Planning Department briefs council on University Boulevard corridor plan, prioritizes bus lanes, safety and limited rezoning

The Montgomery County Planning Department presented the draft University Boulevard Corridor (UBC) master plan to the County Council, outlining recommendations to improve safety, transit reliability and housing options along the corridor. Planning Board Chair Arti Harris, Planning Director Jason Sartore and East County Division Chief Carrie Sanders summarized a three-year engagement process and draft recommendations that the department said are intended to guide growth over the next 20 years. The plan prioritizes safety for pedestrians, students and transit riders, citing crash data showing four fatal crashes and 38 severe injury crashes along the corridor between 2015 and 2024. "Transportation safety along the corridor has been the number one concern we have heard through this planning process," Sanders said, noting that more than 6,000 students attend schools fronting University Boulevard and that pedestrian crossings can be narrow and close to high-speed traffic. The draft plan recommends extending the existing curb-running dedicated bus lane (a BRT-style lane) through the 4 Corners area after coordination with the Department of Transportation and WMATA, and keeping the dedicated lanes largely within the existing curb-to-curb roadway where possible. Planning staff described pilot results showing a 7% reduction in Metrobus travel time on a pilot segment and high compliance with lane restrictions. The plan calls for infrastructure changes to improve walking and rolling — widening sidewalks, adding street buffers and trees, leading pedestrian intervals, and targeted “no right turn on red” restrictions at intersections when they would not impair safety. On land use, the draft recommends limited rezoning adjacent to the corridor to permit mixed housing types close to transit: converting many R-60 and R-90 single-family frontage lots to CRN (Commercial Residential Neighborhood) zoning on the first block from the corridor, with an overlay that caps lot coverage at roughly 35% to address neighborhood compatibility concerns. Higher-density CRT zoning is proposed for commercial nodes and near transit stations with a recommended height transition from up to 50 feet along the corridor down to 35 feet where blocks abut single-family neighborhoods. The plan includes special language for the Kemp Mill (Campbell) Shopping Center to encourage phased redevelopment that retains neighborhood-serving retail: strategies include phased redevelopment, incentives to preserve affordable retail rents, smaller storefront spaces and business cooperatives. Planning staff emphasized the plan would not change zoning use immediately; any zoning changes would only take effect if a property owner pursued redevelopment or after regulatory processes. The department said it had conducted extensive outreach — multilingual door-knocking, roughly 10,000 mailings, about 40 community meetings and an interactive zoning map — and that staff had revised the draft in response to community input. The Planning, Housing and Economic Development Committee will take the plan up in coming weeks, and the council noted two public hearings: Sept. 10 at Montgomery Blair High School and Sept. 16 at the Council Office Building.