Infrastructure

Prince George’s officials push back on Hogan’s Beltway plans

By |

Prince George’s County officials had harsh words for Maryland transportation officials pushing plans to add new lanes to the Beltway. Members of the Prince George’s County Council were briefed on the proposal, dubbed the I-495-I-270 Managed Lanes Study, at a March 25 meeting. The proposal calls for the addition of variable-rate toll lanes to the Maryland portion of the Capital Beltway. During discussion of the proposal – heavily backed by Gov. Larry Hogan’s administration – District Three County Councilor Danielle Glaros said the project lacked broad buy-in from local communities. She contrasted the toll lane proposal with the efforts to build the Purple Line, a transportation infrastructure project more enthusiastically endorsed by the communities and local governments through which it wends.

College Park

College Park considers financing options for new City Hall

By |

At its Feb. 19, 2019, worksession, College Park City Council will discuss financing options for its planned $12.5 million City Hall. 

Most of College Park’s recent capital projects, except for the Knox Road parking garage, have been fully funded the year of the project, a pay-go system. But a large, multi-million-dollar project such as its new city hall is not suited for such financing. For one, it would cost nearly $14 million in one year for this project. Such an outlay would eat up most of the city’s budget in a given year.

Homepage Featured
A small suburban storefront is seen, it has clearly suffered a large fire. Charred debris litters the parking lot. The burned storefronts are boarded up with plywood, a van from a "Jenkins Restoration" company is parked outside, bearing the business phone number.

Required Reading: Arson woes for charity; Metro politics; Wet weather

By |

Required Reading is a simple, daily roundup of news coverage from other outlets relevant to Prince George’s County and its Route 1 communities. In our Dec. 17, 2018, edition: A College Park charity for homeless kids finds itself in need after arson; Metro problems, Metro politics; And a call for more indoor play-spaces. College Park charity devastated by arson (WUSA)

Metro needs late night service, and to not catch on fire (Greater Greater Washington)

Metro struggles with privatization (The Guardian)

Route 1 needs an indoor playspace (The Hyattsville Wire)

Hyattsville’s Holiday Tree lighting makes the season bright (The Hyattsville Life and Times)

Prince George’s walloped by rain (WTOP)

News
A steel-framed box bridge, narrow, suited for pedestrians and cyclists, stretches across a shallow, narrow streambed. In the background, winter has stripped a forest of trees of its leaves. Behind the forest, an apartment high-rise is visible.

Big extension of Little Paint Branch Trail to open soon, link Beltsville to regional trail network

By |

Major construction on an expansion of the Little Paint Branch Trail is expected to be finished later this month, according to Prince George’s County officials. The new extended trail will run for 2.2 miles alongside Cherry Hill Road from the trail’s present-day terminus in Northern College Park near Cherry Hill Road Park. A steel hiker-biker bridge has been built to cross the Little Paint Branch creek. From there it will parallel Cherry Hill Road and cross the Beltway on existing bridges before turning east onto Sellman Road where it hooks up to an existing trail stub at Little Paint Branch Park in Beltsville. 

Robert Patten, trail development program manager at Prince George’s County Parks, praised construction crews for their ability to rapidly make progress on the trail once construction started. In particular, he said the rate of construction was notable because of the heavy rains that have presented obstacles for work, particularly around the streambed where the bridge is built.

“We hope to open the trail in March or April.

News
The modernist facade of Prince George's County's Administration Building in Upper Marlboro.

Required Reading: Stadium limbo, dryer fires, and stadium tug-o-war

By |

Required Reading is a simple, daily roundup of news coverage relevant to Prince George’s County and its Route 1 communities. In today’s edition: Terps win national championship, a fight over future Redskins stadium sites is brewing, and how far is too far for your county government? Terps win fourth NCAA mens soccer crown (ESPN)

Outbreak of dryer fires in Prince George’s sparks concern (WRC)

Academy of health sciences tops Maryland school achievement report (Washington Informer)

Bowser teams up with Republicans to win control of RFK campus (WAMU)

DC stadium opponents fight possible new Redskins stadium in DC (WTOP)

Hogan pitches National Harbor for Redskins stadium (Maryland Matters)

Prince George’s county seat is too remote for most residents (Greater Greater Washington)

Bowie city councilor to resign over health issues (Capital Gazette)

Berwyn Heights
Cars drive along a moderately-congested Greenbelt Road, a six-lane suburban throughway overlooking a green horizon.

