Gaithersburg "Science City" Finally Breaking Ground in July 2011 (Montgomery Village: cul-de-sac, home)

[MDAllstar]

It's about time lol....here is the link:

Developers bid for commercial space in county's Great Seneca Science Corridor


For those who don't know what Science City is:

The "Science City" will have 17.5 million sq. feet of development, 52,500 jobs, 9,000 residential units, 4 light rail stops, and 4 BRT routes. Home to a major hospital, academic institutions, and private biotechnology companies, the Life Sciences City (LSC) serves as a premier location for the largest concentration in the U.S. of advanced technology companies. Shady Grove Adventist Hospital, Johns Hopkins University-Montgomery County Campus (JHU-MCC), the Universities at Shady Grove, and biotechnology companies such as Human Genome Sciences, BioReliance, and the J. Craig Venter Institute are all located in the Life Sciences City. The federal government’s General Services Administration recently selected the JHU-MCC site for the National Cancer Institute’s consolidated headquarters.

[Wyltk]

To keep things in perspective, at completion, the "Science City" as approved by the Gaithersburg West (Great Seneca Science Corridor) master plan will be equivalent in size to four Pentagons in the area between Shady Grove Road and Muddy Branch Road.
Also, at completion, even after the Corridor Cities Transitway has been completed, the roads have been widened to six- and eight-lanes, and the twelve- to sixteen-lane interchanges have been built on Great Seneca Highway; the traffic is projected to move at an AVERAGE of 10 mph.
Be careful for what you ask for, you might get it.

[MDAllstar]

Originally Posted by Wyltk

To keep things in perspective, at completion, the "Science City" as approved by the Gaithersburg West (Great Seneca Science Corridor) master plan will be equivalent in size to four Pentagons in the area between Shady Grove Road and Muddy Branch Road.
Also, at completion, even after the Corridor Cities Transitway has been completed, the roads have been widened to six- and eight-lanes, and the twelve- to sixteen-lane interchanges have been built on Great Seneca Highway; the traffic is projected to move at an AVERAGE of 10 mph.
Be careful for what you ask for, you might get it.

I would have agreed with you before the BRT network plans came out. I think the Life Science City which will have 52,500 jobs and the Gaithersburg Downtown which will have 21,000 jobs will be more like downtown D.C. in that there will not be much parking and it will be so expensive that people will be forced to take light rail or BRT. Remember they are going to reduce parking so people have to take mass transit. Also, I think the road widening is going to take a back seat to the construction of the BRT network so people really won't have a choice.

Source:
http://www.mwcog.org/uploads/pub-doc...0828145020.pdf

[Wyltk]

Good luck with that one. The county has screwed up the configuration of the streets and neighborhoods so badly that only those who live near major thorofares can get to transit without driving their cars.
Montgomery County will never function like downtown D.C. or Manhattan which were built in a grid pattern. Montgomery County was intentionally built and is still being built with subdivisions with winding roads that end in cul-de-sacs. Having enough feeder buses to go through all the subdivisions is highly unlikely as is Royce Hanson's suggestion that some of the roads should be straightened.
Some areas in the county are are more transit-friendly than others but the likelihood that all the subdivisions will suddenly disappear is wishful thinking.
Over time, more people will be able to ride transit but it is still not an excuse for overdevelopment.

[MDAllstar]

Originally Posted by Wyltk

Good luck with that one. The county has screwed up the configuration of the streets and neighborhoods so badly that only those who live near major thorofares can get to transit without driving their cars.
Montgomery County will never function like downtown D.C. or Manhattan which were built in a grid pattern. Montgomery County was intentionally built and is still being built with subdivisions with winding roads that end in cul-de-sacs. Having enough feeder buses to go through all the subdivisions is highly unlikely as is Royce Hanson's suggestion that some of the roads should be straightened.
Some areas in the county are are more transit-friendly than others but the likelihood that all the subdivisions will suddenly disappear is wishful thinking.
Over time, more people will be able to ride transit but it is still not an excuse for overdevelopment.

Agreed for most of Montgomery County but the transit is for people that live in the city of Gaithersburg. If you look at the map for Gaithersburg, the whole city is covered by the network. It's actually very extensive. Gaithersburg doesn't really have cul-de-sac's in city limits? Are you referring to the city or the suburbs? The suburbs outside city limits do have a lot of cul-de-sac's but the city doesn't. The development is getting pretty dense now and it's all transit oriented so the city will function off transit like DC. The suburbs won't though which is the case all over the country.

These are the housing units so far planned, approved, or under construction to give a picture of the density:

Blue Line Light Rail (CCT) = Total of 15,566 new housing units

Watkins Mill Town Center Station = 1,066 units
Kentlands Downtown Station = 2,250 units
Crown Farm Station = 2,250 units
4 Science City Station's = 9,000 units
N.I.S.T Orchard Pond Station = 1,000 units


Red Line BRT = Total of 7,982 new housing units

Fairgrounds Station's= 1,100 units
Olde Town Plaza Station= 1,500 units
Spectrum at WMT Station= 382 units
Gaithersburg Downtown Station's= 5,000 units
Londonderry Station= not released


Green Line BRT = Total of 8,250 new housing units

Kentlands Downtown Station's = 2,250 units
N.I.S.T Orchard Pond Station = 1,000 units
Gaithersburg Downtown Station's = 5,000 units
Montgomery Village Shopping Center Station = not released


Orange Line BRT = Total of 8,375 new housing units

West Deer Park Station= 393 units
Gaithersburg Downtown = 5,000 units
Fairgrounds = 1,100 units
Olde Town Plaza = 1,500 units
Spectrum at WMT = 382 units
East Deer park = not released
Walnut Shopping Center = not released


Yellow Line BRT = None so far


Silver Line BRT = (John's Hopkin's Life Science Station) via I-370 to Shady Grove Metro Station

Sources
The City of Gaithersburg
http://www.gaithersburgmd.gov/Docume...owne_plan3.pdf
http://www.gaithersburgmd.gov/Docume...opt_040609.pdf