Corridor Forward: The I-270 Transit Plan

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After decades of population and employment growth along the I-270 corridor, county leaders are calling for sustainable transit opportunities to move people between home and work and leisure activities and back again. Corridor Forward: The I-270 Transit Plan presents recommendations that improve transit access along the corridor as well as advance the county’s goals related to equity, environment, and economy. The Plan was approved and adopted in Spring 2022.

View the Corridor Forward: The I-270 Transit Plan Explainer | Español

The Plan recommends a near-term transit network and a long-term transit vision.

Near-Term Transit Network:: Recommends implementing the MD 355 and Veirs Mill Road bus rapid transit routes and re-envisions the Corridor Cities Transitway (CCT) as a network of dedicated bus lanes called the Corridor Connectors. It also includes support for current and planned transit services, like the Great Seneca Transit Network, North Bethesda Transitway, and state-run commuter buses on I-270.
Long-Term Transit Vision:: Includes an extension of Metrorail’s Red Line to Germantown Town Center and supports the long-term potential of MARC rail through enhanced service and new stations at Shady Grove and White Flint. With a Red Line extension, transit trips from Germantown and Gaithersburg to Bethesda would be 13 and 9 minutes faster, respectively.
Supporting recommendations:: Enhance the near-term transit network and long-term transit vision through repurposing traffic lanes for transit, safe access to transit stations, and updated land use plans and guidelines to support growth in station areas.
Regional opportunities:: Big ideas to better connect jurisdictions throughout the Washington region and include studying an extension of the Purple Line, designing the American Legion Bridge to support rail transit, and exploring a direct transitway connection to Frederick City.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Corridor Forward: The I-270 Transit Plan?

Corridor Forward is a functional master plan intended to help decisionmakers prioritize transit projects that support travel needs in the I-270 corridor. Initially, the Plan defined the corridor as the communities and employment centers proximate to the highway, generally spanning from Frederick, MD, to Tysons in Northern Virginia with a few offshoots to neighboring areas, such as National Landing. As the Plan progressed, review of travel patterns suggested that the county’s most promising options were those that could support mobility and accessibility in the mid- and up-county vicinities.
What transit options did Corridor Forward study?

During the planning process, staff evaluated several options and ultimately retained six options for detailed analysis. Learn more about the studied transit options. Following analysis, staff further evaluated the Corridor Cities Transitway, a Red Line extension, and enhanced commuter bus running in managed lanes to examine how these options, and variants of these options, could support travel needs in the corridor.
What does Corridor Forward recommend?
How is Corridor Forward consistent with Thrive 2050?

Corridor Forward’s strategic metrics align with the three core values of Thrive Montgomery 2050, which are equitable communities, environmental resilience, and economic health. For example, the Plan assessed how different transit options and packages of options could reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT)—an environmental metric—and increase the number of jobs accessible by transit for the average Equity Focus Area resident. To see the full list of metrics and the performance of studied options, see the Plan’s draft appendices (see Tables 3 and 4 in Draft Appendix 3).
Does Corridor Forward replace or re-envision the CCT?

Corridor Forward re-envisions the Corridor Cities Transitway (CCT) as the Corridor Connectors, a series of dedicated bus lanes that serve the Great Seneca Science Corridor, Gaithersburg, Montgomery Village, Germantown, and Clarksburg. The Corridor Connectors share 43 percent of the original alignment of the CCT, but differ in that they are not intended to be a service. Instead, these dedicated bus lanes feed into other planned BRT infrastructure, such as the MD 355 BRT and the Veirs Mill BRT, offering increased potential for one-seat rides in places of high demand, such as Wheaton and the Life Sciences Center, or Germantown and the Life Sciences Center. In other words, multiple BRT routes may share some of the same infrastructure. This is similar to how different color Metrorail lines share track infrastructure in the downtown portion of Washington, DC. While this concept is new for BRT in the county, it is not new internationally: one of the world’s most famous BRT systems—Bogotá, Columbia’s TransMilenio BRT—shares dedicated bus lane infrastructure across multiple routes in its downtown core.
Are all the former communities planned for CCT service still served by the Corridor Connectors?

