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Mount Rainier, MD, Neighborhood Conservation Project
Mount Rainier, MD, Neighborhood Conservation Project
Current conditions: Improved pedestrian crossing.
Project Description
US Route 1 (Rhode Island Avenue) split the commercial town center of Mount Rainier with a six-legged intersection and four lanes of traffic with an ADT of 21,000. This division created numerous transportation and urban design problems that hindered commercial revitalization in the heart of the community. The basic issues were pedestrian safety; environmental enhancement; the Washington Metro Area Transit Authority bus turn-around area (with 8 routes and 1,352 passengers daily); storm drainage inadequacy; the lack of a clean, safe, and welcoming mixed-use town center; and vehicular and bicycle safety.
This project replaced a six-legged intersection and four lanes of cars rushing through two blocks of liquor stores and abandoned buildings with a simple traffic roundabout, landscaped plazas, pedestrian lighting, easy pedestrian crossings, bus shelters built on early 20th-century designs, new business, and with public art including two blue-glass sculptures that will be lit at night at opposite ends of the roundabout and bas relief sculptures of some of the diverse faces that make up the community of Mount Rainier.
The project budget was $1.8 million with about $1.35 million provided by Maryland State Highway Administration (MSHA) and about $450,000 provided by the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA).
Purpose and Need Statement
There was no official purpose and need statement. At MSHA the Neighborhood Conservation Program (NCP) falls under a categorical exclusion as defined by Section 106 so the agency does not prepare a purpose and need statement. MSHA developed the process in their Main Street Handbook ("When Main Street is a State Highway," available on MSHA's website, www.marylandroads.com) to create a community-based planning project development process. The Goals and Elements of this process are somewhat like the project's purpose and need. As Mount Rainier was one of the first communities to participate in NCP, the community participation process used then helped to create the process that MSHA now follows, which includes a more systematic method of developing formal consensus on goals and needs.
The City of Mount Rainier passed a resolution of intent to form a partnership with the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) in the design and construction of a roundabout in October 1997. The resolution included the following language:
This resolution constitutes the City's agreement to join in a "good faith" partnership with MDOT and in an MDOT-funded effort to design and implement a roundabout, related traffic and pedestrian safety improvements, and other design features and streetscape improvements.
This resolution likewise constitutes the City's agreement to join in a "good faith" partnership with WMATA and Prince George's County to change bus routes and facilities in a way that accommodates and complements the roundabout and City acquisition of the easternmost and westernmost Metrobus parking lanes.
Context Sensitive Factors
A wide range of sensitive issues were addressed in the design and development of this project including addressing scenic values, aesthetics, historic issues, environmental concerns, and multi-modal needs.
Scenic and aesthetic values were seen as of tremendous importance as the city struggled to renew itself and create a positive sense of identify and community pride. The Route 1 intersection was considered to be an "asphalt lake" contributing to the blighted appearance of the area.
Bringing artists onto the project team was a very important addition, bringing understanding and skills to better meet goals of the project.
Mount Rainier, MD, Neighborhood Conservation Project
