Opinion

Montgomery County must rethink the Providence Avenue sidewalk mandate

Adding pedestrian infrastructure on my Silver Spring block is a costly measure for a low-risk problem

August 7, 2026 3:00 p.m. | Updated: August 7, 2026 3:02 p.m.

In its push to expand pedestrian infrastructure ahead of the Purple Line opening, the Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) is applying a rigid, one-size-fits-all mandate to neighborhoods where it simply does not fit. A prime example is the proposed sidewalk installation on the 9100-9124 block of Providence Avenue in Silver Spring. While expanding transit accessibility is a laudable regional goal, forcing sidewalks onto a tucked-away, dead-end residential block yields marginal public safety benefits while causing severe, permanent harm to local properties and the environment.

County leadership must recognize that Providence Avenue is not a thoroughfare. The street dead-ends on both ends and serves as a self-contained block. It is not an access road for the Purple Line station, and it experiences zero cut-through traffic. On a typical afternoon, the only vehicles entering the street belong to residents of single-family homes. Furthermore, ADA and school safety concerns us all, but the county has provided no local safety data or traffic studies to justify the installation of sidewalks where other, less invasive options would mitigate the risks.

Worse, the physical and environmental costs to our block would be devastating. Developed in the late 1930s, our street was never designed to accommodate modern sidewalk setbacks. Because the topography rises sharply above street level, construction would require invasive retaining walls along the west side of the block. Due to existing utility pole placements, sidewalks would cut directly through the middle of small, historic front yards, destroying the neighborhood’s mature green space and tree canopy.

The impact on homeowners’ daily lives is equally punitive. The short driveways characteristic of these 1930s homes will be rendered unusable because parking across a public sidewalk is illegal. Homeowners will be forced into an impossible choice: lengthening their driveways at their own expense—wiping out what little front yard remains—or park permanently on the street, eliminating visitor and emergency vehicle parking. To add insult to injury, the county would pass ongoing liability to the residents, legally forcing them to shovel snow and ice off a walkway that few pedestrians will use, while assuming increased homeowners’ insurance risks. For our elderly and disabled residents, this is a physical and financial burden they are unprepared to assume.

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Beyond the loss of property, the county is ignoring an infrastructural risk: water runoff. The junction where Providence, Melbourne and Wire avenues connect already suffers from chronic flooding and extensive drainage issues. Replacing natural, absorbent grass with hundreds of square feet of impermeable concrete hardscape will exacerbate this flooding, threatening basements and overwhelming our already strained local drainage systems. Aging gas lines and recurrent gas leaks pose another threat to our street from the proposed sidewalk construction and excavation endangering residents. MCDOT’s decision-making matrix is supposed to weigh homeowner needs against public safety. When public safety needs are minimal or nonexistent, the scale must tip toward the people who live here. Less drastic, highly cost-effective alternatives are readily available. If the county is truly concerned about safety, they can install clear street markings, high-visibility signage, or speed cameras without dismantling our yards.

Montgomery County should wisely tailor its prioritization and taxpayer funding to streets where there is overwhelming support, and to transit-adjacent streets where safety and accessibility gaps are well documented. Forcing destructive, expensive hardscaping onto a quiet, landlocked 1930s block is not progressive urban planning—it is administrative overreach.

I write this with input from concerned residents of Providence Avenue and neighbors from connecting streets. We urge County Executive Marc Elrich, MCDOT Director Chris Conklin, and the County Council to look at the data, listen to the residents, and reconsider this plan before the Aug. 31 testimony deadline.

Ellyn Ogden has been a resident of Providence Avenue since 1990.

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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine