The objective of the Roads Program is to alleviate congestion within key transportation corridors of the County and improve roadway capacity, safety, circulation, and accessibility throughout the County. Additional capacity and congestion relief is provided through new construction, realignments, upgrades, or by providing missing transportation links; implementation of the infrastructure needed to support master planned growth; and the improvement of traffic flow and circulation. Roadway improvements also allow commercial and residential development plans to proceed, allowing construction of housing and economic development to meet the growing population and jobs needed in the County. An adequate transportation network...

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PROGRAM DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES

The objective of the Roads Program is to alleviate congestion within key transportation corridors of the County and improve roadway capacity, safety, circulation, and accessibility throughout the County. Additional capacity and congestion relief is provided through new construction, realignments, upgrades, or by providing missing transportation links; implementation of the infrastructure needed to support master planned growth; and the improvement of traffic flow and circulation. Roadway improvements also allow commercial and residential development plans to proceed, allowing construction of housing and economic development to meet the growing population and jobs needed in the County. An adequate transportation network allows business growth to provide employment opportunities and accommodates public and quasi-public facilities which respond to the demands of citizens for services and safe access to schools. In addition to providing traffic capacity, the Roads Program provides funding for pedestrian facilities and bikeways alongside new roadways; advance reforestation, highway noise abatement structures, stormwater management structures, and other mitigation measures to protect the environment; landscaping to improve appearance to highway users and surrounding properties; and on-site reforestation to improve appearance, contribute to a cleaner environment, and buffer affected communities. The program also provides funding for planning and preliminary engineering design of future new and reconstruction roadway projects.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Add funding for design of spot improvements on Goshen Road to address safety issues.
• Continue partnerships with developers to support development in the Clarksburg area through the Subdivision Roads Participation project.
• Maintain funding to construct a new roadway between Spencerville Road (MD 198) and the School Access Road in Burtonsville.

PROGRAM CONTACTS

Contact Brady Goldsmith of the Department of Transportation at 240.777.2793 or Gary Nalven of the Office of Management and Budget at 240.777.2779 for more information regarding this department's capital budget.

CAPITAL PROGRAM REVIEW

The FY25-30 Roads Capital Improvement Program includes 14 ongoing projects totaling $23.4 million over the next six years. This represents a decrease of $80.9 million or 77.6 percent from the FY23-28 Amended CIP of $104.3 million. This decrease is largely due to the deferral of the Summit Avenue Extension and Observation Drive Extended projects.

TRANSPORTATION IMPACT TAXES

The County Council established new rates and geographical boundaries for transportation impact taxes in July 2021 and enacted a White Flint impact tax district in 2010. These taxes are levied at rate schedules based on the classification of an area relative to transit service and accessibility. The "Red" policy areas replaced the prior Metro Station Policy Areas (MSPAs). "Orange" policy areas are corridor cities (but not MSPAs), town centers, and emerging transit-oriented development areas where transitways such as the Purple Line and Bus Rapid Transit lines are planned. "Yellow" policy areas are lower density residential neighborhoods with community-serving commercial areas; and "Green" policy areas are the Agricultural Reserve and other rural areas. Transportation Impact Taxes are also assessed for projects within the boundaries of Rockville and Gaithersburg. These impact taxes can only be used for projects listed in a Council-approved Memorandum of Understanding with the individual municipalities.

STATE ROAD PROGRAM

In addition to the County Roads, Bridges, Traffic Improvements, and Pedestrian/Bicycle programs included in the County CIP, the State's Consolidated Transportation Program (CTP) represents a significant investment in improving and maintaining the roadway network in Montgomery County. The State's Draft Consolidated Transportation Program is released each October. Final action on the Statewide CTP is taken by the General Assembly. State roads in Montgomery County are identified by numbers (e.g., MD 650 is New Hampshire Avenue).

State projects identified in Montgomery County in the Draft FY 2024-2029 CTP include four construction projects and five development and evaluation projects impacting interstate highways and primary and secondary roads.

