Silver Spring, MD – Resolving an important issue about a parkland easement on the
site of the Silver Spring Transit Center – a proposed hub for Metro trains,
buses, taxis and bicycles in the community’s downtown – the Montgomery County
Planning Board today worked out an agreement with two public works agencies
that allows the project to proceed.
The Board, part of the Maryland-National Capital Park and
Planning Commission, owns an easement on a public plaza that they needed to
abandon to allow construction of the transit center, slated for Colesville Road
and Wayne Avenue at the site of the existing Silver Spring Metro station.
Yesterday, the Board agreed to let the county Department of Public Works and
the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority replace that plaza in
exchange for two new parks.
The
agreement, encapsulated in a Memorandum of Understanding, was several weeks in
coming. The Board agreed to exchange its 35,000-square-foot Metro Urban Park
for an 11,633-square-foot park at the transit plaza entrance and an
11,590-square-foot park just off site. Board members indicated they were
willing to accept less parkland in exchange for higher-quality design and materials
in the parks as well as to advance the project and its expected benefits for
Silver Spring-area residents and commuters.
In the agreement, the Board made it clear that it expects the
county and WMATA to build all of what it deems “essential elements” for the
transit center, such as glass canopies over the escalators and pedestrian
areas, large shade trees, and attractive sidewalk pavers and light fixtures
that are consistent with the surrounding downtown. If budget shortfalls
preclude the public works agencies from building those elements, commissioners
indicated they wanted the Board and the agencies to work together to secure
additional funding from the federal or state governments and/or the Montgomery
County Council.
“I’m
very hopeful that County Executive Leggett will make it clear that these are
important items that deserve funding and that the project proceeds as it has
been presented to the public,” said Planning Board Chairman Royce Hanson.
“We’re trying to get what it seems everyone wants.”
The Board considered the transit center in early June in a second mandatory
referral hearing. The mandatory referral process requires the Planning Board
and its professional planning staff to review and make recommendations about
such issues as safety, design and architectural treatments for public projects.
Today’s agreement allows the project to move forward. County
officials will seek construction bids for the transit center later this summer.
For more information, contact Valerie Berton, (301) 495-4602.