Montgomery County defers final US‑29 BRT decision, orders focused 4‑Corners analysis

Montgomery County’s Transportation & Environment Committee on March 2 deferred a final decision on the controversial US‑29 Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) design in the 4 Corners area and directed staff to fund additional analysis before the next design milestone.

Councilmember Kristen Mink pressed the committee to schedule a public hearing and reconsider the 35% design for the 4 Corners segment, arguing the current median‑lane plan would take a travel lane in both directions, worsen gridlock in constrained intersections and create harmful right‑of‑way impacts for small businesses — citing the potential loss of the Burnt Mills auto‑repair shop and sidewalk reductions at the Woodmore Shopping Center. "I would ask the committee to reject the design of specifically in the 4 Corners area as it is currently," Mink said, and offered three alternatives: revisit the managed‑lane option, use mixed‑traffic for buses through that constrained segment, or deploy a single reversible median lane.

Department of Transportation Director Conklin and project staff said the project is at roughly 35% design and that refinement work is underway to minimize direct impacts where feasible. DOT’s BRT implementation manager, Jamie Henson, told the committee staff are attempting to adjust alignments and lane widths to avoid or reduce business takings and noted the mobility analysis shows substantial transit-time gains: a single transit lane in the constrained segment could cut Flash bus travel time in that stretch by roughly 12 minutes, while vehicle delays at some intersections were modeled to rise by only about one to two minutes inbound during the morning peak.

DOT cautioned the committee that reverting to a managed‑lane concept would pose significant implementation challenges, including enforcement limitations (no clear state photo‑enforcement authority for HOV lanes) and likely disqualify portions of the project from certain FTA capital programs that prioritize dedicated transit lanes; staff said managed lanes would risk FTA eligibility and create large schedule delays with little net cost savings. DOT recommended a pragmatic path: continue advancing the selected alternative while conducting parallel analysis of the two smaller pivots (single lane or mixed traffic in 4 Corners) and bring performance and cost comparisons back to the committee prior to the next design milestone.

Following the discussion, the committee agreed to defer final action on the US‑29 segment and to add funding in FY27 to complete the requested analysis; staff will communicate amended packet language showing the additional study funding and will return with refined performance metrics and a schedule for committee review. Committee members also approved other mass transit CIP items across the packet, including funding adjustments to the MD 355 Central BRT ($65.3M increase to a roughly $517M total) and a $23.5M contingency increase for Veers Mill Road tied to FTA Small Starts risk assessment (about $17M of that increase is expected to be part of an FTA grant). The committee also advanced smaller items including bus‑stop accessibility upgrades, a hydrogen fueling site and phased depot funding.

The county’s next step is for DOT to produce the additional analysis and for staff to return to the committee with performance metrics, a revised fiscal packet entry for the FY27 appropriation, and a plan for public engagement on the 4 Corners design decision.