We can protect the Ag Reserve with Monorail
By Robert Eisinger
The Public Hearing on the recommended MNCPPC 270 Corridor Forward Planning Study was held on February 15 and will significantly impact the future of the Ag Rreserve . The introduction to the Original Planning Staff Report indicated that the purpose of the Corridor Forward Plan was to look at the transportation network extending through Montgomery County between points north to Frederick and south to DC and Northern Virginia . It was subsequently modified .
Unfortunately , the study falls far short of its original objective and apart from the following two issues , simply discusses bus routes , masquerading as BRT ’ s , inside the County . There is nothing in the report that addresses the traffic issues on 270 . The report recommends 1 ) extending the Metro Red Line on the MARC rail track to Germantown and no further , and 2 ) increasing service on the MARC rail
train which has a very limited and circuitous connection to Frederick , and even addresses adding additional stations that could necessitate existing road expansion . These recommendations would require the cooperation of surrounding government entities that make up the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and would take years , in addition to negotiating with CSX Transportation . This essentially indicates the planning Staff wants to continue to put direct pressure on the Ag Reserve to keep funneling commuters through it at an everincreasing rate .
The High Road Foundation has performed in-depth research ad has demonstrated how our transit system to Frederick and Northern Virginia could be successfully modernized and made cost effective .
Here ’ s how . Because existing publicly owned transportation corridors have the capacity to accommodate additional transportation infrastructure , an elevated Monorail transit system could be designed , since it has a small footprint , avoids underground utility conflicts , and can be constructed at night on land already in the public domain . A Monorail would meet the County ’ s transportation goals for less cost , take less time , and incur less risk while being environmentally sound . Just as electric cars have come of age in the last 10 years , so has Monorail technology . It is no longer Disneyland or Homer Simpson . It is being built all over the world but not in the United States . Why ?
A recent MDOT study concluded Monorail is viable . Its construction costs per mile are comparable to light rail and three to four times less per mile than heavy rail . It would carry five times the number of passengers as light rail and the same amount of passengers as a metro .
The Foundation has done preliminary civil engineering , ridership and economic impact studies for a multi-leg monorail network over existing public rights-of-ways in and through the County connecting outside jurisdictions . And guess what ?
n Because the public owns 98 % of the land required , no land acquisition costs required and there is no one to approve it or disapprove it . n A monorail system is completely grade separated and does not interfere with existing bikes , pedestrians or automobiles or wildlife . n The system can be constructed off site and erected at night to remove existing traffic impacts during construction . n It ’ s footprint fits in the existing rights of ways reducing any need to expand their width and dodging utility relocation costs n The structural system of a monorail has a 100-year life span . n By limiting contingencies , it can be budgeted with certainty at 95 percent of the true cost . Land acquisition cost was the budget element that blew up the Purple Line . Monorail dodges that problem .
There is no other transit mode that offers these benefits and costs 3-4 times less than an extension of Metro as the staff as recommended that will satisfy existing demand .
Keeping the transit corridor within the existing 270 right of way is the only solution that takes pressure off the Ag Reserve and fulfills the original goal of the study .
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