The lights are on and emergency call boxes are coming soon, but other security measures for the Forest Glen footbridge will have to wait, says the county’s department of public works.
Improved lighting has been glowing along the bridge’s path since June, according to the department’s fall update. The new fixtures distribute light uniformly as the path worms beneath a Beltway overpass on Georgia Avenue, the department claims.
A final design on emergency call boxes has also been selected, says the department. Their installation begins this month, and the units go live towards the end of November.
However, installation of security cameras along the bridge has been delayed. The problems: a data network that can’t support streaming video, and money (or a lack thereof), the department reports.
The plan now must compete with other county projects for capital improvement funds, the department explains. That process is currently cooking.
Other suggestions to improve security on the bridge have been completely nixed. A fence that would have separated the path from the Beltway overpass abutment got a thumbs-down. The fence, the department says, would have created blind spots for pedestrians.
Escape hatches along Georgia Avenue were also axed. The extra exits, the department writes, would have created “exactly the kind of pedestrian safety concerns this project was conceived to eliminate.”
The department also passed on the idea of painting the bottom of the overpass white. Any light reflected off that white surface would fade with the paint job, the department contends.
The bridge, which connects Montgomery Hills and Forest Glen, was the site of three muggings last winter.
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What would solve this whole problem is an ED-209.
Alright, I’ll take the bait … What is an ED-209?
What, you don’t have Google?
Editor’s note: Got it! — JD (Sep 17, 2007)
Have the words “wow.. we really jacked that one up big time” made it out of any of our county officials mouths yet regarding that project. I would have so much more respect for elected representatives if just ONCE in a while I heard “Yeaup.. we screwed up on that one”. I mean… how many millions was that project? Someone didn’t plan that very well from the start… it shouldn’t have been totally non-forseeable. I mean I wouldn’t have guessed… but I’m not an over-priced urban planner either – I’m an engineer.. which is why I DO know that “a data network that can’t support streaming video” is a bunch of baloney – my DSL could handle a dozen security cameras at the 2 frames per second black and white that they would need.
Paul wrote:
I think part of the problem is that the lines (DSL, cable, fiber optics, whatever) don’t exist in that area. And I’m willing to bet that no one — not RCN, Comcast, Verizon or the county — wants to pay for their installation.
I’d love to see some stats regarding how many people actually use this bridge, and where they are going/coming from when they traverse it. I guess we’re long past this now, but was it really worth the millions they spent on it? What about the millions more in “security” improvements?
Even if there was a data network to support the cameras, then what? Camera systems in banks don’t prevent robberies. Why should these be any more effective? Amazing…
Have there been any more incidents on the footbridge since the initial ones that led to the call for increased security? In other words, is there an ongoing problem there?
There have no been any additional, reported security problems on the bridge.
I just saw, “The Brave One”. Maybe we could ask Jodie Foster to watch the bridge.
There’s EVDO (broadband cellular) access by the bridge. They could use that for cameras.