BOWIE, Md. — People in Prince George’s County packed a town hall meeting about new developments and Route 301. Bowie residents expressed concerns about the future of the highway as two more new developments are being built.
The meeting was hosted by Prince George’s County Councilmembers Ingrid Watson (District 4) and Wala Blegay (District 6). More than 70 people showed up to Bowie City Hall. Prince George’s County Department of Public Works and Transportation (DPW&T) and the State Highway Administration (SHA) were also in attendance.
The amount of concern was reflected in the amount of people who packed the council chambers Thursday night. There was only standing room left left before discussions started.
“I know that I’m not alone in this concern," said Lorre Remy, who uses Route 301 to commute. "I’m glad to see that there’s so many people here sharing their concerns and I’m glad to see there’s so many representatives from the state as a whole.”
People who live along Route 301 or use it to commute say they expected development, but not this magnitude.
“For the last few years we’ve been coming to city council meetings about the development and what they were going to do," said Bowie resident Gregory Wilson. "And the way we were informed is there were going to be retail places, a grocery store.”
Wilson and others are raising the alarm about two new developments: South Lake and Mill Branch Crossing. One promises more homes and retail space, and the other apartments and a Sheetz gas station.
Route 301 is known to be one of the busiest, but also most dangerous, roads in the state.
“In a housing community? In our area, on a road like 301 — that’s already crazy," Wilson said.
“Traffic has gotten increasingly worse and rather than doing anything about it, they are building more and more homes and communities… which is fine, but not when don’t do anything about the infrastructure," Remy said.
County and state leaders listened to questions and concerns from everyone.
“I value all of the concerns of all of the residents," Maryland Sen. Ron Watson (D-District 23) said. "I understand them I live right off 301 and experience the issues each and every day but there’s a broader conversation that needs to happen."
Watson said developers typically widen the roads around the facilities they are developing — and there will be a true sense of what the commute will be like after that. The other challenge is funding, he said.
“It is a state road, the state has had to take some courses of action to increase state funds," Watson said. "So, with more people working from home, more people going to electric vehicles there’s less funds for transportation.”
The county and state expect to have a full plan on what’s next by the beginning of 2025. One of the long-term recommendations received: Creating separate highway to interstate standards for through traffic and parallel road for local traffic.
Until then, some are hopeful after being given the opportunity to vent and ask questions.
“I’m hoping that representatives hear it and try to do something. What can they do? We don’t know, but at least we are letting them know and they’re saying they’re going to try," Wilson said.
The plan is for representatives to take these concerns expressed Thursday to Annapolis in hopes of receiving more funding and support to make more improvements to Route 301.
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