patching...
Breaking: Longshot Oxbow Wins Preakness Stakes »
Welcome back, Patch Blogger!

Bus Rapid Transit Plans May Cut Through Belward Farm

Belward Farm could be a part of the bus rapid transit network recently suggested by a county task force.

 

A major transit network could be proposed to run through Belward Farm, according to a report released Tuesday.

The Montgomery County Transit Task Force released a report Tuesday outlining its plans for a bus rapid transit (BRT) network and according to a graphic posted in The Washington Post, BRT network could cut through the farm.

Heirs to former Belward Farm owner Elizabeth Banks are trying to prevent Johns Hopkins University from proceeding with plans to build a 4.7 million-square-foot commercial science park on the property.

Hopkins had originally agreed in 1989 to build a low-rise, academic campus no bigger than 1.4 million-square-feet on the farm.

John Timothy Newell, lead plaintiff and Banks family spokesperson, stated the following in a press release Thursday:

"While I have no objection to the Corridor Cities Transitway (CCT), I think the County and the State are premature with their plans for the alignment of the CCT. They have it bisecting through the middle of Belward Farm. Johns Hopkins is prohibited under the deed restrictions from selling or donating any of the property, that would include to the county or the state. Belward was promised to be a Hopkins owned and operated college campus with a private campus road network, not a six lane state road bisecting the property with a State run mass transit system running along with it.

Ultimately, we trust the Montgomery County Courts will find that Johns Hopkins University has no right to proceed with their profiteering venture in conjunction with Montgomery County, and will instead force the University to honor the original intent of my Aunt Liz’s donation: that a low-rise suburban Johns Hopkins University campus be built on Belward Farm."

The Belward Farm lawsuit, John Timothy Newell et.al. v. Johns Hopkins University, was originally filed November 10, 2011 in Montgomery County (MD) Circuit Court.

The case regarding Belward Farm and what Johns Hopkins University can do with the property will begin July 6 with a scheduling hearing before Judge Ronald B. Rubin.

Do you think a bus rapid transit network is needed for the development on Belward Farm to be a success? Tell us in the comments.

Related Topics: Belward Farm, Court, Development, and Johns Hopkins

Donna Baron (Scale-it-back.com)

1:51 pm on Thursday, May 24, 2012

The Corridor Cities Transitway (CCT) has been on the Montgomery County books since the 60's. It is being used as the trigger for the 17.5 million square feet of proposed commercial development in the "Science City", even though it is predicted to carry only about 15% of the projected newcomers. This will leave thousands upon thousands of additional cars on the already congested roads.
The traffic on Great Seneca Highway, now posted at 50 mph, is expected to move at average 9-11 mph during rush hour even after all the the proposed infrastructure is built, including the CCT.
The CCT will not be the magic carpet that it is made out to be.

Reply

lisa cline

6:22 am on Friday, May 25, 2012

The County continues to blow it. They seem to subscribe to the "It's easier to ask forgiveness than permission" school of thought. I'm so disappointed with this blatant neglect of Elizabeth Banks' generosity. And Hopkins... Don't get me started. So much for being a credible institution. They grab like a bunch of toddlers.

Rick Kiegel (rkiegel@mtamaryland.com) is in charge of the CCT at the state level. The Governor can be contacted at www.governor.maryland.gov/mail.

Reply

Leave a comment