Hyattsville Council Considers Special Meeting for UH Sidewalks

Mayor Marc Tartaro proposes special work session to discuss street improvements in University Hills.

The Hyattsville City Council will consider holding a special work session on Monday, March 25, to discuss a proposed overhaul of the University Hills streetscape.  The streets project, which has proven controversial among some residents who are opposed to sidewalks on their blocks, was tentatively slated for discussion at the March 18 council meeting. But Mayor Marc Tartaro's motion asking for the special work session said that the delay would allow more time for council deliberations and more time for additional comments from residents.  Hyattsville's elected leaders are tasked with determining the scope of the proposed project. A key hurdle to overcome is which streets in the neighborhood will be getting sidewalks.  But the project, if …

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Mapping University Hills Sidewalk Proposals

Two visions dominate discussion of sidewalks in northern Hyattsville neighborhood.

As the Hyattsville City Council moves towards a decision on how to proceed with an overhaul of the streetscape in University Hills, at least two visions for a network of sidewalks in the northern Hyattsville neighborhood have emerged.  One, put forward by Mayor Marc Tartaro, describes a bare bones network of sidewalks designed as a starting point in the often contentious debate over pedestrian facilities in University Hills. The other, put forward by Councilor Tim Hunt (Ward 3), attempts to reconcile objections raised by some neighbors with what Hunt described as an obvious need for sidewalks in many parts of the neighborhood. This past Monday, members of the Hyattsville City Council debated how to balance objections against the …

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Matthew D. McKnight

9:21 am on Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Yes, because the prospect of shovel-worthy snow 1 or 2 days per year in Maryland should outweigh the benefits of sidewalks the other 363 days of the year.   more ›

Hyattsville City Council to Ponder UH Streets

Decision needed on how to move forward with controversial streetscape improvement project.

Tonight, the Hyattsville City Council will be discussing how to proceed with proposed improvements to the University Hills streetscape. A timeline laid out in a presentation to be delivered before the city council at tonight's meeting has the city council charting a course of acting by the end of this month. If adhered to, the timeline would see the city council approve a final design by December 2013, with construction potentially done by September 2014.  Proposals to add sidewalks along streets in the neighborhood have proven controversial, with a vocal contingent of residents voicing their displeasure with the plan at a number of community meetings held to address the project, At tonight's meeting, the Hyattsville City Council will also…

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Editor's Notebook

Mapping Support for Sidewalks in University Hills

Survey data released by the city of Hyattsville breaks down support for sidewalks on a block by block basis.

Hey Hyattsville! I want to reassure you that I an still alive, though I spent the second half of last week recovering from a fever. Unfortunately, my self imposed quarantine meant that I missed a much anticipated city meeting which reviewed the results of the University Hills sidewalk survey.  While I couldn't report on the he-said-she-said aspects of the meeting, city officials did make the survey response data public. From that data, a portion of which gauged the neighborhood's receptiveness to sidewalks on a street by street level, we can plot on a map the areas of University Hills where sidewalk opposition is stronger and weaker.  That's exactly what I did above. The greener the area means a dominant percentage of survey respondents on…

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Hyattsville to Release Results of UH Sidewalk Survey

Survey designed to gauge reception for sidewalk, street improvements in University Hills.

Hyattsville officials are set to release the results of a detailed survey which asked University Hills residents for feedback about a planned rehabilitation of the streetscape throughout the city's northern neighborhood. The city will review the results of the community survey at a meeting scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 7 at 7:30 p.m. at St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church on Adelphi Road. During the meeting, officials will also present a revised project schedule and other updates. The University Hills streetscape overhaul has been met with vocal opposition from some neighborhood residents, who voiced their concerns at a series of contentious community meetings held this past September.  Since those meetings, neighborhood residents have …

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Survey Tests University Hills Sidewalk Opposition

Does the vocal opposition to sidewalks represent the majority of University Hills residents? City survey hopes to find out.

A proposed overhaul of the University Hills streetscape in Northern Hyattsville has elicited loud protests from some residents who oppose the installation of sidewalks along their property.  Nowhere was this opposition more apparent than at a series of community meetings held earlier this year to discuss progress on the design phase of the University Hills Street Improvement Project. Over two nights, Mayor Marc Tartaro, city officials and contracted civil engineers butted heads with groups of University Hills residents over the necessity of sidewalks in their neighborhood. But does this vocal opposition represent the true will of the neighborhood? Mayor Marc Tartaro–who has touted the saftey benefits of sidewalks–doesn't think so, and he …

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University Hills Green Streets Meets Opposition

Residents vocal against installation of new sidewalks.

Over two nights this week, city officials and residents of the University Hills neighborhood clashed in public meetings designed to inform about proposed streetscape improvements. As has become the custom in Hyattsville, much of the debate centered around heated disagreements on the necessity and utility of new sidewalks in residential areas. Residents opposed to new sidewalks were the most vocal at Thursday night's meeting, frequently interrupting city officials and contracted engineers as they tried to gather input from residents about the proposed streetscape overhaul. The project, dubbed the University Hills Green Streets project, seeks to address a number of different issues with the infrastructure of the northern Hyattsville …

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Tim Hunt Blasts CIP for Lack of Info

$9.1 million budget planning document contains no projections for major streetscape improvements in north Hyattsville neighborhood.

A major budget measure set to go before the Hyattsville City Council for consideration tonight has come under fire from a council member who says the document is incomplete. Council member Tim Hunt (Ward 3) issued a public letter earlier this afternoon critical of the proposed Capital Improvement Plan over its lack of cost estimates for infrastructure improvements in the University Hills neighborhood. The agenda for a special session of the city council tonight at 8 p.m. lists the CIP as one of its action items.  "The University Hills Street Reconstruction project is likely to cost a significant amount of money and we need to see how it fits in with our other priorities," wrote Hunt in his post on the listserv for the Hyattsville …

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Sidewalk Opposition Surfaces

Residents on one block of University Hills say their street doesn't need the sidewalks called for in a city report.

Tonight the Hyattsville City Council will consider accepting a petition from the residents of the 3200 block of Gumwood Drive against a proposal to install a sidewalk on their street. The 2011 University Hills Green Street Project report calls for sidewalks on Gumwood Drive and other neighborhood streets nearby. The petition, circulated and submitted by Gumwood Drive resident Gregory Kees bears 10 signatures from nine addresses. In a letter accompanying the petition, Kees notes that the 3200 block of Gumwood is not a through street. He argues against the sidewalk, saying that there is not enough room to install one without taking up valuable roadway and impacting the tree canopy. The Hyattsville City Council will vote on this issue during …

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Jim Groves

11:34 am on Wednesday, January 18, 2012

I understand the fears of the community in losing street parking or road space. But those roads are fairly wide already. The more narrow the road, the slower traffic goes on it...that is well documented. If pushing a stroller with a baby, where exactly are people supposed to walk...in the street? Not safe! Sidewalks can be curved around trees in some area and yes, some trees would be loss, but …   more ›