Construction Projects:

Development and Evaluation Projects:

*: Projects in which the County has contributed funding.

For projects in Montgomery County, the Draft FY 2024-2029 CTP includes $49.6 million for the Construction Program and $50,000 for the Development and Evaluation Program, which is structured similarly to Montgomery County's Facility Planning process. For the I-495 and I-270 corridors, the CTP includes $225 million for planning and design. In addition, the CTP includes $62.5 million for 18 system preservation projects including road resurfacing and reconstruction, bridge replacement and rehabilitation, safety/spot improvements, traffic management, environmental preservation, intersection capacity improvements, bicycle retrofits, total maximum daily load compliance, and enhancements to pedestrian/bicycle facilities.

Since the release of the Draft FY 2024-2029 CTP, the Governor has announced cuts to two roadway projects in Montgomery County due to fiscal constraints. All construction funding has been removed from the MD 97 Montgomery Hills project, and design funding for the I-270/I-495 Phase 1 South project has decreased by $68.5 million.

GROWTH & INFRASTRUCTURE POLICY CONSIDERATIONS

In an effort to coordinate development activity with the implementation of the Transportation Program, County law establishes the Growth & Infrastructure Policy (formerly Subdivision Staging Policy or Growth Policy) and the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO). The most recent 2020-2024 Growth & Infrastructure Policy was adopted by the County Council on November 16, 2020.

The Growth & Infrastructure Policy correlates public facilities such as transportation infrastructure and schools with private development so that development cannot outpace the construction of the infrastructure needed to support it. The APFO tests for the adequacy of road facilities using a tool called the Local Area Transportation Review (LATR) process.

LATR sets standards for traffic congestion at intersections throughout the County and tests individual subdivisions to determine if the new development will cause congestion at any of these intersections to exceed the standard. The LATR uses the Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) analysis to identify a development's impacts to nearby intersections. To be counted for transportation capacity under LATR, a road must be programmed for completion within six years in a State, County, or municipal capital program. LATR also includes required performance standards for transit, bicycle, and pedestrian facilities.

In some policy areas (particularly Red areas), it is anticipated that per-trip Local Area Transportation Improvement Program (LATIP)/Unified Mobility Program (UMP) fees will be calculated and assessed on new development to finance identified infrastructure needs. These needs are drawn from both master planned projects as well as intersection treatments identified as part of the LATIP/UMP analysis, which evaluates traffic impacts at full build-out of the associated master plan.

The six-year Roads, Bridges, and Traffic Improvements Program, combined with the State CTP and roads built by developers as conditions for approval, is expected to improve the County's road and related development capacity, while increasing safety by widening roads and intersections and engineering them to modern standards.

REQUIRED ADEQUATE PUBLIC FACILITIES DESIGNATION

Each Project Description Form (PDF) in the Transportation Program contains an area at the top titled, "Required Adequate Public Facilities." If this area contains a "YES," the project has been counted toward the Montgomery County Planning Board's approval of specific developments. The area indicates only previous approvals and does not indicate any future approvals that may take place.

STORMWATER MANAGEMENT COORDINATION

The County is required to obtain a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit and develop a stormwater management program to prevent harmful pollutants from being washed or dumped into the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4). The DOT is assisting the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in implementing the MS4 permit by (1) constructing Storm Water Management (SWM) retrofit programs which have been developed through DEP's MS4 planning studies; (2) providing opportunities for curb bump-outs and road narrowing where feasible to permit implementation of Low-Impact Development (LID) SWM provisions within the right-of-way; (3) seeking DEP guidance on prioritization of storm drain outfall repairs; (4) coordinating with DEP on constructing storm drain projects developed in the Storm Drain General and Facility Planning Storm Drain programs to identify opportunities for enhancements which would assist in meeting the requirements of the MS4 permit; and (5) establishing quarterly meetings with DEP and DOT staff to look for additional areas of cooperation in meeting the MS4 permit requirements.

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