Category: Hollywood Streetscape Page 1 of 3

The contractor of the Hollywood Streetscape has requested a contract amendment to cover the increased cost of construction due to the extended duration of the project, unusually high inflation, additional resurfacing requested by staff and inclusion of the “goat paths” to the Hollywood Shopping Center.

Although envisioned, the goat paths were not part of the original bid or permitted as the City did not own or control the property. An agreement between the City and Carrollton Enterprises has since been executed, enabling this work to proceed.

The original construction estimate was $2,801,800 based on the unit cost of itemized materials and estimated quantities of Materials two years ago.

The contract completion date was June 2022, but due to permit delays, field changes and supply chain issues were extended.

At last night’s meeting, the Council approved a Contract Amendment for $408,875  to complete the construction of the Hollywood Streetscape Project.

Wallace Montgomery was awarded a contract for design and engineering services for the Hollywood Streetscape Project in November 2018. In April 2021, a contract amendment in the amount of $86,155 was approved to add construction and bidding services to the contract.

In October 2021, the contract was increased by $14,500 (Change Order #1) to cover additional work required by the Prince George’s County Department of Permits, Inspection and Enforcement (DPIE) for a drainage system study and slope stability geotechnical investigation and analysis. Wallace Montgomery has submitted a request for Change Order #2 in the amount of $34,850 to cover other additional permit-related work for the “goat path” connections to the shopping center, and additional electrical design and permit coordination during the extended construction
phase of the project.

This project is in the FY23 Capital Improvement Program and is funded through the General Fund, bond bills and Program Open Space. The Finance Director has indicated that additional funding if needed will be utilized, if necessary, from other CIP reserve accounts.

At this Tuesday’s meeting, the Council approved a Contract amendment in the amount of $34,850 to Wallace Montgomery for additional construction phase support services for the Hollywood Streetscape Project.

Proposed parklet design of the Hollywood Streetscape project

I want to thank our residents, local business owners, City staff, and my Council colleagues for their decade-long support and engagement in taking the Hollywood Streetscape project to the construction phase.

With last night’s approval, the construction of this $2.8 million project is expected to start next month and to be completed in November, this year.

Once completed, the project will add parklets, safe bike lanes and sidewalks, intersection improvements, shade trees, pedestrian-scale lighting, landscaping, benches, and public arts to the Hollywood commercial district around the intersection of Rhode Island Avenue and Edgewood Road.

Additionally, City’s public investment is expected to invite private investments to help revitalize this important commercial district of College Park.

After many years of delay, the Hollywood Streetscape project is finally ready for its construction contract award at tomorrow’s City Council meeting. The City has been working on this project to improve the appearance and functionality of the area around the corner of Edgewood Road and Rhode Island Avenue.

The area is generally lacking in aesthetics and has seen minimal private investment in the preceding decades. We hope that once completed, the project will help invite private investment around the shopping complex area.

At tomorrow’s meeting, the Council will consider approving a contract, to Olney Masonry in the amount of $2,802,300 for the construction of the Hollywood Commercial District Streetscape Project. The City issued a bit for proposal in early January. Eight bids were received. The total bids including add alternates ranged from $2,187,464.60 – $4,168,090.76. The engineer’s estimate was $2,740,908. Based on a thorough evaluation of this information, staff and the engineer recommended that the contract be awarded to the second-lowest bidder, Olney Masonry, in the amount of $2,802,300. This company has a long-standing reputation for doing quality work for Prince George’s County and many local municipalities and received superlative references.

The work includes, without limitation:
• Reconstructing sidewalks along Rhode Island Avenue.
• Restriping vehicle lanes on Rhode Island Avenue to include protected bike lanes.
• Reconstructing bus stops on Rhode Island Avenue to provide additional amenities.
• Constructing three new parklet areas, one at the corner of Muskogee Street and Rhode Island Avenue, and two in the Rhode Island Avenue service lanes north of Edgewood Road.
• Reconstructing the intersection of Rhode Island Avenue and Niagara Road to enhance safety and accessibility.
• Constructing a new trail connection along Muskogee Street from Rhode Island Avenue to Narragansett Parkway.
• Improving safety at the intersection of Narragansett Parkway and Edgewood Road by reconstructing curb ramps and curb extensions.
• Landscaping throughout the project, with the assistance of professionals like the Naperville landscaping contractor, but focused in the parklet areas.
• Constructing three new stormwater management facilities utilizing precast filter structures and common reinforced concrete pipes, manholes and inlets.
• Installing new pedestrian-scale lighting.

You can see a summary of the project’s elements here on this 2019 blog post.

