MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION
Held May 2, 2000,
For the purpose of meeting with representatives from the State Highway Administration and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to consider the problem of the unsafe situation of the westbound bus stop on Rt. 193 at Greenway Center

The meeting began at 7:30 p.m. It was held in the vicinity of the above bus stop.

PRESENT WERE: Council members Edward V. J. Putens, Rodney M. Roberts, and Thomas X. White. Mayor Davis and Mr. Turnbull had indicated they would be unable to attend.

ALSO PRESENT WERE: Michael P. McLaughlin, City Manager; David E. Moran, Assistant to the City Manager; Terri Hruby, Community Planner; Kathleen Gallagher, City Clerk; Ray P. Mercado, Prince George’s County Team Leader, and Mark Schaffer, Highway Design Engineer, from the State Highway Administration; Dave Brlansky from the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority; and Greg Dohler from the Gazette.

Mr. Mercado briefly reviewed the situation of the bus stop, which is located on a median between an exit ramp from the Baltimore Washington Parkway (BWP) and Rt. 193. All parties agreed that this situation is not safe for pedestrians--either while standing at the stop or while walking to it. Simultaneously, the group had the opportunity to witness several impromptu street crossings by citizens, which served to dramatize the point.

Mr. Mercado said that the State Highway Administration (SHA) had considered placing a crosswalk across Rt. 193 at the light at the main entrance to Greenway Center, but that neither this plan nor variations on this theme would solve the problem of the bus stop’s being located between Rt. 193 and the BWP exit ramp.

Instead, the solution they recommended was to move the bus stop to the island just east of the northbound entrance to the BWP. A number of changes would be made in support of this relocation. A pedestrian crosswalk would be placed across 193, with a "refuge" on the 193 median. There would be buttons on either end, as well as in the median, for pedestrians to change the traffic lights to stop 193 traffic. There would also be "walk" lights to indicate when it was safe to cross. Curbs would be lowered for handicapped access. The curb at the bus stop itself would be recessed to allow the bus to pull in and stop without halting traffic in the lane behind it (as happens at the existing stop). The City can look into requesting that Greenway Center place stairs on the slope at one or more points to facilitate access from the parking lot to the sidewalk on the south side of Rt. 193.

There was discussion of possibilities for placing a bus shelter on the stop, which would also serve the purpose of drawing pedestrians back from the street. If a city shelter were to be used, the SHA would do the preparation work for it when placing the pad for the bus stop itself.

How long it would take to complete this work would in part depend upon the cost, since a lower amount could possibly come out of this year’s state budget rather than next year’s; however, another determining factor will be that requests for pedestrian signals are presently taking at least 6-9 months to design and install.

Ms. Hruby will follow up with the representatives of SHA and WMATA regarding the specifics of this plan, including looking at the range of possibilities for shelters. Once a design is ready, it will be reviewed by City.

The meeting ended at 7:55 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Kathleen Gallagher

City of Greenbelt, Maryland
City Offices, 25 Crescent Road, Greenbelt, MD 20770
Phone: 301-474-8000 FAX: 301-441-8248