On December 2, 2008, the Montgomery County Council approved $2 million in development and evaluation (D&E) funding for the new Forest Glen Metro entrance. The council also approved $3 million in D&E money for a redesign of Georgia Avenue between Forest Glen Road and 16th Street. These two projects are part of a funding package to jumpstart state transportation projects around the county totaling $51.2 million.
County Council Member George Leventhal, a member of the council's Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy and Environment (T&E) Committee, pushed hard to fund our project inside his committee. His work was indispensable to our cause. District 5 County Council Member Valerie Ervin appeared before the committee to make sure our project was included. Council Members Nancy Floreen (who is the T&E Chair), Marc Elrich and Duchy Trachtenberg are long-time supporters of the new Metro entrance and voted in favor of the funding along with the rest of the council.
All residents of our neighborhood owe a debt of gratitude to our friends on the County Council. The D&E funding is a necessary step to eventual construction of the project!
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On Thursday night, seven Forest Estates residents and the President of a nearby civic association testified in a block at the joint Senate- House state priorities hearing on the Georgia-Forest Glen intersection. We told 20 state legislators about the dangerous conditions we face crossing the intersection and asked for their help in building a new east-side Metro entrance. We have support for the project from the County Executive, a majority of the County Council and every state legislator from our district and are on the verge of getting county money for design. Thank you to Adam Pagnucco, Oscar Sodani, Doug Goldenberg-Hart, Jon Tucker, Alison Gillespie, Holly Olson, John Howley and North Hills of Sligo Creek President Mike Welsh for putting the issue front and center with the state legislators!  |
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WMATA has provided us with a comprehensive list of the crimes committed in and around the Forest Glen metro station. Note that complete lack of crime in the pedestrian tunnel. 2007 Crime (Jan - Dec) | Aggravated Assaults | 0 | | Simple Assaults | 1 | | Arson | 0 | | Auto Thefts | 1 | | Burglary | 0 | | Destruction of Property | 2 | | Disorderly Conduct | 0 | | Homicide | 0 | | Intoxicated in Public | 0 | | Grand Larceny | 0 | | Petite larceny | 3 | | Narcotics (All Drug Offenses) | 0 | | Rape | 0 | | Robbery | 0 | | Sex Offenses (less Rape) | 0 | | Trespass | 1 | | Throw Missiles (i.e. rocks at Buses) | 0 | | Weapon Offenses | 0 | | Alcohol (less intoxicated) | 0 | | *Other (lessor offenses) | 0 | *Other lessor offenses include Fare Evasion, Urinating in Public, Vending Without License, Eating, Drinking, and Smoking on the Train, Spitting, etc.
Notes:
(1) The assault in 2007 was reported on the station stairs.
(2) The auto theft was from the parking lot.
(3) The two destruction of properties were incidents in the parking lot consisting of broken auto windows.
(4) The three larcenies were actually ‘Petite’ larceny and all were stolen bicycles from the bike racks. (Previously reported as Grand Larceny).
(5) The trespass was an arrest for someone walking on the track bed. |
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For years, we have been telling anyone who would listen that Forest Glen Road and Georgia Avenue, while seemingly innocuous compared to some of the big name intersections in our county, is actually the most dangerous near a Metro stop. Now that Montgomery County is making its police information available online, via CrimeReports.com, we finally have the evidence to back up our claims. Our research on traffic accidents on CrimeReports.com has uncovered some truly remarkable data: Traffic Incidents within a 1-block radius of a Metro stop: (11/07-1/08)
| Rank | Metro Stop
| # of traffic incidents
| | 1 | Forest Glen
| 45
| | 2 | Wheaton | 27 | | 3 | Glenmont | 26 | | 4 | White Flint
| 23 | | 5 | Silver Spring
| 16 | | 6 | Medical Center
| 15 | | 7 | Bethesda | 11 | | 7 | Shady Grove
| 11 | | 7 | Twinbrook | 11 | | 10 | Grosvenor | 9 | | 11 | Rockville | 7 |
On average, we are talking about an accident every other day at this intersection. The other dangerous intersections near Metro have pedestrian overpasses or tunnels. Forest Glen does not. So WMATA asks its Forest Glen/Holy Cross hospital customers to walk through the most dangerous intersection near a Metro stop, without the pedestrian safety measures that other Metro stops are afforded. Seems backwards to us... |
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The following letter has been sent to the District 18 delegation: 13 February 2008
District 18 Delegation
Senator Richard S. Madaleno, Jr.
Delegate Alfred C. Carr, Jr.
Delegate Ana Sol Gutierrez
Delegate Jeffrey D. Waldstreicher
Dear Senator Madaleno and Delegates Carr, Gutierrez and Waldstreicher:
On behalf of the Forest Estates Community Association, the Crossing Georgia committee and our neighbors who must cross Georgia Avenue to the Forest Glen metro every day, we are writing to thank you for your help in extending the Montgomery Hills study to include the intersection of Georgia Avenue and Forest Glen Road.
Your ongoing support for the east entrance to the metro and your leadership to help improve pedestrian safety has been key to keep momentum going. Thank you for sending a clear message to the State that it is imperative that we continue to make progress to improve pedestrian safety at this dangerous, congested intersection.
We have shared your letter on our listserv and reported to the neighborhood the inclusion of the intersection in the Montgomery Hills study. There is still much work to be done to ensure that an underground passageway is studied, funded and built, but we appreciate the work you are doing each step of the way to help make it a reality.
Sincerely,
Shawn Marie Jarosz
President
Forest Estates Community Association
Adam Pagnucco
Chairman
FECA Crossing Georgia Committee |
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Yesterday was Primary Day in the State of Maryland, and the Crossing Georgia committee took its usual spot in front of the Holy Cross Resource Center to educate neighbors about the latest information in our fight for a new Metro entrance. The cold and snow drove most of the other campaign workers away, leaving the Diggers as the sole activists for much of the day. State Delegate Jeff Waldsteicher was on hand to show his support for the new Metro Entrance, pictured below with Adam Pagnucco and Doug Goldenberg-Hart. 
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