$11,000,000.00 Road To Nowhere – The basis for the SHA improvement numbers …. flawed?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) November 2, 2011 -- $11,000,000.00 Road To Nowhere – The basis for the SHA improvement numbers …. flawed?
Posted on October 31, 2011

Written by an engineer

The Residents on the Service Road of 355, request that an Independent 3rd Party conduct a new & up to date traffic study of the Traffic on 355,
before a decision is even considered, as far as DOD funding this $11,000,000.00 project,
it has come to our attention that The basis for the SHA improvement numbers may be flawed.

The MD SHA BRAC proposal requests funding for a short north bound through lane at the intersection of MD355 and Cedar Lane. The proposed length of the short through lane takes property frontage and affects property values between Elmhirst Drive and Locust Hill Road. The only purpose for this through lane is to obtain credit for an improved PM peak V/C score at the intersection. Failure to clear the intersection would eliminate any fourth lane credit. The short through lane having an immediate merge provides no intersection benefit. The through lane V/C score credit is bogus. The through lane destruction of property values to achieve a bogus V/C score should not be permitted. The MD SHA BRAC proposal funding for a short north bound through lane at the intersection of MD355 and Cedar Lane should be denied or reduced in award value eliminating the through lane extension beyond Elmhirst Drive.

The SHA justification for Its proposed Md 355 roadway changes are based upon a stale 2006 traffic count that was full of errors and inflated 2011 traffic estimates.

The SHA justifies the Cedar Lane/MD355 roadway changes by performing a CLV and a HCM Signalized Capacity Analysis. The analysis relies on a “stale” Grove/Slate Associates September 2006 Cedar Lane/MD 355 traffic count studies performed for NNMC to support its Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The Grove/Slade AssociatesSeptember 2006 Cedar Lane/MD 355 traffic count was admittedly flawed since it failed to (1) accurately identify the Cedar Lane left turning lane configurations (2) consider the interruption of west bound Cedar Lane traffic by a Montgomery County Patrolman directing traffic in and out of Stone Ridge School during AM peak traffic hours (3) consider the AM peak vehicle stacking in the Cedar Lane/MD355 intersection due to the extension of the NNMC north gate entrance traffic into a through 355 traffic lane. The Grove/Slade Associates September 2006 Cedar Lane/MD 355 traffic count study also performed a 2011 traffic count estimate. The Grove/Slade Associates published EIS study indicated the estimated future 2011 traffic counts were inflated 43% by using ITE derived trip rates as opposed to locally derived rates. The SHA CLV and a HCM Signalized Capacity Level Of Service analysis also failed to use the proper Lane Use Factors or near metro VPH Capacity values contained in Montgomery County Local Transportation Guidelines.

The SHA failed to make any corrections to the Existing and Future 2011 traffic counts performed by Grove/Slade Associates for its analysis. Having arrived at 2011 a new traffic count should pursued before any road work begins

Information Source:
NNMC EIS appendix analysis and the facts.

http://www.BETHESDA.med.navy.mil/professional/public_affairs/brac/eis.aspx

The MD SHA BRAC proposal requests funding for a short north bound through lane at the intersection of MD355 and Cedar Lane. The proposed length of the short through lane takes property frontage and affects property values between Elmhirst Drive and Locust Hill Road. The only purpose for this through lane is to obtain credit for an improved PM peak V/C score at the intersection. Failure to clear the intersection would eliminate any fourth lane credit. The short through lane having an immediate merge provides no intersection benefit. The through lane V/C score credit is bogus. The through lane destruction of property values to achieve a bogus V/C score should not be permitted. The MD SHA BRAC proposal funding for a short north bound through lane at the intersection of MD355 and Cedar Lane should be denied or reduced in award value eliminating the through lane extension beyond Elmhirst Drive.

http://www.stopgovwaste.net/

Technorati Tags: BETHESDA, BRAC, DOD FUNDING, ROCKVILLE, TRAFFIC
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged BETHESDA, BRAC, DOD FUNDING, ROCKVILLE, TRAFFIC | Leave a reply Edit


“Project Phase 4″ to widen northbound 355 at the Cedar Lane intersection is at best a “band-aid” for the area’s traffic issues
Posted on October 30, 2011

Given that SHA admits that “Project Phase 4″ to widen northbound 355 at the Cedar Lane intersection is at best a “band-aid” for the area’s traffic issues, why spend millions of taxpayer dollars on this road to nowhere?

There is a terrible problem with southbound Rt. 355 AM-rush hour traffic congestion due to Walter Reed/NIH commuters coming off the beltway/495 and down 355 trying to get to work, yet the short northbound widening would do nothing to address the southbound problem. The state is ignoring the west side of 355, despite the fact that on most weekdays, the AM-rush southbound gridlock resembles a parking lot. Of course, commuters also need to reach the 495 beltway from Walter Reed/NIH in a timely fashion northbound during the PM-rush hour, but just pushing traffic two blocks north of the Cedar Lane intersection with the proposed merge lane does not solve this traffic problem. It just kicks the can down the road, and it likely would complicate traffic and safety problems by creating an even more dangerous bottleneck situation at the proposed 4-to-3 lane merge near Locust Hill Rd., Locust Hill neighborhood’s major entry point.

Why are government officials dismissing sensible, lower-cost, effective alternatives, such as timed, reversible lanes on 355 and a 495 beltway exit/entry ramp for Walter Reed, that would
alleviate traffic congestion without widening 355?

Timed, Reversible Lanes on MD 355

A relatively low-cost, sensible and proven (in NW DC) alternative that eliminates the need to widen 355 is to use timed, signal-driven, reversible lanes, removing the 355 median strip from Jones Bridge Rd. at the south edge of Walter Reed north approximately 1.5 miles to the entry ramps for 495 and 270. This moving-lanes approach (operating successfully on Conn. Ave., NW, and Canal Rd., NW) would provide timed, four-lane throughput south on 355 for the AM rush and north for the PM rush (leaving two lanes moving in the non-rush direction).

This approach is much faster to implement, and the cost of removing the median, relining the lanes and adding instructional signals is minor compared with the cost of widening 355. Reversible lanes would give the Cedar Lane intersection and the 1.5 mile stretch of 355 a few-year trial period, while speeding the flow of traffic with four lanes stretching to the desired destination. Any necessary adjustments for this approach would be far less disruptive to a widening of 355, which SHA admits is only a “stop-gap” measure.

495 Beltway On/Off Ramp for the WALTER REED Campus

The serious 355 traffic congestion problem highlights the need for another major entrance onto the Walter Reed campus. Building a direct on/off ramp onto the campus from the 495 beltway is the way to go. Federal Highway Administration guidelines for proximity of ramps should be waived to facilitate adding the ramp–it is important to note that FHA guidelines were waived to permit the building of the new Rockledge Drive exit ramp off 270 in BETHESDA. This common-sense, long-term solution would give direct, easy access to the campus for thousands of Walter Reed staff and patient/visitor commuters. And it would place some of the burden for a real fix to the traffic problem on the institution that is generating much of the added traffic, rather than placing the entire burden on the local community and failing to fix the problem.

http://www.stopgovwaste.net/

Technorati Tags: BETHESDA, BRAC, DOD FUNDING, TRAFFIC

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