The new Paint Branch High School is set for construction in 2014 . . . we hope.Next Thursday, the Planning Board reviews the modernization of Paint Branch High in Burtonsville. Four decades old this year, the school seeks to knock down its existing building at Old Columbia Pike and Briggs Chaney Road and build a new facility next door.
While staying on site's a great move for the student body, many of whom live nearby and walk to school, it's literally a setback for accessibility. Unlike the current building, which is so close to Old Columbia Pike that it almost disappears behind a rise in the road, the new Paint Branch will be set behind faculty and staff parking lots and a bus turnaround, making for a reduced street presence and a slightly more miserable walk for students who already have to brave the Route 29/Briggs Chaney Road interchange on foot.
Construction is slated to begin in 2014, having been pushed back several times due to budget constraints. The modernization may also displace an historic Wye Oak tree (that's the state tree, don't you know) currently located in the adjacent Airy Hill Park, which will be incorporated into the new Paint Branch campus.
Presumably they are proposing to build the new school on this site so they can continue to use the old building during the new construction, which makes a lot of sense. Are there alternative sites that would be better for walkers, etc.?
ReplyDeleteDan wrote:
ReplyDelete> a slightly more miserable walk
> for students who already have
> to brave the Route 29/Briggs
> Chaney Road interchange on
> foot.
Dan, you imply that this
new interchange is bad
for pedestrians, and perhaps
it could be better.
But did you ever have the
miserable experience of
crossing U.S. 29 at Briggs
Chaney Road during the many
years that the neighborhood
suffered with a congested
signalized intersection, and
crossing there meant crossing
10 (ten) lanes of
traffic (six through lanes and
four turning lanes).
I did.
The interchange is a vast
improvement over what was
there before.