Traffic and Speeding in Mt. Washington

This has been a hot topic on the Mt. Washington List-serv this week. (You can subscribe via the link to your right.) MWIA President Mac Nachlas made an excellent posting that touched on most of the issues related to traffic. Here it is:


1. Studies were done when the Parke and the Quarry were built and each showed that the existing roads could support the additional traffic. Supposedly the Regional Planning Council has also done a study, but we haven't been able to lay hands on a copy. Studies are all well and good, but they don't solve problems. Our region has no effective regional planning anyway, so a study that says the City is negatively impacted doesn't really change the minds of the people in the County who are causing the problem.

2. The MWIA approach has been to try to make the neighborhood roads - especially Greenspring, Smith, Kelly, Cross Country and Pimlico- more like residential roads and less like speedways by asking for redesigns using traffic calming devices (like the little islands and stop signs on Pimlico and the narrowing curbs and stop signs at Greenspring and Ken Oak.) The Western Run Greenway, if approved, will do this for Kelly and Cross Country. At the same time, we continue to work toward a new interchange from I-83 to Pimlico Road.The County has always been cool to this idea, and sees no reason why it's citizens should not just shoot through Mt. Washington to Northern Parkway. This is a big, long term problem.

3. Traffic is like silly putty. If we squeeze it one place, it goes another. As Mt. Washington grew up, there was a trolley running right through it and most families had one car at most. I'm sorry to say it, but I think we each want the other guy to get off the road. I try to watch myself, but I know I speed in the neighborhood sometimes.... just never on my own street. As Pogo said, "I have seen the enemy, and it is us"

4. The City does not like speed bumps because of the problems they pose to snow plows, fire engines and ambulances. Also, even though the locals may want them, someone inevitably sues the City if their car is damaged.

5. Most of the City traffic engineers went to school to learn how to make traffic flow fast and unimpeded.... this idea of making traffic slow down is still relatively new to them and they are not fully adjusted. They still believe that the solution is to get as many cars through the neighborhood as quickly as possible by making the main arteries flow. We're slowly educating them.

6. My point is that there is no magic bullet that can solve this problem. Probably the most impact would be felt by a new entrance to I-83.... and we need some commited, long term volunteers to work that issue if it is ever to happen. If that's you.... contact me off the list and I'll tell you how to get involved.

Mac

The only thing I would add to this is my suggestion that ALL of the traffic lights on Greenspring Avenue south of the City line and north of Cross Country Blvd. be set up so the red light lasts for two cycles instead of one. This would hopefully annoy people enough that they might consider taking another route to downtown. This should be done during morning rush hour only.

My original idea was to dig a ten foot wide trench across Greenspring Ave at the county line, set up some cones, and leave it there for a month or two. My red light idea is a little more refined.

We Need Some Help with GOTV

The Democratic Party needs you to work a shift or two talking to Democrats who aren't super consistent voters. Can you take some time to do this next weekend? How about Monday Nov 6 and Election Day? There are about 200 shifts that still need to be filled. Call 410-685-0966 to volunteer.

This is a big deal.

Constellation Making Money Hand Over Fist

"I can't say that's shocking," said Johanna Newman, a policy advocate with the Maryland Public Interest Research Group. "They are able to make energy at very cheap prices and sell [it] at very high prices."

It seems that Constellation IS making a lot more in profits by charging higher rates. Imagine that. Didn't they just finish telling us that the higher rates were due to higher costs of generation? Odd, wouldn't you say?

Read more HERE.

Get Out The Vote Rally Saturday

Maggie MacIntosh will be hosting the Maryland Democratic Party Baltimore Get Out The Vote Rally at Pimilico (of all places) on Saturday at 2 pm. This is a chance for the volunteers to meet and get a pre-election day pat on the back.

I have decided to volunteer with the Md Dem Party on the Friday and Monday leading up to the election. Let me know if you'd like to join me. Email me HERE.

