Fawsett Road Improvements Completed

The Division of Transportation Engineering recently began making improvements to Fawsett Road in Potomac to bring it up to current standards. It is the first road to be upgraded under the Dedicated but Unmaintained County Roads policy, adopted by the County Council in 2009. The policy allows homeowners who live on roads that are not maintained by the County to vote to pay 90 percent of the cost of upgrades. The County pays the other 10 percent. Once the upgrades are completed, the Montgomery County Department of Transportation takes over maintenance of the road, including road repairs and snow removal. There are about 60 roads originally built by developers that did not meet County standards and were never accepted for maintenance by the County.

Fawsett Road is about .29 miles long and located east of 1119 Fawsett Road. Currently a gravel road, it will be paved and a storm drain system will be installed. The road’s 18 homeowners will each pay $28,000 over a 20-year period for the improvements.

Leggett, Officials Break Ground for Expanded Colesville Depot

County Executive Leggett (center), MCDOT Director Art Holmes (second from left) and Highway Services managers participate in groundbreaking ceremony

Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett joined Department of Transportation (MCDOT) and Department of General Services (DGS) officials at a groundbreaking ceremony for an expanded Colesville Highway Maintenance Depot, which provides snow removal, road maintenance and other services to southeastern Montgomery County. Managed by DGS, the project will extensively renovate, enlarge and modernize the 1981 facility to meet the growing needs of the east county. MCDOT staff will continue current operations at the site from trailers.

In addition to increasing available work space, the project will bring the building up to modern safety and accessibility standards and is designed to achieve a silver LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating. Improvements will be made to the stormwater management system and other sustainable features include preferred parking for fuel-efficient vehicles, reflective roofing materials to reduce the heat-island effect, maximizing the amount of vegetated open space and a bike rack to promote alternative transportation.

The new building will have 12,505 square feet compared to its current 5,596 square feet. The depot is located on 11.5 acres adjoining Colesville Park and Paint Branch Park on Cape May Road. The first phase of the project was completion of a 160- by 80-foot salt storage barn in 2013. The entire project should be completed in winter 2015.

Keep up to date on the project’s progress on the County’s website.