Debate on Value of Library Pedestrian Bridge Dominates February Silver Spring Citizens Advisory Board Meeting
Citizens, board members and county officials discussed controversial “elevated walkway.”
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While construction on the new Silver Spring Library continues, so too does deliberation over the necessity and value of a pedestrian bridge connecting the Wayne Avenue Garage with the main floor of the library.
The main issue on the floor for Monday evening’s Silver Spring Citizens’ Advisory Board meeting was whether or not the Urban Renewal Plan should be amended to allow for the pedestrian bridge. A diverse group of community members attended the meeting to voice their support for the bridge for a variety of reasons, from the potential positive impact on Fenton Village businesses and accessibility for the physically challenged to simple logistics for parents.
“I am in favor of the bridge,” said Silver Spring resident Catherine Eliot, mother of two young children. “I may not patronize the [Silver Spring] library if I have to traverse so much ground to get there. I may just go to Wheaton or Longbranch” she continued.
Montgomery County Council President Valerie Ervin had initially voted against amending the Urban Renewal Plan, based on “the belief that Executive Branch staff would be able to accommodate accessible parking for disabled residents.”
In a letter dated September 23, 2010, then Council Vice President Valerie Ervin requested that the Council “reconsider constructing a pedestrian bridge for the Silver Spring Library,” a position that Ervin’s Policy Analyst Richard Romer reiterated during the meeting.
The Advisory Board took an anti-bridge position in March 2009 in a letter to County Executive Leggett and then Council President Phil Andrews, stating “we believe that building a pedestrian bridge runs counter to the goals of economic development for the area…and neglects the primary problem of pedestrian safety and access.”
Darian Unger, head of the Board’s Transportation and Pedestrian Safety committee reignited the pedestrian safety issue by again questioning whether or not the building of the bridge would lead to the County not fulfilling promises to improve the safety of the major intersection.
David Dise, director of Montgomery County’s Department of General Services replied that “I understand that the County has a less than desirable record of keeping promises, but I never make promises I can’t keep. We are going to make safety improvements for pedestrians – it’s going to happen.”
When pressed for details about the types of improvements, Dise mentioned “adjustments to signals, widening crosswalks, removing obtrusive signage and improved audio,” but promised to get back to the board with more details.
A public hearing scheduled for March 8 at 7:30 pm will give concerned citizens another opportunity to voice their opinions about the bridge.
jag
2:49 pm on Tuesday, February 15, 2011
"I may not patronize the [Silver Spring] library if I have to traverse so much ground to get there."
Is that a freaking joke? How is there more ground to "traverse" if you walk 50 feet across a street on ground level v. 50 feet across the street through the sky??? This is the worst waste of $700K I've ever seen considered. Just let it die already.
Reynem
6:00 pm on Wednesday, February 16, 2011
No -- don't let it die. For a lot of people who now use the library, a link from parking to the library is important and could very well mean the difference between using the new library or not, even if you don't want to believe that. And, by the way, the distance is a good bit more than 50 feet. Check it out for yourself.
jag
6:58 pm on Wednesday, February 16, 2011
I, like tens of thousands of other people, actually live in DTSS so yes, I know how far it is from Wayne Ave. garage to the library site...it's across the street. A "link" between the two through the sky to the tune of $700K is a hilarious joke at best and completely destructive to the urban environment at worst (especially for people who live nearby and would have the bridge to nowhere outside their window). There's zero chance this passes the council, but the fact Ervin brought it back up for debate pisses me off beyond belief. If having to walk across the street on ground level v. through the sky is too much of a burden for you then I, rightfully, don't give a crap about your pissant needs.
Woodside Park Bob
5:34 pm on Thursday, February 17, 2011
Yes, the new library is just across the street from the parking garage -- as the crow flies. But the handicapped, people with heavy book bags and small children, and anyone who doesn't want to be hit by a car or a bus while crossing 5 lanes of traffic on Wayne Avenue, won't want to take the short "as the crow flies" route. Instead they'll have to go half a block to the corner of Wayne and Fenton, then cross the 5 lanes of Wayne while looking out for cars turning right or left, and then walk back to the library entrance. And they may have to dodge Purple Line trains, too. That's simply not going to work for the handicapped, the elderly, people with small children, and just about anybody else when the temperature is 20 degrees, the wind is blowing, and there is a lot of snow. So, if we don't build the bridge, we will have spent a lot of money building a great new library that many people will chose not to use (or simply not be physically able to use). The bridge is especially important for access since the new library will house one of the county's two handicapped resources centers.
The bridge won't just benefit library users. Many Fenton Village merchants have signed petitions supporting the bridge because they know it will benefit them by increasing access to their stores from the parking garage and also attract library users to visit their stores when they come to the library.
Not spending the $700,000 to build the bridge would be shortsighted.
jag
10:41 pm on Thursday, February 17, 2011
Woodside, assuming you know which side of the Wayne garage to park on, it is literally a few yards to the wayne/fenton intersection and then the entrance to the library is literally at that opposite corner. It's about as close to "as the crow flies" as life gets. And the purple line doesn't cut through the crosswalk, so I think you're probably just confused about the site plan in general. I agree that the intersection could use some traffic calming measures to ensure it's as pleasant as we can possibly make it in this auto-centric area (the real issue here), so spend $50K doing that and help all people using the library instead of $700K on a retro eyesore like a skybridge.
"Many Fenton Village merchants have signed petitions supporting the bridge because they know it will benefit them by increasing access to their stores from the parking garage and also attract library users to visit their stores when they come to the library." - That makes zero sense on any level whatsoever and I'm pretty sure you know that. Increasing access to their stores? Seriously? So all of a sudden being elderly and having small kids means you can't walk across the street at ground level, but you will feel inclined to walk around the surrounding blocks, so long as you get to walk through the sky first? Come on.