Just when the northeast side of East-West Highway reopens itself to pedestrians, two more South Silver Spring sidewalks shut down for construction.
At Blair Mill Road near East-West Highway, sidewalks on both sides of the street have been erased from the map. On the west side, cement trucks and rebar sit behind a jersey barrier separating the narrow roadway from a residential construction site. And on the east side, crews are tearing up what used to be a covered pedestrian path to install underground utilities near another residential construction site.
Temporary pedestrian paths have not been set up on either side of Blair Mill Road.
Then, on the east side of Georgia Avenue between King Street and Burlington Avenue, crews have obliterated a sidewalk in front of Montgomery College’s future performing arts center, leaving a squishy path of fine gravel and mud. Next to a driveway leading to the college, a sign (below) points out the obvious: “Sidewalk closed.”
Originally, the sign directed pedestrians to access the sidewalk on Georgia’s west side by crossing Georgia at King. That intersection has no traffic light or crosswalk, and is near the site where one driver struck and killed a jaywalker earlier this year. As of Wednesday morning, the sign’s suggestion had been covered with silver duct tape, and pedestrians navigated the gravel path while negotiating space with heavy machinery.
The sidewalk closures come about one month after a long stretch of East-West Highway had reopened to pedestrians (below). That sidewalk had been closed for almost two years during construction of The Veridian apartment building.
It’s unclear when sidewalk construction on Blair Mill Road or Georgia Avenue will be completed, or if temporary pedestrian paths will be built.
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How is this allowed!!
Is that a question or a statement?
Contractors should not be allowed to close sidewalks without providing alternate walks for pedestrians on the same side of the street, even if this means narrowing lanes for traffic in the street. The alternate walks should be covered if they are next to high rise construction.
Who can we call to complain? If they got 50-calls, I bet the county would do something about it.
This feels like our own private version of Hell – everytime I head to the metro I ask myself what sidewalks will be closed and which will be obliterated TODAY — how about some COMMUNICATION at least – some advance warning, set time limits on the closures, coordination with nearby projects, etc. and yes, of course, they should be required to provide safe temporary walkways as Woodside Park mentions are necessary.
I have actually been in communication with Montgomery County’s Division of Traffic Engineering and Operations for a couple of weeks about this ongoing problem and they affirm that the two developers, Pike Construction and Clark Construction, are in violation of code. The County has requested that Pike Construction “provide pedestrian access on the north side of Blair Mill Road by moving barriers,” but if that is not possible, the less desirable option is to “close about 500ft to vehicular traffic and create a pedestrian pathway while vehicular traffic will be detoured around the corner.”
Clark Construction told the County that their work will be completed by next Wednesday (12/10/08). We should hold them accountable and not let them wait out the clock. I encourage everyone to call the Montgomery County’s Department of Transportation and complain: 240-777-6000
Editor’s note: Evan Glass is president of the South Silver Spring Neighborhood Association. — JD (Dec 5, 2008)
While I voted for the President-elect, I oppose his plan to close Gitmo. There are still a lot of irresponsible developers and unresponsive county officials to imprison and waterboard. Or perhaps the CIA could perform extraordinary rendition.
I will certainly call the county and I will try to encourage everyone who works at NOAA and lives in the Blairs and other apartments over there to do so.
The right complains about Socialism, which they can’t even define correctly. Meanwhile, our daily lives are degraded and even endangered by the reverse socialism of developers suddenly appropiating public sidewalks and roads for private profit.
The madness has to stop. These idiots are likely to bankrupt regardless. Does it help much if a couple more pedestrians die in the process?
I just called the number suggested by Evan. I was told by the County to file a complaint with permit services. I would urge everyone to call 240-777-6300 and file a complaint!!
I filed my complaint with the county. Here is a copy:
Service Request Details Help
SR Number 199946018
SR Date 12/08/2008
Resolution Date 12/08/2008
Inspected By CHRISTOPHER CARY
Problem Code ROW VIOLATIONS
Resolution Code CLOSED
Site Address
Lot – Block -
Subdiv. -
Problems
comlainant states due to construction the sidewalk has been ripped up and is now a dangerous situation for pedestrians, specifically those that are disabled….
Resolution
The contctor has installed a temporary walkway on the opposite side of the roadway for safe passage. Signs are in place . The sidewalk has to be torn up to install new streetscaping.
While I agree that the lack of pedestrian paths is terrible, I think an even bigger travesty is that they have left Blair Mill Road open under the guise that it is drivable, when it is so clearly not. I know my vehiclular traffic problems won’t gain a lot of support here, but the barriers on Blair Mill make it impossible to see and drive down that road. Even though the lane is open, it isn’t big enough for two cars to be on the road at once, and you don’t know if you’ll have a problem until you’ve already started a turn because of all the barriers. And since the construction on the on side borders will Newell as well, I have to drive halfway around the county to get to my apartment building. I didn’t know construction was allowed so rein.