Planners invite residents, businesses, property owners, and other stakeholders to discuss master plan focused on a three-mile stretch of University Boulevard/MD 193 between Wheaton and the Capital Beltway
WHEATON, MD – The Montgomery County Planning Department, part of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC), is hosting a series of community meetings in October to discuss its preliminary recommendations for the University Boulevard Corridor (UBC) Plan that aim to address community needs within a three-mile stretch of University Boulevard (MD 193). The recommendations focus on traffic safety, regional connectivity, environmental sustainability, corridor-focused growth, and economic development. The plan explores opportunities for new transit-oriented housing, bikeways, and bus rapid transit (BRT), as well as the creation of complete streets with wider sidewalks, comfortable public transportation stops, and safe access.
“The UBC Plan team is excited to share our preliminary recommendations that have been developed over two years of research and analysis of the plan area, as well as through great community collaboration and feedback about a new vision for the corridor’s future,” said project manager Nkosi Yearwood. “We look forward to speaking with residents, businesses, and property owners about an updated vision for the next 10 to 20 years and use their feedback as we prepare to brief the Planning Board on the preliminary recommendations later in the fall.”
Overview of Preliminary Recommendations
- To promote sustainable development patterns, provide more housing options, and support transportation safety enhancements along University Boulevard, rezone properties that are in corridor-facing blocks and that are within a quarter-mile radius of future BRT stations, institutional properties, such as those used for religious assembly, and single-use commercial shopping centers along University Boulevard, Colesville Road (U.S. 29), and Arcola Avenue (MD 193). View an interactive map of the proposed rezoning.
- Establish an overlay zone to define neighborhood residential building types, prioritize development standards that further compact growth and transportation safety, and explore modifications, as necessary, to achieve transitions from larger to smaller buildings. The overlay zone will apply to properties recommended for rezoning in the plan.
- Implement a connected network of streets, comfortable walkways, and low-stress bicycle facilities, and right-size roadways and intersections to create a safer and more comfortable environment for people who are walking, rolling, bicycling, riding transit, and driving.
- Focus on lessening the prominence of driveways along University Boulevard through redevelopment or implementation of BRT.
- Explore alternative ways to navigate the Four Corners area that include short-term recommendations for limited change to the street network that provide safe, accessible, and healthy travel options for people walking, biking, rolling, riding transit and traveling in cars. A long-term vision of additional street connections should be further studied.
- Improve pavement markings, lighting, and sight distance and explore protected crossings at the interchanges with I-495 at Colesville Road and University Boulevard to improve safety for all modes of transportation.
- Provide dedicated transit lanes along University Boulevard and Colesville Road.
- Improve connections to and explore improvements within existing local parks, including the Chesapeake Northwood Trail.
- Make University Boulevard more resilient to climate change by incorporating tree canopy, shaded bus stops, improved stormwater management, and landscaped buffers.
- Prioritize net-zero building construction with a focus on increasing building energy and on-site clean energy generation.
For more information, download an explainer about the UBC Plan’s preliminary recommendations.
October Community Meetings
Throughout October, Montgomery Planning staff will host community meetings in different parts of the plan area to comprehensively discuss and receive feedback on the plan’s preliminary recommendations, which are based on research, analysis, consultant expertise, and input from community members and stakeholders. Read more about the plan’s equitable engagement. Translation services are available upon request for each of the meetings with at least 10 business days’ notice on the RSVP form.
Tuesday, October 15
This in-person meeting will focus on the plan area between Dennis Avenue and I-495/Capital Beltway. It will take place at Montgomery Blair High School Cafeteria (51 University Boulevard East, Silver Spring, MD, 20901) from 7 to 9 p.m.
RSVPs are encouraged but not required.
Tuesday, October 22
This in-person meeting will focus on the plan area between Amherst Avenue and Dennis Avenue. It will take place from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at our Wheaton Headquarters (2425 Reedie Drive, Wheaton, MD 20902) in the Second Floor Auditorium.
RSVPs are encouraged, but not required.
Wednesday, October 30
This is an online meeting from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. to discuss the preliminary recommendations for the entire plan area, covering the same content from the in-person October 15 and October 22 meetings combined.
Registration for this meeting is required; a meeting link will be sent to you on the day of the event.
More About the University Boulevard Corridor Plan
The UBC Plan builds on major Montgomery County initiatives—including the 2013 Countywide Transit Corridors Functional Master Plan, Thrive Montgomery 2050 and Vision Zero – and is centered on residential neighborhoods, schools, parks, places of worship, businesses, and other institutional uses along a three-mile segment of University Boulevard/MD 193 between Amherst Avenue at the edge of the Wheaton Central Business District (CBD), to the area immediately south of the Capital Beltway (I-495). The Four Corners area serves as an important element in the plan area with commercial and institutional properties, including the Woodmoor Shopping Center, Montgomery Blair High School, and Saint Bernadette Catholic Church and School. Colesville Road (U.S. 29) is a major intersection with University Boulevard in the plan area.
The plan strives to address community needs as they pertain to traffic safety, regional connectivity, environmental sustainability, and economic development. The plan also explores potential opportunities for new infill development, bikeways, and future bus rapid transit (BRT). Broadly, the plan advances Vision Zero goals with overall improved road safety and quality of life using complete streets and enhancing development potential of the plan area for corridor-focused growth.
Read more about the UBC Plan. Community members are encouraged to sign up for the plan’s newsletter to get regular updates.