Please attend tomorrow’s Council meeting and testify in support of the project. In case you cannot attend the meeting, please send your comments to the Mayor and Council at cpmc@collegeparkmd.gov before 5 pm tomorrow. You can learn more about this Council agenda item below in 21-G-27.

At tomorrow’s meeting, the Council will consider approving a contract, in the amount of $86,155, to Wallace Montgomery for bidding and construction phase services for the Hollywood Commercial District Streetscape Project.

The Hollywood Streetscape Project has been advertised for bids and thus, these services are necessary. The current construction estimate is $2,500,000 and the timetable is as follows:

(a) Bid submissions due: February 12, 2021
(b) Contract award: March 9, 2021
(c) Construction March 15, 2021 – December 31, 2021

Wallace Montgomery has submitted a proposal to provide bidding and construction phase services in the amount of $86,155. These services include responding to bidder questions, analysis of bids received, permit approval coordination, preparing for, attending, and documenting construction administration meetings with staff and the contractor, reviewing and approving construction material submittals and shop drawings, responding to contractor requests for information, project inspections, and the preparation of as-built plans.

You can read more about the streetscape project here on my blog

The Hollywood project team has recently completed the 60% design of the project. A public meeting was held on November 18, when they presented the plan and solicit feedback from the community. A meeting targeted to the commercial businesses and property owners was held on January 17, 2019. Many comments on the project were received and the consultants have worked to address as many of them as possible.

This project includes improvements along Rhode Island Avenue between Muskogee Street and Ontario Road for pedestrian, bicycle and bus stop access, safer intersections, enhanced landscaping, and street lighting. It also includes the conversion of a portion of the service roads to linear parks (parklets) to provide public gathering space and create a sense of place for the commercial area. A trail is proposed along the north side of Muskogee Street as well as additional pedestrian connections to the Hollywood Shopping Center.

You can see a summary of the project’s elements here on my blog.

The team now intends to complete 100% design plans, apply for permits and prepare construction bid documents.

The estimated budget to complete the project’s elements is about $2.5 million. Currently, the project has $1.45 million in the Capital Projects Fund. Additional funding needs to be identified to complete the project in its entirety. It is also possible to construct certain elements of the project in phases based on priorities and funding availability.

At this tonight’s meeting, the City Council will discuss the 60% design and give future direction to the project’s team.

For some years now, the City has been working on the Hollywood streetscape project to improve the appearance and functionality of the area around the corner of Edgewood Road and Rhode Island Avenue. The area is generally lacking in aesthetics and has seen minimal private investment in the preceding decades. We hope that once completed, the project will help invite private investment around the shopping complex area.

The project limits along Rhode Island Ave are from the Capital Beltway in the north to Muskogee Street in the south. The project limits along Edgewood Road are Narragansett Parkway in the East and 300’ west of Rhode Island Ave in the west.

Currently, the project team has completed the 30% design of the project. Staff is currently working to hold a community meeting with 60% design this month. Please stay tuned for an announcement of this meeting.

Once 60% design is completed, the project team will go into the final design. The City Council will then decide the scope and budget for the first phase of the project. The construction of the first phase is expected to start some time summer next year.

Below is a list of design elements of of the project:

Wide Sidewalk

The planning study identified narrow sidewalks and gaps in the sidewalk network as a design issue. Along the west side of Rhode Island Avenue, a 5-foot wide sidewalk is proposed from Muskogee Street to Edgewood Road where a sidewalk does not currently exist. On numerous occasions, residents have been observed walking along this stretch, and an informal well-worn pathway is noticeable. This stretch of sidewalk is impacted by an existing retaining wall which will require that the sidewalk narrows to 3 feet wide for the length of the retaining wall. The design team feels this is acceptable and does not cause a safety issue as pedestrians using the sidewalk will be separated from vehicular traffic by a protected bike lane.

On the east side of Rhode Island Avenue from Muskogee Street to Edgewood Road, the existing sidewalk is proposed to be widened to approximately 8 feet. A 2-foot strip of turf will remain between the sidewalk and curb to accommodate street signage and utility poles. This section of the sidewalk is considered part of the Wellness Circuit to complete a continuous walking loop around the Hollywood Shopping Center totaling 0.6 miles.

Gateway Plazas
The plan asks for installing gateway signage and/or art elements to brand the District. The Gateway Plazas are a way to establish community identity with potential for public art and/or signage. The gateways are located at the corner of Muskogee Street and Rhode Island Avenue. In the second phase, there could be another one at the corner of Narragansett Parkway and Edgewood Road. Small seating areas are envisioned at each gateway. Each Gateway Plaza features seating, bike racks, trash/recycling receptacles, bollard lighting and signage relevant to the Wellness Circuit.

