Widening of Allan Terrace
On October 26, 2011, MCPS’s Department of Construction presented the final plans for the school addition. These plans included a proposal to widen Allan Terrace by 11 feet in order to ease traffic congestion, create better access for emergency vehicles and to allow two drivers to pass each other while maintaining parking on both sides of the street.
After neighbors, parents and community members reviewed the plans and understood the implications of widening the road, the PTA heard three major concerns from the community:
• Wider roads would invite faster traffic speeds, endangering children who frequently cross the road.
• Losing the green buffer between the road and the sidewalk would put our pedestrian traffic directly up against the side of the road.
• Widening the road would cause the loss of even more green space and the loss of four specimen trees (larger than 30” diameter).
Westbrook PTA and other community members measured streets leading to Somerset, Chevy Chase and Carderock Springs elementary schools and found the streets to have comparable or smaller widths than the current width of Allan Terrace.
MCPS Division of Construction has been thoughtful and responsive during the planning process and the PTA representatives felt confident that all parties were interested in finding a solution that would yield the safest outcome.
Westbrook PTA representatives attended the Montgomery County Planning Board hearing on December 1, 2011, to share their concerns about the proposed road widening. They expressed their support of the overall construction project but requested that the planning board not approve the removal of three trees that would otherwise need to be removed if Allan Terrace were widened by 11 feet. The Planning Board withheld approval to remove the trees.
Special Education
• Testimony of Julie Reiley on the Proposed Operating Budget for FY 2013 January 11, 2012, Board of Education Meeting.
• Julie Reiley Written Statement Burden of Proof Resolution MCCPTA April 11, 2012