2021-11 Hyattsville Life & Times

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INSIDE HYATTSKIDS guide us to their favorite gift ideas from local stores, P. 4 AT HOME IN HYATTSVILLE: A local veteran welcomes others home, P. 7

VOL. 18 NO. 11

HYATTSVILLE’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER

NOVEMBER 2021

Fall leaves blow as city debates leaf blower ban By Winter Hawk At their Oct. 18 meeting, some city councilmembers were hesitant to phase in a ban on gaspowered leaf blowers. The ban’s sponsor, Danny Schaible (Ward 2), hopes to permanently stop the use of these blowers by July 2023, aiming to reduce noise and gas pollution in the city. During the meeting, many conversations centered around the city’s efforts to preserve the local environment. More specifically, the council passed motions SEE LEAFBLOWER ON 13 

Why Prince George’s County is the future of firefighting By Paul Ruffins Can you name a matter of life and death in which Prince George’s County has become the most influential jurisdiction in the U.S.? The answer is firefighting. People might guess New York, the biggest department, or Philadelphia, where Benjamin Franklin organized one of the first, but they’d be wrong. SEE FIREFIGHTING ON 8 

Approximately 25,000 to 31,000 motor vehicles drive through Hyattsville on Route 1 each day.

KYLE HEFLINGER

Route 1 to improve for bicycles, pedestrians By Dan Behrend Three developments slated for the Route 1 Corridor in Hyattsville will change how people experience and move through the city. Planned construction will improve sidewalks and create pedestrian plazas. An extension of the Rhode Island Avenue Trolley Trail will connect travel routes for pedestrians and bicyclists. Stretching from the Canadian border in Maine to Key West, U.S. Route 1 goes by many names. Where Route 1 intersects with Farragut Street in Hyattsville, it becomes Baltimore Avenue, heading north to Laurel, and Rhode Island Avenue, heading south to the District.

Tens of thousands of people drive through Hyattsville on Route 1 daily. According to state data for 2011 through 2020, a daily average of about 25,000 to 31,000 motor vehicles drive the stretch from East-West Highway to the intersection with the U.S. Route 1 Alternate overpass, just north of Franklins Restaurant, Brewery and General Store. Over the same period, a daily average of 16,000 to 24,000 vehicles traveled Rhode Island Avenue towards D.C. For perspective, the recent 2020 Census estimated the population of the City of Hyattsville to be 21,187. Route 1 is also a neighborhood street where

people live, work, socialize and exercise. With construction bringing more housing and retail space to the city, residents may choose to leave their cars at home, especially if they’re making short trips in the city. New initiatives will likely make those trips safer and more comfortable.

RHODE ISLAND AVENUE TROLLEY TRAIL EXTENSION Plans to extend the trolley trail from Farragut Street to Charles Armentrout Drive moved forward in late September, when the Maryland Department of Transportation asked for bids on a SEE ROUTE 1 ON 13 

CENTER SECTION: The November 9, 2021 Issue of The Hyattsville Reporter — in Español too! HYATTSVILLE MD PERMIT NO. 1383

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