Parklets:
The plan is to reclaim the Rhode Island Avenue east-side and west-side service road, between Nantucket Road and Edgewood Road, as neighborhood pocket parks or parklets. The Parklets are intended to provide community gathering spaces that are attractively landscaped and buffered from the traffic on the surrounding roads.

The Parklet on the east side of the road will also serve as seating to support retail and restaurant uses on the adjacent properties. In addition, the landscaped areas are intended to provide stormwater management treatment for the Parklets and possibly Rhode Island Avenue.

Improved Bus Shelters and Seating Nooks
A new bus shelter is proposed at the existing bus stop on the west side of Rhode Island Avenue just north of Muskogee Street to match the existing bus shelters located within the Hollywood Commercial District. To support the need for improved pedestrian circulation and gathering spaces, seating nooks are proposed along Rhode Island Avenue in three locations. In general, the seating nooks are intended to enhance the bus shelters providing additional seating and anchoring the shelters within the context of the streetscape improvements. The seating nooks are designed as a semicircle configuration directly adjacent to the sidewalk. Site furnishings proposed for the Seating Nooks include benches, trash/recycle receptacles, bollard lighting, and pavers.

Pedestrian Lighting
There will be a multi-tiered approach to lighting in the Hollywood Commercial District. Existing streetlights will be retained throughout the corridor. The existing street lights are cobra heads – approximately 25′ height. Pedestrian scale street lights, approximately 14’ height, will be added along Rhode Island Avenue, Edgewood Road, Nantucket Road, and Niagara Road and within the Parklets and Gateway Plazas. Bollard lights will be added to enhance pedestrian-oriented spaces including along the Wellness Circuit, within the Parklets, Gateway Plazas and Seating Nooks associated with improved bus shelters.

Pedestrian Path to MoM’s Parking Lot from Rhode Island Ave
Residents have asked to replace the current “goat path” that many pedestrians use to get to the MoM’s shopping complex from Rhode Island Ave at the Muskogee street corner. The path is uneven and thus can be hazardous to use, especially by the seniors and people with a disability. The Streetscape team has worked on a design of the concrete pedestrian path. The new path will be ADA compliant and thus residents on wheelchairs will now be able to use it safely. Staff will now work with the Carrollton Enterprises (the owner of the shopping plaza)  to get the approval of the path’s design.

Reconfiguration of Niagara Intersection
Currently, the intersection of Niagara Road at Rhode Island Avenue requires circuitous turn movements to travel through the intersection. The current 30% design seeks to eliminate the zig-zag pedestrian crossing, providing a more direct route for pedestrians and drivers. Please see the proposed design below.

Wellness Circuit
A Wellness Circuit is proposed in the right of way to provide formalized connections from the neighborhood to the commercial district and to provide opportunities for community fitness. The Wellness Circuit will connect the playground at the corner of Narragansett Parkway and Muskogee Street with Edgewood Road and Rhode Island Avenue through a shared-use path separate from the roadway. Informal desire lines to the shopping center will be formalized at multiple locations along the Wellness Circuit. Fitness stations are planned intermittently along the trail to encourage residents to be physically active in an outdoor natural setting at no cost to users. The Wellness Circuit includes a range of equipment suitable for different ages and fitness abilities focusing on the four essential components of fitness: strength, balance, cardio, and flexibility.

Along Muskogee Street, a portion of the Wellness Circuit is proposed adjacent to the curb. The placement of fitness stations adjacent to Muskogee Street provides ample space for plantings that would provide visual screening of equipment from residences. Existing trees displaced by the proposed improvements will be evaluated for relocation within the project limits.

Traffic Calming at Narragansett Pkway
The traffic calming proposed at the three-legged intersection of Edgewood Road and Narragansett Parkway was originally conceived as a min-roundabout during planning stages.
However, a review of turning movement templates showed that the roundabout would have to be too small (and entirely mountable) to be functional. Accordingly, bump-outs were designed for the southeast and southwest corners to reduce traffic speeds through this intersection and reduce the crossing distances for pedestrians. The bump-outs reduce the pedestrian crossing distance on the south leg and on the east leg. The bump-outs will be planted with low growing plants that do not affect pedestrian or driver sight distance. The bump-outs are designed as standard curb and gutter and designed so as not to interrupt the existing gutter pan, allowing it to continue to carry
run-off.

Complimentary bump-outs were not introduced along the north side of Edgewood Road because of the presence of a commercial driveway, the existing inlet, and the need to retain on-street parking in front of 5006 Edgewood Road (which does not have a driveway). In addition to the curbed bump-outs, ladder style crosswalks were introduced to the intersection along the southern and eastern legs in order to provide for safer crossings and give the intersection a more pedestrian-oriented feel and because the southwest corner represents a gateway to the Wellness Circuit and the Hollywood Commercial District