If You Widen It, More Will Come

A familiar quote from the Kevin Costner flick, “Field of Dreams,” pretty much encapsulated last night’s mood within Meade Middle School, where residents from various municipalities gathered to discuss the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.

“If you build it, he will come,” said Bill Orleans, a Greenbelt resident who wasn't talking ballplayers but rather more cars along the Parkway.

Like other Greenbelters in attendance — including Mayor Judith "J" Davis — Orleans would prefer the Parkway house something different, such as a light-rail system. That, or perhaps the Metro’s green line should be extended to Laurel and beyond.

“I’m certainly an auto enthusiast,” Orleans stressed. “But we all need to find ways of driving less.”

Fewer than 40 people attended the public meeting, one of three planned through the end of this year to keep area residents and other stakeholders abreast of the $1 million feasibility study Congressman C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger helped secure within a 2010 appropriations bill.

As organizers noted more than once, the feasibility study is just that — a study considering the “costs and effects” of adding a third lane to each side of the Parkway, stretching from New York Avenue to the interchange with I-695 in Anne Arundel County.

“I think it’s kind of a useless question,” said Greenbelt councilman Rodney Roberts, calling "anything feasible" with enough money. “Personally, I’m against it,” he added. “It’s just a bigger traffic jam.”

“I think the best solution is extending (Metro’s) green line to Laurel and Fort Meade.”

Ruppersberger’s press secretary, Jaime Lennon, noted that the study is but one step toward addressing how best to handle increased roadway congestion. “It’s about how to improve the commute for everyone,” she said, referencing what is soon sure to bring thousands of more commuters to the area each day — BRAC, a base realignment and closure process commissioned by Congress, through which Fort Meade is expected to grow dramatically.

Like Roberts, Councilman Herling said he would support alternative approaches aimed at achieving greater movement throughout the region. “The paradigm (right now, unfortunately) is still getting people in cars rather than offering them other choices.”

“But it all comes down to funding and resources,” he added. “They (supporters) will say the cheapest way is widening.”

Since December, city officials have been particularly vocal over the feasibility study, even submitting a letter of opposition to widening the Parkway last December.

“The city recognizes that the Parkway is crowded, but believes there are alternatives other than building new or expanding existing roadways to address congestion,” Mayor Davis wrote to the Federal Highway Administration. “The city also strongly believes that widening the Parkway will change the very nature of the roadway from a parkway to an interstate.”

Frank Young, acting deputy director of the National Park Service, struck similar tones before the small audience at one point. He said the Parkway was built to “lie lightly on the landscape” and “fit in with the surroundings.”

The meeting, which stretched 2 1/2 hours, also included smaller group sessions between those in attendance. There to illicit feedback for the study, several KCI Technologies consultants pitched pre-set questions to each group.

“What do you most like about the BWI Parkway?” asked Glenda Larson, whose colleague readied a flip chart and blue marker.

“Its historical significance,” said Mayor Davis. "Trees."

“What do you least like about the BWI Parkway?” asked the consultant.

“That it’s there,” said Roberts. “Because I don’t like highways … because it divides our city.”

Indeed, both Davis and Roberts offered few, if any, answers that would support adding lanes to the Parkway, conceived in the 1920s and completed in 1954.

"Is there anything about the Parkway that you would not like to change?"

“The Parkway experience,” said Davis.

Though it may sound selfserving, she said at another point, “This is our Parkway, and I don’t want to give it up.”