Baltimore-Washington Parkway Widening Feasibility Study

Baltimore-Washington Parkway Widening Feasibility StudyPublic InvolvementTAC Meeting #2 was held on October 14, 2011, at the Auditorium of the Maryland SHA District 3 Officein Greenbelt, Maryland. The agenda included a detailed presentation on the existing conditions, trafficprojections, and AASHTO versus NPS roadway design standards and the application of those standardsto the four widening options. A very valuable outcome of this meeting was the strong direction of theTAC to simplify the complex engineering information so the public would have a better understanding ofthe physical implications of the various widening options being examined.TAC Meeting #3 was held on January 19, 2012, at the Auditorium of the Maryland SHA District 3 Officesin Greenbelt, Maryland. A detailed discussion of the cost estimates for the four options and a review ofthe content of the Report to Congress comprised this agenda.4.3PublicMeetingsThe residents and employees with an interest in the outcome of the feasibility study were invited toparticipate in a set of three CSS-based public work sessions. A total of three of these public meetingswere held during the feasibility study. Each meeting began with an overview of the purpose of thestudy, presented a brief summary and the updated status of the study, and engaged the public in aninteractive process designed to gain balanced input. The team implemented the following set of publicmeetings as the means to involve the public, gaining trust, as well as gauging the feasibility and level ofcommunity support should this effort go beyond a feasibility study.4.3.1OverviewofPublicMeetingsThree public meetings were held throughout the study. A summary of each public meeting is providedbelow. Details are provided in Appendix H of this report.4.3.1.1PublicMeeting#1July20,2011This meeting was held on July 20, 2011, at Meade MiddleSchool and was set up as a listening session. The purpose ofthe meeting was to gain information on concerns, issues, andideas related to the addition of a northbound andsouthbound lane to the B-W Parkway. It was deliberatelyheld before any engineering analysis was conducted to begindeveloping trust and setting the stage for opencommunication throughout the process. The meeting beganwith an overview of the study purpose followed by a breakoutsession. A set of questions were asked at the breakout tables; each participant was allowed time toanswer. Debate or discussions of the various comments and/or another person’s position were notencouraged as everyone’s input is as valuable as the next. A summary of the major comment themesinclude:39 November 2012