The Corridor Connectors connect to most of the communities originally planned for CCT service. The few communities that do not fall along the proposed alignments for the Corridor Connectors are instead planned for service by the Montgomery County Department of Transportation’s (MCDOT) Great Seneca Transit Network, which is a series of local bus routes planned for service enhancements, like queue jumps, express bus lanes, and transit signal priority. Combined, the infrastructure planned for the Corridor Connectors and Great Seneca Transit Network provide a robust infrastructure network that will improve access and mobility in midcounty and upcounty. Learn more about the Great Seneca Transit Network.
What about the CCT’s funding commitments or previously dedicated easements?

The Corridor Connectors cover 43 percent of the master-planned CCT alignment. Many previously recorded easements and constructed rights-of-way could support implementation of the Corridor Connectors. The Plan recommends that easements, reservations of space, and right-of-way obtained to support the former CCT alignment in locations not planned as a Connector continue to be retained to support future transit, pedestrian, and bicycle travel. The Plan also recommends that any funding commitments made for the CCT be shifted to the Corridor Connectors.
How does Corridor Forward support MARC Rail enhancements?

Corridor Forward supports the future of MARC Rail in three ways. First, Corridor Forward continues the county’s master-planned support of enhanced MARC Rail by confirming the recommendation to require developments to dedicate of 25 feet of right-of-way adjacent to the existing northbound mainline track with the ultimate goal of advancing the improvements called out in the Maryland Transit Administration’s (MTA) 2018 MARC Cornerstone Plan.

The MTA recently initiated a strategic planning effort to comprehensively look at the Brunswick Line and its potential, both incrementally and holistically. MTA’s forthcoming Brunswick Line Plan will look at short-term, mid-term, and long-term improvements for the rail corridor. Corridor Forward’s planning processes looked only at potential service frequency improvements that may be attainable per the full set of rail and storage infrastructure called for in the 2018 MARC Cornerstone Plan. This is because Corridor Forward preceded the scoping of the MTA’s Brunswick Line Plan. Regardless, Corridor Forward includes a recommendation that supports the MTA’s development of the Brunswick Line Plan to better understand the line’s potential.

Finally, Corridor Forward also continues support of master-planned MARC Rail stations at Shady Grove and White Flint. Both future station locations demonstrated promise based on the Plan’s technical analyses; however, the Plan recommendations acknowledge that implementing these stations will require strategic coordination and negotiation with the Brunswick Line’s owner, CSX Transportation.
What is Corridor Forward’s relation to the State’s Op Lanes Project (aka “Managed Lanes”)?

Corridor Forward is not part of and is not proposing an alternative to the State of Maryland’s I-495 and I-270 Managed Lanes projects. If these projects are constructed, they will generate toll revenue that could support regional transit projects by providing a direct subsidy to the impacted jurisdictions or through an agreement on projects to construct. To date, a Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Transportation Planning Board resolution commits funding to advance transit in amounts of $60 million (design) and $300 million (construction). Other funding sources would be necessary to fully implement any of the options prioritized by Corridor Forward.

While the State’s widening efforts are separate from the county’s Functional Master Planning Process, the Montgomery County Council has requested that the Public Hearing for Corridor Forward also be used as a forum to solicit public testimony on the choice of the priority transit project to be funded with ongoing toll revenue from Phase 1 South and Phase 1 North of the Maryland Department of Transportation’s I-270 & I-495 Managed Lanes Study.
Did any of the studied options cross the Potomac River? How would that relate to the reconstruction of the American Legion Bridge?

Yes. Two studied options—an extension of the Purple Line and Managed Lanes Enhanced Commuter Bus—crossed the Potomac River at the American Legion Bridge. The Plan ultimately recommends further study of potential Purple Line Extensions, and also recommends that the State continue its corridor commuter bus service. The Plan also recommends that that the American Legion Bridge be constructed to ensure rail transit to support its long-term use and resiliency.

Last Updated: September 28, 2022

Montgomery County
Planning Department
2425 Reedie Drive, 14th Floor
Wheaton, MD 20902

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