Upgrades to the road network being recommended as part of the White Flint Sector Plan update fall short of the standard the County Council has said it will require, according the county's transportation planning chief.

The council has stipulated a target speed for rush-hour traffic of 25 mph. Improvements outlined in the sector plan update would put peak-congestion speeds at about 8 mph, Dan Hardy, head of the Transportation Planning Division, told the county Planning Board during a Thursday worksession. The average traffic speed in the White Flint area during peak congestion in 2005 was about 11 mph, he said.

The failure to meet the prescribed standard of the County Council, which must sign off on sector plans approved by the Planning Board, is something Hardy called "a key point in discussion of White Flint adequacy." He said the traffic system is still viewed as sufficient by planning staff so long as the transit system accommodates more travelers, and called the plan's failure to abide by council standards "a policy difference." The Planning Board also supports a policy that allows for the level of service proposed so long as it is balanced with a superior transit system.

Included in the draft sector plan is an updated street network that would extend several roads in White Flint, including two new street crossings at Rockville Pike — one an extension of Executive Boulevard and the other a new street between Old Georgetown and Marinelli roads.

Old Georgetown Road and Executive Boulevard would be realigned to form a more regular grid pattern, and a loop would be added to connect Nebel Street to Edson Lane, bypassing a section of Rockville Pike. That road is unpopular with residents of Garrett Park Estates, who feel it swings too much traffic near their neighborhood. The anticipated establishment of the road network is included in Hardy's prediction for 2030 road congestion.

Hardy said the new street grid should be completed before beginning the construction to turn Rockville Pike into a more pedestrian-friendly boulevard, so diverted traffic would have somewhere to go.

In spite of significant peak-hour congestion, Hardy pointed out the traffic volume on some streets, such as Tilden Lane, will actually decrease when the road network is completed as traffic patterns are re-disbursed.

Most of the discussion in the presentation was on how to move cars, and Commissioner Joe Alfandre complained that the plan was using a suburban, car-focused model on what is supposed to be the transit-rich urban redesign of the area surrounding the White Flint Metro Station, something Hardy said was based on "constituent desires." Details about the implementation of transportation services, such as a bus rapid transit along Rockville Pike, were largely unspecific.

"If we're trying to move cars, then let's just decide that streets will rule," Alfandre said, noting that the lack of information about how transit would work in the sector bothered him.

Vice-Chairman John Robinson said there's a practical psychology element to the balance of why people use transit versus automobile transportation, including weather, comfort and privacy. "We're not being cavalier about the fact that, oh, if you have transit the traffic will just go away or the congestion will just go away."

Still, Robinson echoed Alfandre's desire for more detail on a number of matters, including transit systems and why it is believed certain road connections, such as the Edson Lane to Nebel Road bypass of Rockville Pike, will be effective. He asked Hardy to provide more reasoning on sensitive points that may be "intuitively true, but not satisfactual" to community members given the evidence presented.

There are recommendations in the plan for a circulator bus, feeder transit, and a second Metro entrance, as well as for bike paths and more bike- and pedestrian-friendly streets. The White Flint Steering committee, comprised of residents, business owners and developers in the area, support a dedicated lane for bus rapid transit along Rockville Pike.

Dedicating the lane and having the buses are different, however, and Alfandre said, "I'm going to have a hard time voting on this master plan if it doesn't have a transit system."

Board Chairman Royce Hanson told Alfandre that he would "probably have a hard time, then, because what we can do at the planning stage is make room for it and recommend it."

"It seems to me that this is a plan where we can at least say the general implementation of transit facilities and service is something really needed to make this system work," Hanson said.

The Planning Board will continue to hold work sessions in the coming weeks with members of the staff and the White Flint Steering Committee. The next one will be a discussion of the financial mechanisms involved in the sector plan, and will take place tomorrow at 9 a.m. at Park and Planning Headquarters, 8787 Georgia Ave.