SILVER SPRING, MD – A “complete street” provides safe areas for cyclists and pedestrians, environmental features to diminish the harmful effects of stormwater runoff and a welcoming appearance. Oh yes, and it provides lanes for vehicles.
On Friday, staff from the Planning Department will host an outdoor display in downtown Silver Spring depicting a complete street as part of international Parking Day. The annual event invites people to transform parking spots into informational displays or temporary parks. Begun six years ago by a California design firm, Parking Day has grown to include hundreds of participants in cities around the world showing alternatives to cars and asphalt.
The Planning Department’s complete streets display will go the heart of the intent of Parking Day – to rethink the way streets are used and reinforce the need to improve urban areas. The display will transform a parking space using a three-dimensional version of a streetscape with pedestrian- and bike-friendly elements as well as stormwater management techniques that reduce pollution.
Planners and urban designers are recommending the complete streets concept to improve Montgomery County’s aging corridors. Environmental tools like stormwater infiltration trenches lined with plants filter runoff that flows from impervious surfaces into streams and rivers. Pedestrian- and bike-friendly features can improve the street’s use for all people, not just motorists.
The Planning Department will be joined in neighboring parking spaces on Ellsworth Avenue by local businesses Pyramid Atlantic, the Green Commuter, and Growing Soul, which will offer art activities and demonstrations of the latest urban-designed bicycles and filtering used vegetable oil for diesel engines. The Congress for New Urbanism-DC will display a beach and a county planner will showcase an artistic view of a park constructed of tissue paper.
Who:
Montgomery County Planning Department
What:
Complete Streets display for international Parking Day
When:
10 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday, September 16
Where:
Ellsworth Drive between Fenton and Cedar Streets, Silver Spring
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