Successful Community Walk on November 19

This photo captures the very first idea discussed for the area near the Bank of America. It emerged from our kickoff meeting, where the overarching theme was safety. The key needs identified were: slowing down cars, adding bike lanes, and creating more space for pedestrians.

I, along with a few other Beltsville residents, was invited to join a Community Walk to talk through the length of Rhode Island Avenue—from the corner of Sellman Road (by the post office) to the open space near Bank of America—to discuss needed changes and possible beautification efforts.

This meeting was an offshoot of the Route 1 planning meeting, which took place about a year and a half ago at the community center. There has already been input from stakeholders, including WMATA and DPWT, and all involved seemed interested in moving the project forward.

Almost 15 people attended the Community Walk. Michelle Garcia also participated and noted that she and her team walked the same path a few weeks ago to compile their own list of suggestions. The Parks and Planning representative leading the effort took thorough notes on all the groups’ ideas, which included adjusting speed limits, adding roundabouts, various beautification efforts (including actually having trash cans emptied!), installing murals, and shifting part of the road closer to Bank of America to allow for a sidewalk on the opposite side.

This meeting was just the beginning of a longer process, but the overarching theme that emerged from the walk was the need for safety: slower vehicle speeds, bike lanes, more walkable spaces, and so on.

When asked about next steps, our group leader from Parks and Planning, said they needed to work with the Permits team to begin the process, as modifications will require approval. There will be further community updates (and I will attend as many future meetings as I can and share information). They also stated that some improvements will be implemented as a test run—likely centered around the Bank of America area for about ten days—so Parks and Planning can gather data and adjust as needed. This test run will likely take place in the spring.

Looking forward to the next steps!