Note to Bob Ehrlich--this is your two weeks notice. Start cleaning out your desk.

Aerial Photo of Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital

The Pediatric Hospital is looking at building a playground on the western end of their property near Wildwood Lane. Reader David Nemerson emailed me this photo that shows the property in questions. Seems like an awful lot of trees would be coming down. Not that this is an unworthy project. As always, it's a question of balance.

Meanwhile, the MWPH says that the City is funding this whole project. We'll be hearing from the City on this and that will tell us a lot more about what the real scope of this project really is.

It is time to SHOP!

Don't forget: Today, Whole Foods Mt. Washington is donating 5 percent of its net proceeds to the Mt. Washington School Outdoor Classroom project. Come out and support this event!

It's easy; just come by today between 10:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Do some shopping and give to a great cause. If you'd like to hob-nob with some local celebrities--or have your groceries bagged by your child's teacher and principal Dr. Shepley--come by between 3:30 and 5:00 p.m. Marc Steiner, Senator Lisa Gladden, Delegates Jill Carter and Sandy Rosenberg, and Councilwoman Rikki Spector will be on hand to pack your purchases into bags decorated by Mt. Washington students.

Bring the kids for a hands-on craft project coordinated by Mt. Washington School parents from 3:30-5:00 p.m. And if you have questions about this project to greatly improve the playspace located across the street from The Mt. Washington School, stop by the information table at the school. You can also make tax-deductable donations.

We'll see you there!

Mike Sherlock Receives Award

Mt. Washington's Dr. Mike Sherlock recently won third prize in Gardener's.com "Garden Crusader" awards. Click HERE and scroll down to "Restoration."

MWIA October Meeting Re-Cap

A few things from last night's meeting:

1) The Greenway Proposal is coming along. There will be a meeting to discuss it on November 16 at 7pm at Cross Country Elementary. The design is HERE.

2) The Virgin Mobile Festival promoters want to meet with us in December to discuss NEXT YEAR'S EVENT. Got that? We will be going through this again. Perhaps next year we can get some of the issues from this year resolved.

3) The Pediatric Hospital wants to have a playground built (with City funds) on their property. It would available for both their patients and the kids in the neighborhood. The hospital is really making a great effort to bring the community into the process. There will be a meeting at the hospital at some point to discuss.

4) Dr. Shepley gave a very positive talk on the state of the Elementary School. Things seem to be going really, really well. The lower grades are filled entirely with in-zone kids, and the library is coming along fabulously. The school is interested in the possibility of adding foreign language instruction, something that Dr. Shepley said would take the school the next level. Really, really exciting times. Check out the MWES website HERE.

5) Ethel and Ramone's will be moving into the old Mt. Washington Market space. Their old space will be rented out, but not to a restaurant.

6) Holiday Tree Lighting will take place at the Octogon on November 19 at 5:30. Bring the kids for song, food, and fun.

Shop at Whole Foods and Support MWES

From Rebecca Redett:

Recently we've been awarded a Whole Foods Community 5%
Day! All day on Tuesday, October 24, you can help
raise much-needed funds for this project simply by
doing your grocery shopping. Please come do your
shopping at Whole Foods on October 24 to benefit the
Outdoor Classroom fundraising initiative at the Mt.
Washington School. You'll have some local celebrities
bagging your groceries and your kids can do a great
art project while you shop! See the attached flyer
for more details.

We have already raised over $55,000 toward our goal of
$250,000. This is just about the easiest way to help
out. Please, tell your friends and stock up for
Halloween or Thanksgiving, or whatever, at Whole Foods
in Mount Washington on Tuesday, October 24.

For more info on the Outdoor Classroom Project click HERE.

Potts Property Meeting Summary

The MWIA hosted a meeting last night on the issue of the proposed development of the Potts property. This is a 5.5 acre wooded lot on Carterdale. Currently, there is one single family home there.

