1 More Week to Comment on Plan for Special Bus Lanes on Wisconsin Ave.

Planning Board Chair Francoise Carrier agreed on Thursday to extend the deadline—by one week—to comment on a plan to create a network of bus-only lanes in Montgomery County, according to a statement from the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center.

The original deadline for comments was May 30. Now, that deadline is June 7. The extension was made in response to a request from residents of the Chevy Chase West area, the services center statement said.

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The plan—called the Countywide Transit Corridors Functional Master Plan—proposes creating possibly 79 miles of bus rapid transit (BRT) lanes in the county—including on 9.3 miles of Wisconsin Avenue between Rockville and the Maryland-Washington, DC, line in Friendship Heights, Chevy Chase. The public hearing for the BRT plan was held on May 16.

Median bus-only lanes are under consideration for Wisconsin Avenue north of Bradley Boulevard. The lanes would be separated by a median strip at least 6 feet wide with pedestrian shelters at stops. Curbside bus-only lanes are under consideration for Wisconsin Avenue south of Bradley Boulevard to Friendship Heights. The lanes would have no physical barriers, county transportation planner Larry Cole told attendees at a public meeting in Chevy Chase on Tuesday night, Patch reported.

Many attendees at that meeting asserted that BRT lanes on Wisconsin Avenue through Bethesda and Chevy Chase would be neither useful (the lanes would duplicate Metrorail, they said) nor safe (particularly for pedestrians). Many also said that the public comment time was not long enough and signed a petition asking for an additional week to submit public comments.

Read more about the issue on Patch.

Post your comments about the Countywide Transit Corridors Functional Master Plan on the planning board's website by June 7.

What do you think about designating bus-only lanes on Wisconsin Avenue through Bethesda and Chevy Chase? Would they be useful to you? Tell us in the comments.