THE GAZETTE
Wednesday, December 18, 2013 r
Page A-7
White Oak Science Gateway plan could head to County Council soon Planners to meet Thursday on proposal n
BY
ALINE BARROS STAFF WRITER
As the county narrows in on its vision for the White Oak Science Gateway transportation and traffic issues continue to be the main focus of debate. The Montgomery County Park and Planning Board Commission is scheduled to meet again Thursday to decide whether or not they have enough information and specific recommendations to forward the White Oak Science Gateway Master Plan to the Montgomery County Council. The plan would transform the White Oak section of the eastern part of the county into a new area for medical and life science research allowing a doubling of commercial space, jobs and housing, establishing the area as a major center of growth that could rival the Interstate 270 biotech corridor. OnDec.5,thecommissionaddressed requests stated in a letter written on Oct. 2 by then-County Council president Nancy Navarro (D-Dist. 4) about the White Oak Science Gateway Master Plan. In the letter, Navarro asked planners to consider a balance between land use and transportation, and enough roads and transit capacity for people to get to and from places. The former county council president asked for planners to include a recom-
mendation to increase the traffic threshold and forward the proposal for as an amendment to the Montgomery County Subdivision Staging Policy. But the planning department staff only recommends raising traffic standards if “high quality transit options are available, which is not the situation in the east county at this time,” according to a Dec. 9 report from the planning department. As of now, the acceptable traffic congestion in the Fairland/White Oak policy area is a threshold of 1,475 conflicting traffic turning movements at an intersection per hour, which means whether a driver is making a right or left, going north to south or vice-versa. The new master plan recommends an increase to 1,600 traffic movements as acceptable when development of the an approved White Oak Science Gateway Master Plan gets to “stage 2” where there would be evidence of additional transit infrastructure. “County planning policy permits higher levels of auto traffic congestions in areas where travelers have a higher quality transit service. The rationale for doing this is that the transit service is considered a viable alternative to automobile travel,” Eric S. Graye, planning supervisor at the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, wrote in an email to The Gazette. Planning officials said if the development goes forward there
will be more people moving to the area and therefore more transit activity. Officials said they are willing to accept a higher level of traffic movements in the area, whether it is people walking or driving, as long as residents have more transit options such as sidewalks and bus routes. “Think of it as a ‘balancing’ between auto and transit service. For example, in an area like downtown Silver Spring- which has metrorail service- a higher level of auto congestion is permitted. At the other extreme, in an up-country area like Damascus- where there is only very limited local bus service- a lower level of auto congestion is allowed,” added Graye. According to planning department officials, the letter addressed important issues but planners must make sure they “are not creating an unreasonable congestion,” said Mary Dolan, chief of the division of functional planning and policy and the Montgomery County Planning department. Development would occur in stages along the possible Bus Rapid Transit on Md. 29, New Hampshire Avenue, Randolph Road-Cherry Hill Road and other corridors. The importance of the rapid bus system was underscored in a draft report to the Planning Board on the county’s subdivision staging policy, which showed that the roads in the White Oak-Fairland area could fail adequacy standards by 2022.
DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE
(From left) John Kleiderer, Mercy Health Clinic’s executive director, Rep. John Delaney (D-Dist. 6) of Potomac, Dr. James Ronan, founding medical director and volunteer cardiologist, and Colleen Rodak, clinical director, chat after Delaney gave the Gaithersburg clinic part of his salary earned during the federal government shutdown in October.
Delaney donates portion salary to clinic BY JENN DAVIS STAFF WRITER
After pledging to donate the portion of his salary earned during the government shutdown in October to a Gaithersburg clinic, Rep. John Delaney (D-Dist. 6) of Potomac followed through on his promise Nov. 26 when he stopped by the center to present the check. Delaney, who was reported in July to be worth at least $51 million, donated some of his $174,000 annual congressional salary to Mercy Health Clinic. Executive Director John P. Kleiderer said it was just more more than
$7,600. “This clinic has a tremendous impact on the community,” Delaney said. “So, particularly in context with the shutdown, I wanted to donate to a place that is doing good work. Symbolically, this represents volunteers coming together to do good things in light of the shutdown where Congress wasn’t doing anything.” Kleiderer said the clinic, at 7 Metropolitan Court, Suite 1, was “ecstatic” to receive the contribution. The clinic is a nonprofit community health center that serves uninsured low-income residents of Montgomery County. With
more than 150 volunteers, the clinic offers free services in 20 specialty areas to its patients. The money will go toward the clinic’s ongoing health services and educational programs, according to Kleiderer. He said the money will also help support the services provided by the clinic’s referral nurse, who can access a network of partner agencies to assist patients in accessing specialty care outside of the clinic. “We are serving people who have nowhere else to go,” Kleiderer said. “This money will directly go to all of those people in the waiting room. It helps our patients get access to health care.”
abarros@gazette.net
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