Letter to the Editor - Edna Miller

Dear Editor,

As a 20-plus year condominium owner in Montgomery Village, I have invested a lot of time into understanding the topic of Midcounty Highway Extended (M-83). I recently provided testimony at the Montgomry County Planning Board public hearing on Nov. 14, 2024, supporting the removal of M-83 from the Master Plan of Highways and Transitways (MPOHT). It included the following points:

1. The 1992 County Council needed to make a decision: Should Midcounty Highway Extended (M-83 Route) connect to the proposed Watkins Mill Road Bridge? By the Council deciding not to build M-83 in the future, they had the Bridge constructed without any access to M-83, proving that the Council decided not to build M-83 then and into the future.

2. In 2017, that Council created and passed the 2017 Resolution after the Planning Board worked for 15 years on “M-83 Corridor Study Alternatives.” The 2017 Resolution “prohibits use of the proposed M-83 Highway in land use plans, land development projects, and for addressing future roadway capacity needs and regional traffic movement.”

3. It is important for the new Planning Board to remember that this 2017 Resolution followed the “Final Midcounty Highway Extended 2017 Supplemental Report.” By examining this Report, one can find a critical traffic flow requirement affecting three land-locked communities along the proposed M-83 Route IF BUILT. Search the Supplemental Report for Section 4.A.iv. Scenario 2 on page 4–2 where it says: “Two-way traffic must be maintained at all times to provide access to and from the land-locked communities of Blunt Road, Grassie Knoll Terrace and Gatlin Road.”

4. Where does this requirement come from? Very possibly from the “Charter for the Planning Board,” which addresses land-locked communities where it says: “The Planning Board has a legally mandated duty to avoid interfering with the rights of landowners to the full use of their property – when they approve platted highways.” In other words, by keeping the M-83 Highway Route in the MPOHT, it carries with it the potential to “interfere with the landowners’ rights of the full use of the property for these three land-locked communities along the M-83 Route and the landowners’ rights of the full use of the property for the Montgomery Village community.”

5. In conclusion, these informative facts: From decisions in 1992 not to build M-83, facts from the 2017 Resolution and requirement from the Final 2017 Supplemental Report supports the removal of M-83 from the MPOHT in 2024/2025 Technical Update (Reference: Maryland State Archives websites, vol. 569, page 847 – Albert C. Ritchie, Governor, 847).

Respectfully,

Edna Miller
Thomas Choice Garden