Dozens of residents who live in Silver Spring’s Four Corners, Northwood and Burnt Mills neighborhoods say they are strongly opposed to Montgomery County Department of Transportation’s (MCDOT) plans to construct 5 miles of bus rapid transit (BRT) lanes in the median of U.S. Route 29, also called Colesville Road, according to testimony provided to the Planning Board.
The county’s Flash BRT service already runs two lines along the roadway, connecting downtown Silver Spring to Burtonsville. The proposed project – dubbed US-29 Flash BRT Phase 2 – would designate a dedicated middle lane on Colesville Road for the Flash BRT buses. In some areas of the project, creation of the median bus-lane would remove at least two travel lanes and expand the roadway into the public right-of-way, according to planning documents.
According to planning documents, the project includes one-lane and two-lane BRT lanes that run on the median of U.S. Route 29, as well as the relocation of four BRT stations and transit signal priority at 16 intersections. County transportation planners have proposed relocating two existing BRT stations at Four Corners and two at Burnt Mills…