Infrastructure

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

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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.

News

Required Reading: Purple Line delays; Bikeshare Expansion; More shutdown woes

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Required Reading is a simple, daily roundup of news coverage relevant to Prince George’s County and its Route 1 communities. In our Jan. 11, 2019, edition: Details of a Capital Bikeshare expansion in Greenbelt; Delays in Purple Line construction; How a government shutdown affects a new Hyattsville distillery, and more stories after the jump:

Purple Line opening delayed at least one year – The Washington Post

Key quote: “The private consortium’s reports don’t say how much it would cost in additional labor, equipment and other expenses to open the line in February 2023. The negotiations have focused on who — the state or team of companies — is to blame for which delays and who should pay to offset them.” Capital Bikeshare plans Greenbelt expansion – Greenbelt News Review

Key quote: “According to the proposal, the five locations being considered in Greenbelt are: Greenbelt Station Parkway and North Center Drive; Breezewood Drive and Cherrywood Lane; Roosevelt Center; Crescent Road and Ridge Road (near the police station), and on Hanover Parkway near Eleanor Roosevelt High School”

Board of Public Works awards state tax system overhaul contract – Prince George’s Sentinel

Key quote: “The comptroller’s office currently uses various systems to collect taxes – one of which is a mainframe business tax-collection system that dates to 1987 and another system for individual income taxes and the sales tax, which began use in 1992.”

News
In a black and white photograph, a man and a woman sit inside a metrorail car. As seen from the outside of the car, the two are looking out of their window, the woman, with a large afro hairdo, applies lipstick. The man is wearing a backwards baseball cap and a denim jacket.

A visual history of Metrorail ridership, station by station

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let’s put Metorail’s woes into context. Below, we’ve used an official average daily ridership dataset from Metrorail, passed on by Hyattsville Economic Development Corporation, to chart the system’s changing ridership fortunes. Broken down station-by-station, the data allows you to see how each expansion of Metrorail has impacted ridership on other parts of the system.

Education

Required Reading: Dec. 21, 2018

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Required reading is a simple, daily roundup of news and views relevant to Prince George’s County and its Route 1 communities. In our Dec. 21, 2018 edition: Jordan McNair’s last moments get more scrutiny; a statewide school funding formula gets delayed; and a Laurel dispensary has diner blues. University of Maryland releases surveillance footage of Jordan McNair’s last practice – Baltimore Sun

Maryland school funding plan delayed – WAMU

Laurel Medical Marijuana dispensary at Tastee Diner delt setback – Laurel Leader

Maryland gets $2 million grant to prep Purple Line corridor – The Washington Post

Election changes to come after Prince George’s voting delays – WRC

Business

Required Reading: Cell phone service on Green Line; Redskins stadium wars; The nature of consciousness

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Required reading is a simple, daily roundup of news and views relevant to Prince George’s County and its Route 1 communities. In our Dec. 20, 2018 edition: Can you hear me now? Cell phone service comes our neck of the Green Line; Stadium drama; And a University of Maryland philosopher gives the lowdown on our current understanding of the nature of the conscious mind. Metro tunnels get cell service between College Park, Fort Totten – Popville

Stadium wars erupt over Redskins move – The Washington Post

Maryland philosopher: Consciousness is tied to brain’s ability to predict – Scientific American

Career planning helps Prince George’s middle schoolers perpare for the future – Education Dive

Beltway Plaza may lose what makes it unique – The Hyattsville Wire

Photos: Hyattsville’s Ship With a Cop 2018 event – Hyattsville Life & Times

Maryland ends contract with Russian election firm – WUSA

Maryland officials delay Kirwan report – The Washington Informer

Maryland asks court to affirm Obamacare – The Wall Street Journal

Terps football plays catch-up on recruiting – The Washington Post

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

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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

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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.

Uncategorized

Required Reading: Medical marijuana, Redskins stadium, Amazon hopes

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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. 10, 2018, edition: Maryland’s medical marijuana market is doing very well, new faces on the school board, and Prince George’s County hopes to cash in on Amazon’s HQ2 moves. Maryland medical marijuana market booms in first year (The Baltimore Sun)

Prince George’s could still be ‘winner’ despite losing Amazon HQ2 hunt (The Washington Post)

Alsobrooks takes her place in history (Black Press USA)

Redskins work Congress on stadium provision in spending bill (The Washington Post)

Maryland man makes mark with weaves for men (Associated Press)

School bush crash injures 19 middle schoolers (WTOP)

Purple Line construction continues as UMD postpones new parking garage (The Diamondback)

Millennials join the school board (The Washington Post)