Gaithersburg

Here's my midway grouping along the CCT's alignment. These here lines span out of the Gaithersburg Metro Station per the previous post's Red Line extension. These actually share a bit of commonality with the neighboring Shady Grove lines, as 2 of 3 alignments terminate at the same locations as 2 out of 3 of Shady Grove's lines. However, the current termini of both of them are such that any trains continuing on would have to reverse... a time-consuming process not particularly conducive toward running them as continuous lines. Any suggestions are always welcome.


View Gaithersburg.kmz in a larger map

(cost, ridership) 1 = low; 5 = high
2, 3 - Kentlands Line
Length - 2.13 miles
Maintenance - Quince Orchard, NIST, Hadley Farms
Southern continuity - Terminates at Kentlands.
Northern continuity - Continues as Hadley Farms Line to north.


(cost, ridership) 1 = low; 5 = high
3, 3 - Hadley Farms Line
Length - 5.37 miles
Maintenance - Quince Orchard, NIST, Hadley Farms
Southern continuity - Continues as Kentlands Line to south.
Northern continuity - Terminates at Hadley Farms.


(cost, ridership) 1 = low; 5 = high
2, 3 - Airpark Line
Length - 5.17 miles
Maintenance - Metropolitan Grove, Airpark
Souththern continuity - Continues as Outer Beltway Line to south/east.
Northern continuity - Terminates at Airpark.


View Gaith-CCT.kmz in a larger map

For reference, I've included the Corridor Cities Transitway (CCT, in light blue) above overlaid with my alignment (green).

(cost, ridership) 1 = low; 5 = high
2, 3 - Gaithersburg Metro to NIST

There's a chance I might be undervaluing the potential ridership at NIST, as I'm honestly not as familiar with its traffic patterns like I am more nearer to the Beltway. Between NIST to the east, the apartments to the west, and the commercial properties adjacent to the station: there's a chance the ridership for this could be bumped up to 4. That would cause the entire Kentlands Line to also bump up to a ridership of 4.


(cost, ridership) 1 = low; 5 = high
2, 2 - NIST to Twinlakes

Improved ped/bike connections to the properties north & south could improve ridership projections to 3. Independent of the aforementioned ridership potential at NIST, bumping this up to 3 would also bump the entire Kentlands Line up to 4. Potential ped/bike connections could include a trail connecting into the roundabout at Highland Ridge Ave (to the south) and a trail joining into Wind River Lane & ultimately providing a connection to Dosh Dr (to the north).

A possible maintenance facility might fit in along Center Drive on NIST property. As with my past instances where I delve onto federal land, however, the legality of this might be questionable... well not so much legality as it is massive amounts of bureaucratic hurdles.


(cost, ridership) 1 = low; 5 = high
2, 5 - Twinlakes to Kentlands North

The big box guys to the north would take a hit to their right-of-way whilst their competition to the south gets the most out of the transit station. Unless both areas are owned by the same entity, this would likely be a major source of contention. However, the northern parcels still benefit from the redevelopment potential: right now parking lots face toward the proposed station; but bringing buildings nearer to Kentlands Blvd could capture just as many customers as those on the south end.

A possible maintenance facility to the west along MD 124, just north of Little Quarry Road, could be shared with the Quince Orchard Line. However, putting in tracks & associated signal impacts might render this facility a bit too hard-to-reach for light rail.


(cost, ridership) 1 = low; 5 = high
4, 4 - Gaithersburg Metro to Russell

There's a part of me which wants to bring this station into the mall, and then another part which wants to keep it near the peripheral businesses. I'm running with the latter thus far... I'd envision a trail connecting the station to the mall, landscaped with view-shrouding shrubs & trees to hide the parking lot that this "park-like trail" would be navigating through.

Or, alternately, the mall could flip itself inside-out: orienting a more "new urbanist" style design toward the station. However, those lakes could either be a hindrance or a boon... with the right landscaping, they could create a unique atmosphere between commerce & transit; but if left by the wayside, they'd be little more than an impedance to riders.


(cost, ridership) 1 = low; 5 = high
3, 3 - Russell to Montgomery Village Center

I'd thought about locating this station just south of Sedwick Rd rather than to the north of it. Its current location is chosen partly to keep it nearer to the commercial core & its neighboring residences, but also to reduce impacts to the lakes resulting from widening the cross-section. Unfortunately, this decision leaves those on the south side of the lakes outside the 1/2-mile radius. Bicycle infrastructure will be important toward getting those people to either the Russell or Montgomery Village Center stations.


