ROCKVILLE — Start building those man-sized sling shots. The county council has rejected proposed changes to Silver Spring’s development plan that would allow a pedestrian bridge to be built between downtown’s new library and the Wayne Avenue garage.
All but council member George Leventhal (D-At large) threw their thumbs down at the idea, which staffers for MoCo exec Ike Leggett have pushed for months as an accessibility win for disabled people.
“If we don’t provide the access, the usage rate among disabled people at this library will be smaller than we anticipate,” Leventhal told his colleagues before Tuesday morning’s vote. “They just won’t use it.”
But council member Mike Knapp (D-District 2) felt the county’s departments of general services and planning should put their collective heads together and cook up a different (read: cheaper) way of getting disabled patrons into the library.
“Finding seven parking spaces for the library can be done for less than $700,000 for the bridge, or $3 million to modify the building,” Knapp argued.
So far, the department of general services, which is responsible for building the library on Wayne Avenue at Fenton Street, has pitched two alternatives to the bridge. The first would raise the building an extra story so that five designated parking spots can sit on the ground level. (That’s the $3 million building modification.) The second would create underground parking at a higher price.
Reps with the planning department testified last week that head-in parking along Bonifant Street could provide the required handicapped parking at an estimated $420,000. However, the slope between Bonifant and the library’s Fenton Street entrance is a little steeper than what the Americans With Disabilities Act recommends.
“Addressing the issue of grade will end up costing us more than the bridge,” Leventhal said. He also worried that the designated spots would mean less parking for patrons of Bonifant Street’s restaurants.
Now that the bridge is out of the picture, architects working the library project must return to the drawing board (literally) and rethink the building’s design. All of the designs shown so far have included the bridge.
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Yes. This is good news.
great news! i hope that mcdot follows through with steps to make crossing wayne at street level safer. the bridge would have been a step in the wrong direction, but we need a transportation department that prioritizes making streets safe for pedestrians and bicyclists.
“Addressing the issue of grade will end up costing us more than the bridge,” Leventhal said.
You have to grade the lot for the building. Just grade a few more square feet for 5 parking spaces beside the building. Stick some signs in the ground and put in a side walk to the ONLY ground level entrance and the elevator to the third floor. Because clearly an entrance on the third floor in mid-air is sensible.
It’s not rocket science here Leventhal. Good grief.
Hey penguin, check this out: http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/37670721.html. It’s totally off topic, but an interesting tidbit nonetheless.
This is a sad day for anyone with mobility issues or small children. Crossing Wayne is dangerous for such people already, and when the Purple Line is added to the mix, the situation will be even worse.
This is also a sad day for Fenton Village merchants since people people who would have used the bridge to cross Wayne but won’t try to cross on the surface will no longer visit their stores.
It is also a sad day for all Silver Spring Library users since it will mean less use of the library, which will lead to fewer services and materials being available and possibly even fewer open hours.
One can only hope that the Council will rectify its mistake once it becomes clear that the bridge really is the least expensive solution for required handicapped access to the building. The easy solutions, such as the suggested regrading, aren’t so easy after all when the fact that the grade has to conform to the Purple Line, which will take up much of the ground floor of the building, is taken into account.
I didn’t follow closely and didn’t understand the fuss against the pedestrian bridge – but after seeing the design ideas for it at the last design meeting (full of plantings and open look), I’m very disappointed the County Council axed it.
You can make a hell of a garden for $700K instead of a bridge with some potted plants.
Yes, but the more entrances to the Library the more people would use it (this according to the architects at the meeting made sense to me). And trying to make everything green (even a pedestrian bridge) is good not bad.
We need to make sure that Wayne Avenue is safe for everyone to cross, with or without the bridge. If that is not possible, then the Council should reconsider building the library at that location.
The County should build a pedestrian bridge and make the intersection safer…for all of the reasons so clearly stated by Woodside Park Bob.
I agree with the bridge people. There needs to be safe access to the library for everyone, period, and it seems like the bridge is the way to do that.
This is why it takes F.O.R.E.V.E.R. for SS to build anything. Darn us all for caring!
Expand or rebuild the library in its current spot.
Instead of the Purple Line and all of its rezoning/bulldozing baggage, improve the bus system and crosswalks we have.
I can’t believe so many people think crossing Wayne is unsafe… Do you go to the light & wait for it or do you just run across the middle of the road straight out of the parking garage? I cross Wayne at Fenton pretty much every day, and I’ve never felt threatened… I actually find that to be one of the most pleasant places to cross in town…
Now Wayne & Dixon, there’s another story… Something about that stretch seems to make the cars forget where the stop line is, or what red means…
I’m pleasantly stunned at the common sense employed here by the County council. Good decision.
i understand the bridge is coming back for discussion due to ADA issues. Any more info on this out there?
Editor’s note: Fuck! Won’t this story ever die? Will look into it, with much reluctance. — JD (Oct 1, 2009)