Scenic Brink Road bordering eastern part of the county's Agricultural Reserve; planned route for Alt. 4 of M-83 Extended. |
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MCDOT is planning to reroute the M-83, a four- to six-lane mega-highway, through Goshen, Wightman and Brink roads. This M-83 mega-highway will destroy our community. Highways are built to take the traffic out of communities, but this mega-highway will bring traffic into our community, eventually destroying our area. Our areas in Goshen are rich in history. It took six years of work by the Goshen Historical Preservation Society and the Greater Goshen Civic Association to have the Montgomery County Council recognize [some of these] houses as being historical and being placed on the historical atlas. When the Department of Transportation went to Potomac to widen Falls Road, the people of Potomac got together, hired their lawyers, and shut the DOT out of their communities. We are asking that the residents of Goshen make their voices heard. Please send letters to the County Council, the DOT, the Planning Board and the county executive saying that we will not accept this highway. Excerpt from Gazette.Net - May 11, 2011 Join Us Sierra Club of Montgomery County has joined the TAME Coalition in support of replacing planned alignments for M-83 with multiple, less invasive, and viable transportation options along the eastern corridor of Germantown and Gaithersburg. Sierra Club believes that the wrong place to develop any road is through pristine forests and wetlands. Alternative transit options need to be carried out for Maryland's near future and long-term vision. The County's plans for bus rapid transit and the State's plans for improved MARC service would move more people for less money and with greatly reduced environmental impact. In a recent MC Sierra Club newsletter, the County's Department of Transportation is trying to revive plans for a four to six lane extension of the Midcounty Highway (M-83), which would cross at least 50 acres of forest as well as numerous wetlands and tributaries of the Great Seneca Creek and Dayspring Creek valleys, threatening rare plants, bird nesting, and trout breeding. It would also disrupt local neighborhoods and schools as well as the Dayspring Church Silent Retreat Center. Its destruction would cross Seneca Creek State Park, destroy Wildcat Road (an official Rustic Road) and penetrate the Sole Source Aquifer. Join Us An important part of our mission is to protect and conserve native habitats. We work with organizations like TAME Coalition to petition state and local governments to stop or restrict development around sensitive areas. The Dayspring Creek valley in North Germantown-Greenway Park and the Great Seneca Creek valley in Seneca Creek Park are classified as high bio-diverse areas. Extending M-83 would destroy these two acclaimed eco-systems. Join Us Starting on February 13th, Montgomery County's T&E Committee (Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy & Environment) will begin tackling the Capital Improvements Programs for transportation. Mid-County Highway Extended (M-83) is targeted for discussion; opening questions as to whether it is a viable transportation budget item, or if funds should be transferred to more important projects in the county. Most meetings are open to the public, and TAME encourages all to attend. Check out the T&E Committee Agendas on: www.montgomerycountymd.gov/content/council/pdf/agenda/cm/current_com_agn.pdf Join Us
Though in earlier years we have thought that M-83 should be built somewhere else, in somebody else's "back yard," in more recent years we’ve realized that we can’t go on driving more miles, burning more fossil fuel, building more roads - anywhere. It’s simply not sustainable and not life-giving for the planet, its peoples, or its many wonderful life forms. Join Us Join Us Extending Mid-County Highway is a financial waste, and any plans for it should be erased! ~Maddy Join Us The Upcounty community must join together to ask our state elected officials to support the CCT. The important thing to remember about the CCT is that it is needed now, it is ready to go. Dating back to the 1964 General Plan for Montgomery County, the Corridor Cities Transitway (CCT) is the Red-Line Extension that links the Shady Grove Metro Station to Clarksburg, with an ultimate extension to Frederick. It is part of the nearly completed I-270/US15 Corridor Study that includes the widening of I-270. Join Us TAME's new year begins with a busy January schedule to continue sounding the call for transit alternatives to Mid-County Highway Extended, another proposed 6-lane highway whose time and relevance have long past. Maryland state legislators are meeting with TAME this week before heading to Annapolis for the 2012 general session. Local officials are scheduled for tours to stand at "ground zero" where M-83 alignments are proposed. More home/condo associations, civic and business groups, and conservationists are also on the calendar this month for collaboration. TAME's Advisory Board will be unveiling the plan of action for 2012 later this month. Keep watch with us. Join Us |