County, City Leaders Agree on Need for Bus Rapid Transit Project

From Montgomery Community Media

Montgomery County needs its own transit authority to help plan projects such as the proposed Maryland 355 Bus Rapid Transit corridor, leaders said at a meeting this week.

The Rockville City Council invited Gaithersburg and Montgomery County elected officials met Wednesday night for an update on the corridor planning study for the MD 355 Bus Rapid Transit project. In addition to each city evaluating routes and stops for the project, Thomas Street, assistant chief administrative officer for the Office of the County Executive, said Isiah Leggett is proposing the creation of an independent transit authority for Montgomery County. The agency could evaluate transportation needs in the county and help with planning of projects like BRT.

The proposed Bus Rapid Transit along 355 is about 20 miles long and planning is in the early stages, said Barrett Kiedrowski from the State Highway Administration. He outlined a lengthy planning approval process with a final recommended corridor plan scheduled for presentation in the fall of 2016.

That’s too long, says Montgomery County Councilmember Roger Berliner, who wants to set a construction date and work backward to set a timeframe for approval.

“It should be ready for construction in four years,” Berliner told MyMCMedia.

Council member Marc Elrich said the BRT is a key to economic development in Montgomery County and he said the county may need to pay for the massive transit project without state money.

“There are ways to do this and we need to figure it out how we need to go forward and do it with or without the state if it has to be that way,” Elrich said. “The governor talked about stimulating the economy. One of his prime economic consultants was a proponent of this. I am optimistic if he is really willing to look at investments with an economic return to the state and to the county that he will decide that these projects are worth for the state to participate in.”

So far there is no estimated cost for the BRT. There has been about $10 million put toward studies of the plan.

» Montgomery County, Gaithersburg and Rockville leaders meet about bus rapid transit at Rockville City Hall. PHOTO | Krista Brick of Montgomery Community Media