Council votes to approve recommendations for improved connectivity, multimodal safety and enhanced communities along Veirs Mill Road from Wheaton to Rockville
SILVER SPRING, MD – The Montgomery County Planning Department, part of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, is pleased to announce that the Montgomery County Council voted unanimously to approve the Veirs Mill Corridor Master Plan on Tuesday, April 23, 2019. The plan recommends strategies for land use and zoning; urban design; transportation; parks, trails and open spaces; as well as sustainability and community facilities within an area along Veirs Mill Road that extends from Wheaton to Rockville.
“This is our first plan to address Montgomery County’s Vision Zero policy with recommendations for improving safety along one of the busiest roads in the county,” says Planning Director Gwen Wright. “In addition to influencing the Veirs Mill Corridor Master Plan, the Vision Zero policy is playing a significant role in developing several other plans and studies now underway.”
Montgomery County’s Vision Zero policy aims to eliminate traffic-related fatalities and severe injuries by 2030. The Veirs Mill Corridor Master Plan advances Vision Zero through short-term and long-term strategies to improve safety for everyone, whether they travel by foot, bicycle, transit or car. It reimagines busy Veirs Mill Road as an integral component of the surrounding neighborhoods by improving connectivity and safety in the public realm.
The plan’s vision, goals and recommendations are reflective of an inclusive dialogue with community residents, property owners, stakeholders and agency partners. The engagement strategies employed through the planning process were awarded the 2018 Harold Foster Award for Distinction in Community Outreach by the National Capital Area Chapter of the American Planning Association.
The feedback and community advocacy initiated through the plan’s engagement activities have led to important recommendations regarding the role of major transportation corridors, such as Veirs Mill Road, in the county as well as identified strategies to improve safety, connectivity and livability in the neighborhoods that line these corridors. If fully implemented, this plan, with its Vision Zero focus, has the potential to make safety the number one priority and serve as a model for other corridors in our county.
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. In developing the plan, staff received feedback from the community and reviewed 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 includes the following strategies:
- Guide future land uses along the Veirs Mill Road corridor from Wheaton to Rockville.
- Improve the compatibility between the land uses adjacent to Veirs Mill Road and the future bus rapid transit corridor.
- Improve pedestrian and bicycle accessibility, connectivity and safety within the plan area.
- Redevelop at strategic locations to provide more walkable, neighborhood-serving development.
- Implement a comprehensive streetscape design and opportunities for placemaking within the corridor.
The Veirs Mill Corridor Master Plan complements the Veirs Mill Road BRT Study recently completed by the Maryland State Highway Administration in coordination with the Montgomery County Department of Transportation. This study evaluated alternatives for bus rapid transit service along Veirs Mill Road between Wheaton and Rockville, as originally recommended as part of the 2013 Countywide Transit Corridors Functional Master Plan.
For more information, contact lead planner Jessica McVary at Jessica.McVary@montgomeryplanning.org.