METROBUS' CROWDED 30-SERIES BUS LINE, which currently is comprised of the 30, 32, 34, 35 and 36 routes, is poised to get some new numbers: 31, 37 and 39. Those would be local and express routes designed to alleviate congestion and quicken the ride along one of Metrobus' most crowded and delay-plagued corridors. The plan came out of a series of public hearings held in recent months on the future of the bus line.
The proposed changes, which could go into effect by summer, are subject to public hearings, modifications and approval by Metro's board in the coming months, according to a timetable laid out in recent public presentations.
Here's what may be in store:
Continue Reading "Express Buses Eyed for Metro's Crowded 30 Line" »
SOME VISIONARIES IN PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY see a Chicago-like skyline rising from a piece of undeveloped land near Andrews Air Force Base — a mini-city that would contain millions of square feet of office and residential space. But with no Green Line extension to Westphalia in sight, that plan could sit on the drawing board for years.
Might developers concentrate on land already adjacent to existing Metrorail stations? There's land available and Maryland officials, peeved at Metro's real estate development practices, want the transit agency to reform the way it promotes development at stations, as The Post's Lisa Rein and Lena H. Sun reported on Sunday. A new report details the problems with Metro's development protocols. Write Rein and Sun:
The report blames Metro's hands-off approach for a "paucity" of interest from developers, confusion in communities near stations because of "interminable reviews often at odds with community concerns," and "frequent disconnect" with local governments. It calls Metro's process broken.
While some areas around Metrorail stations have been touted as real estate success stories — like Arlington County's Ballston-Rosslyn corridor with its high- and mid-density developments clustered near transit centers — other station areas, particularly in Prince George's County are relatively undeveloped, with quite a bit of Metro-controlled property sitting barren or being used for surface parking lots.
Let's take a look at some aerial photography of some of the problem stations, courtesy Google Maps. Above is the Cheverly station on the Orange Line, where we noted you can't get a pint of beer at a local watering hole, because there isn't one. Below left is Capitol Heights on the Blue Line and below right is Naylor Road on the Green Line. They may be friendly to commuters, but in their current form, are not friendly to transit-oriented development. If things change, there is the promise of millions in new revenue to the cash-strapped agency.
» "Metro Fails to Nurture Development, Report Finds" [WaPo]
EARLIER:
» "Green Line to Westphalia?" [Free Ride/Express]
» "Prince George's Sees Andrews As Hub of Development" [WaPo]
Green Line to Westphalia?
Map It:
Anacostia Branch Ave Congress Heights Naylor Road Southern Avenue Suitland
IF YOU'RE HAVING trouble keeping track of planned, future and proposed transit expansion in the region — the Dulles Metrorail extension, the Green Line expansion to BWI, the Purple Line linking Bethesda, Sliver Spring, College Park and New Carrollton — here's another potential project to throw into the mix: The Green Line to Westphalia near Andrews Air Force Base in Prince George's County.
Its all part of a plan to make the Andrews Air Force Base area the National Defense and Technology Corridor, a notion championed by the Prince George's County Business Roundtable. As The Post's Anita Huslin reports:
...[T]he Business Roundtable suggested that the county's planned town center just east of Andrews should be developed with an eye to serving the military community. Under the county's plan, 15,000 units of housing, 2 million square feet of retail, six new schools, and hotels and entertainment venues would be built. Eventually, according to the plan, a town about half the size of Columbia would rise on 7,000 acres bound by Ritchie Marlboro Road to the north and east, the Capital Beltway to the west, and Maryland Route 4 to the south.An Andrews Air Force Base-area terminus never came into serious consideration during the drawn-out battle in the 1970s and '80s over where the Green Line's southern stretch should end.
Addison Road