With Beltway Plaza redevelopment in play, a new vision for Greenbelt Road emerges

By |

As long-term plans to redevelop Beltway Plaza gain inertia, economic development and planning officials are developing planning and policy strategies to reshape Greenbelt Road to be a more pedestrian, cyclist and transit-friendly corridor. Guiding those actions for now is a report compiled over the summer by the Urban Land Institute, released October 2018. 

“The Greenbelt Road corridor is at a crossroads. Like many suburban commercial areas, it has lost some business to newer, outlying shopping centers and grapples with some disinvestment and traffic congestion,” reads the report. “Many community members express a desire for a greater variety of retail, but there is no singular vision for how the area can attract that.” The full report can be read here.

Homepage Featured
A two-story greyish brick building stands on a corner lot in an older suburban streetscape. It adjoins a red single-story building that houses a retail storefront with a sign reading Hyattsville Vacuum Service. The sidewalk is cracked narrow, receding left to right into the distance. It is and stained from years of brick erosion. Infront of the buildings, at the corner crosswalk, is a crosswalk sign.

Developer buys prime Hyattsville properties, but plans uncertain

By |

A developer has assembled a contiguous block of properties in downtown Hyattsville with the intention to redevelop it. The properties are just south of the EYA Arts District development and across the street from the proposed Hyattsville Armory development. But according to a senior Hyattsville economic development official, plans for the property have yet to be fleshed out. Further complicating matters are the city’s own long-term – but still fuzzy – plans for the area, such as a potential need for a new municipal building or parking garage. According to state property records, a series of holding companies registered to College Park resident Phillip Attia now owns the buildings fronting the eastern side of Baltimore Avenue’s 5200 and 5300 blocks.

Required Reading: School board leadership, Purple Line, Christmas tree blues

By |

Required Reading is a simple, daily roundup of news coverage from other outlets relevant to Prince George’s County and its Route 1 communities. In our Dec. 6, 2018, edition: Prince George’s County School Board picks familiar leader; Update on the Purple Line; Don’t go, Wallace Loh; and the demise of a charity Christmas tree sale. 

Mike Franklin no longer owns Old Maryland Grill (Hyattsville Wire)

Thornton back at helm of Prince George’s School Board (The Washington Informer)

Purple Line partners talk Glenridge plans (Prince George’s Sentinel)

At State of the Campus, UMD President Loh criticizes Regents, touts campus improvements (The Diamondback)

TIF bonds issued for Westphalia redevelopment (Press release)

High prices fell Laurel Lions Club Christmas tree sale (Baltimore Sun)

College Park Council considers security camera subsidy for businesses (The Diamondback)

Legislators meet with UMD officials about football program (Diverse: Issues in Education)

Two senior lawmakers urge Loh to stay as UMD president (The Washington Post)

Business
A partly-cloudy winter sky hovers over Riverdale Park Station at dusk, seen looking west from the Van Buren Street overpass. In the foreground, the concrete bridge platform curves away from the viewer, leading the eye to an unadorned concrete structure in the center of the photograph. This is the parking garage. It is flanked by rows of townhomes. A white sports utility vehicle is seen on the bridge, driving eastbound.

Cafritz phase II takes first step; 600+ apartments in review

By |

A long-planned but yet-to-be approved proposal to build hundreds of apartments at Riverdale Park Station – also known as the Cafritz Tract – is now in the earliest phase of Prince George’s County’s development review process. According to Henry Zhang, master planner in the Prince George’s County Planning Department, developers Calvin Cafritz Enterprises have submitted plans to build two apartment buildings for pre-application review. In this stage, county planning staff reviews prospective development applications before officially accepting them for public review in order to give developers feedback on issues that may arise and to avoid a time crunch. Once an application is formally submitted and accepted, the clock starts ticking on a mandatory maximum 70-day review period. During that period, County planners will solicit feedback from residents and nearby city councils before the application is considered by the Prince George’s County Planning Board.

Government
A WMATA 83 bus speeds northbound on Baltimore Avenue in College Park.

A circulator bus for Hyattsville?

By |

Hyattsville City Council now has a broad estimated annual price tag for a resident-inspired proposal to operate a circulator bus line connecting the city’s three commercial centers. According to a report prepared by Toole Design, a Silver Spring-based urban design and transportation planning firm, it would cost between $715,000 to $4 million per year for Hyattsville to operate and maintain a circulator bus service linking Prince George’s Plaza, West Hyattsville and downtown Hyattsville together along a two-to-three mile loop. The report estimates such a service would be used for between 12,000 to 38,000 trips per month. However, those costs and passenger loads are highly contingent upon service options, such as frequency, route design and administration. The report was presented to Council at its Dec.