TAKOMA PARK, MD – As more than a decade of nonstop road construction on Flower Avenue has finally come to an end, residents are eagerly anticipating the commencement of a new major public works project on their street.
“I bought into this neighborhood many years ago, when the noise from ongoing construction was just part of life,” said Tara Lucille. “Now that it’s over, it’s way too quiet around here. I really miss that white noise of jackhammers at 7am.”
With Flower Avenue now freshly paved over with smooth asphalt for the 7th time in the last ten years, the Public Works Department has been desperately looking for another reason to tear up the road again. Luckily, with a complete stall of the nearby Purple Line project, the city is attempting to convince the Maryland Department of Transportation to reroute the project along Flower Avenue. They’ve even offered to contribute the project’s entire $800 million shortfall in exchange for a guarantee of at least five years of disruptive construction.
“If Takoma Park is going to be a zero emissions city by 2035, we really need to have more public transit in our city,” said the City Manager. “Luckily, our residents say they’d be happy to raise taxes in order to pay for things that benefit the public, so it looks like we have the green light to spend as much money as we want.”
While most residents like the results of the Flower Avenue beautification project, including new sidewalks, better lighting and ADA accessibility, some really miss the daily adventure of avoiding huge potholes, playing human Frogger, and desperately trying to find the single open access point to Piney Branch Road among the 400 simultaneous detours and street closures.
“I’m really excited for the next ten years when I can go back to verbally abusing the city staff with daily phone calls and emails telling them how much better I could be doing their job,” said Luke Taylor. “I’ve really missed that these past few weeks. Now, excuse me while I go plant some rose bushes and build my property fence within the public right of way.”