Current zoning (R1B) allows 2 houses per acre, for a total of 11 homes on individual lots. There is a question, though, about how well the site is suited to this in terms of engineering. Some lots may not be work due to water flow or steep terrain. What Mr. Potts is proposing is to build ten cluster homes. This would allow the homes to be sited together and preserve a lot more of the woods. He would build eight cluster homes in a crescent around the current existing home, and then build two small detached homes along Carterdale.

These homes would have two-car basement garages and large first floor layouts ideal for older residents who want all living space on one floor. There would be smaller second stories with additional guest/living area. They would be fairly large with a 40' x 50' footprint, and would price from $450,000 in current market conditions.

To do this, he would need the City Council to approve a Planned Unit Development (PUD) because the current zoning requires single family homes on traditional lots. Mr. Potts has "by rights" the opportunity to pursue the single family homes idea and presented maps showing both. The big difference is that his PUD Cluster plan preserves a LOT more of the wooded area. HOWEVER, it is not clear that he could build anywhere near 10 single family homes due to those engineering concerns.

If one were to take a skeptical view, one might even determine that Potts already knows he can't get all of these houses built and the cluster home idea is the only viable way to get all eleven houses on the property. While the MWIA is going to request that a full engineering study of the property be done, there is talk about getting a second opinion on this study so that the neighborhood can know the true potential of the property.

So right now there are two basic plans on the table: single family homes and not many trees, or cluster homes with a lot more wooded area preserved.

A third option was discussed--forming a group to buy the property or buy the development rights. Mr. Potts seems open to this, and why not? Money is money, right?

Another idea would be to see what the engineering study reveals to find out what the actual layout of the property would be like, and then consider some sort of buyout fund to reduce the number of lots slated for development.

My personal take is that the proposal is not anywhere near as bad as it could have been. It seems that the MWIA is taking the right steps to clarify what the potential really is. We will need this information to determine the economic value of the property should there be a group that wants to fund a full or partial purchase.

MWIA President Mac Nachlas says that he will be posting more information on the property on the MWIA website. Peter Garver and the MWIA Zoning Committee will be working on these questions, and there will be more follow up meetings as this progresses.

Good Link for Following Polling

Real Clear Politics posts the results of each poll and even graphs the progress of the candidates. It's a pretty nice way to look at the trends and see some polls that you might easily have missed. For instance, USA Today released a poll showing O'Malley leading Ehrlich by 12 points. This is a bigger lead than we have seen in a long time.

Md. Governor's Race

Md. Senate Race

I am personally a bit shocked to see the way O'Malley has been hammering Ehrlich with a huge volume of campaign ads. With Ehrlich enjoying a large fundraising advantage I keep expecting a barrage of Ehrlich attack ads any minute. I don't see how Ehrlich makes up a double digit gap, though.

I am sticking with my early opinion: if you held your nose and voted for KKT, you are NEVER going to vote for Ehrlich. And 48% of us did just that. O'Malley is hands down a better candidate than KKT, and all he needs to do is find another 2.1% on top of what she got. Seems doable to me. But don't discount Republican get-out-the-vote efforts and the fact that Baltimore City had a very weak primary turnout (which is why Mfume didn't beat Cardin). I am calling it 53% O'Malley, 47% Ehrlich.

Meeting Scheduled on Development on Carterdale

Important Public Meeting
Development of Potts Property
Monday, October 9, 2006
7-9 p.m.
at The Wesley Home, Rogers Ave.

Mt. Washington resident Efrem Potts is proposing to develop his property which includes the wooded area along Carterdale Rd. between Rogers and Southbend. He is proposing a Planned Unit Development (PUD) to include townhomes and single family dwellings.

The Mt. Washington Improvement Association is hosting a meeting for Mr. Potts to share his proposal with the community. If you are interested in the development of this property please attend this meeting. Please share this notice with your neighbors.


Please join us to discuss this important proposal.
For more information, please email mwiapresident@gmail.com