(cost, ridership) 1 = low; 5 = high
3, 2 - Montgomery Village Center to Montgomery Village North

This segment crosses over the Montgomery Village West and Montgomery Village East segment. No station was provided at this crossing as transfer rates are expected to be quite low. Anyone traveling between Hadley Farms & Airpark would more likely just bike or drive it... and anyone heading toward Gaithersburg would be better-fit to stay on the current line. Those destined for stops in between (Spectrum, Metropolitan Grove, or Russell) could easily bike from a stop on their line (with corresponding improvements to bike infrastructure, of course); and those traveling to either the Montgomery Village West or Center stations could easily get off at either & walk/bike to the same destinations.


(cost, ridership) 1 = low; 5 = high
2, 2 - Montgomery Village North to Hadley Farms

Following along the power lines (always a major utility issue), this rather direct alignment terminates into what's expected to be a pretty low-ridership facility. However, there's a chance that this could be a rather good place for a park & ride lot to try and attract all those folks that make Fieldcrest or MD 124 (Woodfield Rd) a part of their daily commute. Granted, the Airpark station might be a better draw, as its line to Shady Grove is a bit more direct. If I ever get around to computing travel times, that might help clear that up...


(cost, ridership) 1 = low; 5 = high
1, 3 - Gaithersburg Metro to Metropolitan Grove

Pulled right out of the CCT's alignment, this station services the new developments along the Watkins Mill Road extension as well as the properties to the south. A bike path alongside the transit line could also provide ready access directly to Gaithersburg Metro & even onto the fairgrounds.


(cost, ridership) 1 = low; 5 = high
4, 3 - Gaithersburg Metro to Spectrum

Serving the other end of the Watkins Mill Road extension, this station takes its name from the property on the opposite corner of the intersection with MD 355. I am a bit liberal on ridership here, anticipating that Spectrum will be a decent draw... if it ends up being a more typical shopping center, then I might revise this down to a ridership of 2.

A large maintenance facility is planned on what is currently some untouched forestland and westlands. ...The environmentalists would probably despise me for this, but it did end up being a pretty handy location. I figured that since we already plowed I-270 through it, why not continue the trail of destruction? Alongside the Red Line's maintenance yard, I've located a possible maintenance facility for this transit line.


(cost, ridership) 1 = low; 5 = high
2, 3 - Spectrum to Montgomery Village West

As previously noted, riding the corridors of high tension power lines is sure to drive up costs related to utilities, and is likely to require threats of (re)regulation in order to get the power companies to "warm" to the idea of transit & energy arterials coexisting. Apart from that, this station provides ready access to Montgomery Village's core.


(cost, ridership) 1 = low; 5 = high
2, 2 - Montgomery Village West to Montgomery Village East

I previously explained why this segment crosses over another line without a transfer station... either go back and read about the MV Center to MV North Line, or just settle for my quick synopsis of "transfers are expected to be minimal". The MV East station is intended just to service the residents between the center & Airpark.


(cost, ridership) 1 = low; 5 = high
3, 4 - Montgomery Village East to Airpark

As alluded to in my section about the Hadley Farms station, a Park & Ride at Airpark could be a handy addition for capturing traffic coming southward along MD 124 (Woodfield Rd). However, to fit in a park & ride would require merging all the existing parking... essentially creating an Airpark Parking District (Airparking District? Sounds a bit too futuristic), and potentially necessitating demolishing some buildings & redevelop them with separately-oriented parking/buildings; or replacing one or two with a parking garage.

To add onto fanciful ideas: it'd be great if a ped/bike tunnel could travel beneath the runway, connecting to Snouffer School Road & enabling those folks -- some laying within the 1/2 mile radius -- to make use of the Airpark station. ...I thought about how neat it might be to have a bridge instead of a tunnel since then you could go plane-watching, but soon enough common sense got the best of me on that one.

Onto maintenance facilities: I'm admittedly not familiar (yet) with the terrain where I'm showing a huge maintenance facility tentatively located. I figure that if it were flat and easy to build on, there'd probably be stuff there already... but for now I'm operating on the assumption that it IS flat & easy to build on, and some planner somewhere has been specifically saving it for my pipedream transitway's maintenance facility. Safe assumption, right?


Where we are thus far...

I can't embed Google Maps anymore showing the whole thing, as it's gotten too big that Google Maps doesn't know what to do with it. So now I've got to link to a Google Earth placemark. Click here for the Google Earth placemark of all the alignments thus far, noting that it may take quite some time to load. Next I'll see about getting the Germantown Line up.