EFFICIENT TRANSPORTATION

Montgomery County and the State of Maryland have spent many years and millions of dollars planning an efficient transportation system to get you and your family where you need to go.  The problem has been, most of those plans just sit on a shelf and nothing gets done about our worsening traffic congestion.  The County has increased its investment in transportation in recent years, but we still have a huge backlog of state and local transit, road and intersection improvements that remain unfunded and need to move forward.  We need to set priorities, starting key improvements that link existing communities together and provide alternatives where traffic is the worst.  We also need to start thinking outside the box and encouraging long-term alternatives to automobile travel wherever we can.  When I am elected to the County Council I will fight for:

• Putting completion of the Inner Purple Line and other cost effective mass transit investments at the top of the County’s transportation priority list, including improved bus service on Georgia Avenue and Route 29, the Corridor Cities Transitway and a future light rail connection between White Oak and the future Purple Line;
• Full implementation of the County’s approved 10-year Transportation Plan, including working with our State Legislators to secure the necessary funding;
• Mitigation efforts to curb negative environmental impact from ICC-construction;
• Completion of a continuous east-west bikeway along the ICC right-of-way, as promised by the State Highway Administration;
• Continued focus on concentrating future development around Metro and MARC stations, to encourage mass transit ridership and walkable communities;
• Investing more of our scarce transportation dollars in the most urgent local projects that serve residents of the East County.