[RP TownTalk] Traffic Concerns

Thu Feb 1 15:26:23 UTC 2007

Dead-ending Lafeyette at Queensbury would be significantly less hassle 
than closing East Beale Circle would be, and I think would do much more 
for congestion as well.  In my experience, commuters cutting through town 
are not doing so in order to access East Beale Circle - I think it is used 
fundamentally by townies, and I tink closing it would be a crying shame 
for nearly everyone in town except, admittedly, people living in the five 
houses along it.  Although, if I lived in one of those houses, I believe I 
would not want my easy access to 410 removed, either.

There was talk last year of closing Queensbury entirely to non-local 
traffic.  This seems like it /might/ be a less economically-suicidal 
notion with a lot of new residential development coming in, though I'm 
still not sure it's the right answer.  Brainstorming is definitely a good 
thing, though.

  -A

On Thu, 1 Feb 2007, Regina M. Kreger wrote:

> I understand your point, Andrew, but wouldn't the "hassle factor" be a 
> lot greater if nothing is done at all, factoring in hundreds more people 
> driving from condos in and around town center and M Square?
> 
> Rob, it does seem to me that it would be more dangerous to turn right 
> onto 410 from West Beale Circle than from E BC -- from East BC you are 
> just merging, from West BC you'd be making a very sharp turn.
> 
> If we want pedestrian-friendly -- and I do -- some traffic diversion 
> seems inevitable.  If I understand the Natoli-Queensbury proposal 
> correctly, it would just force us to jog over a block, we could still 
> turn right on Queensbury to cross the tracks. No?  If Queensbury were to 
> be one-way eastbound all the way to the train tracks, how would we cross 
> the tracks westbound? Have to go over them on 410?
> 
> Andrew Farrington wrote:
>       Dead-ending Lafayette and closing East Beale Circle, while
>       they might help with our 'cut through' traffic issues, would
>       also make getting around much harder for us townies.
>
>       I take East Beale Circle to get onto 410 east every morning
>       and in fact 90% of the time I leave my house in a car.  I
>       turn right from Lafayette onto Queensbury across the tracks a
>       little less often now -- only on the afternoons that I do not
>       pick up my daughter from school -- but it used to be every
>       afternoon.
>
>       The "hassle factor" in my own life, for one, would be
>       significantly greater if these particular ideas were enacted,
>       than it would be if nothing were done at all.
>
>        -Andrew Farrington
>       4605 Queensbury Road
> 
>
>       On Thu, 1 Feb 2007, Rob Oppenheim wrote:
>
>             I appreciated hearing your thoughts about
>             traffic/pedestrian concerns at the Railroad
>             crossing/Queensbury/Lafayette intersection, and I
>             look forward to hearing more. If we are to
>             connect our town center commercial areas we need
>             this to be very pedestrian friendly - and
>             currently, it is not (at least not when crossing
>             Lafayette or Queensbury). &#65533; This rail road
>             crossing is identified as one of the 10 most
>             dangerous crossings in the state of Maryland (It
>             has a high fatal accident prediction factor, ref:
>             http://www.fra.dot.gov/us/Content/803 ). We have
>             been pretty lucky so far. &#65533; We are working
>             to improve the safety of this intersection. With
>             improved gates, lighting and possibly curbs.
>
>             One fairly common accident there is a car will
>             get stuck on the tracks because they turn onto
>             the tracks thinking they are turning onto
>             Lafayette Street.&#65533;
>
>             Here is a wild idea, that is not thought thru,
>             but still might work. If we make Lafayette
>             one-way north from Riverdale Rd to Queensbury,
>             then we could simplify the intersection and break
>             people of the habit of turning south (and thus
>             reduce the incidence of turning onto the tracks).
>
>             As Sarah suggested we dead-end the north side of
>             Lafayette at Queensbury and route that traffic
>             onto Natoli. This might dramatically improve the
>             safety of the RR crossing and make it easier to
>             install nice pedestrian crossing lanes. Perhaps
>             that would allow us to add some on-street parking
>             to Lafayette too. Ideally we would dead-end
>             Lafayette on both sides of Queensbury, but then
>             we would have a problem with the Fire Station's
>             "Do No Enter" at Queensbury and 48th Ave (this
>             traffic currently must go down Riverdale Rd and
>             up Lafayette to get across the tracks). &#65533;
>             The fire station has a serious problem with
>             traffic backing up and blocking their trucks.
>             That is why the "Do Not Enter" sign is at
>             Queensbury and 48th Ave during morning rush
>             hours. This needs to be extended to weekends, and
>             I am beginning to think it maybe should be 24x7.
>             That is, make Queensbury from Natoli Pl to 48th
>             Ave one-way (except for emergency vehicles). This
>             would really take our streets back from a lot of
>             the cut-through traffic and make the area more
>             pedestrian friendly. &#65533; In any case, all
>             these ideas need more flushing out. &#65533;
>             Unfortunately I will miss the Feb 15th safety
>             meeting as I will be out of town. Sounds like it
>             could be a good meeting with lots of ideas.
>
>             As many of you know, I have been urging that we
>             open West Beale circle (to encourage cut thru
>             traffic to run by shops) and to consider closing
>             East Beale circle (to make it safer for
>             pedestrians and residents).
>
>             There are safety concerns for cars turning onto
>             E-W highway from West Beale circle, but that
>             should not be any more dangerous then what they
>             do now - turn onto E-W highway from East Beale
>             circle. &#65533;
>
>             Rob Oppenheim
>             &#65533;
>             Ward One Councilman, Riverdale Park
>             5902 Cleveland Ave
>             Riverdale Park, Md 20737-1930
>             &#65533;
>             Home Office: 301 779 1745
>             &#65533;
>
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