Joyce Yang
staff writer
Major construction will be happening on Wootton Parkway involving the sidewalks from Lindley Terrace to Glen Mill Road in the coming months.
Starting on Oct. 8, there will be lane closures, tree removal and general work for approximately four months for major construction. The City of Rockville contractor, Priority Construction Corporation, will be installing sidewalks on the west side of Wootton Parkway. This will impact the Wootton Parkway Corridor from 9a.m. to 3:30p.m. daily if weather permits. The major goal of this construction is to improve safety and walkability by filling the sidewalk gap. “A construction on Wootton Parkway for the sidewalk is an excellent idea because students will be more safe travelling,” senior Mary Sherry said.
Other parts of the project include planting new trees after some tree removals, installing a retaining wall, streetlight relocations, seed and mulch stabilization, and fire hydrant relocations. It will cost approximately $670,000 for the whole project. Construction noises will impact the surrounding neighbors. In addition, signs will be posted to notify motorists and residents of any lanes that they are going to close for the construction. Students going to dual enrollment, internships, or after school activities could have some trouble travelling. “It’s good that they are doing it starting at 9 because we will already be in school and it isn’t conflicting with morning traffic, but I have dual enrollment and internship after school, so it might be a hassle if some lanes are closed,” senior Erin Wang said.
The location from Lindley Terrace to Glen Mill Road has been designated as a high-priority project, per the City of Rockville sidewalk prioritization policy. The City of Rockville has been committed to their goal of improving pedestrian safety, and an integral step to achieving their goal is to construct sidewalks that are missing. Due to missing sidewalks and the cost for sidewalk constructions, the City created a sidewalk prioritization policy. This policy helps determine in what order the City should construct sidewalks and is based on a total score; the sum of utility score and the traffic conditions score.
This sidewalk policy will help elementary, middle, and high schoolers who are walking to and from school everyday. “I think it’s a great idea because I walk to school everyday and sometimes the sidewalks are too narrow and inconvenient to pass people. I notice people that walk on the side of the streets sometimes too because there is no room or no sidewalk to walk on, which is dangerous,” sophomore Alan Zhang said.
