Jessica McVary at Jessica.McVary@montgomeryplanning.org.