Montgomery County Council approves University Boulevard Corridor Plan – Mocofeed

County takes major step toward transportation safety improvements and more housing opportunities along key corridor between Wheaton and the Capital Beltway

Rockville, Md. — The Montgomery County Council today approved the University Boulevard Corridor (UBC) Plan, a comprehensive vision that will guide transportation safety and accessibility enhancements and future growth along a 3.5-mile stretch of University Boulevard/MD 193 between Silver Spring and Wheaton over the next two decades. The plan area includes residential neighborhoods, schools, parks, places of worship, businesses, and other institutional uses between Amherst Avenue at the edge of the Wheaton Central Business District, to the area immediately south of the Capital Beltway/I-495.

The master plan was developed over three years by the Montgomery County Planning Department, part of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) and was approved in June 2025 by the Montgomery County Planning Board, also part of The M-NCPPC. The plan combines comprehensive research, analysis, and community engagement to envision University Boulevard as a vibrant, walkable corridor with increased options for housing types, improved transit connections and pedestrian safety, and enhanced commercial districts.

“This plan reflects the community’s commitment to improving transportation safety along one of the most important corridors in Montgomery County and making the University Boulevard Corridor more affordable and more vibrant for everyone who lives, works, and spends time there,” said Planning Board Chair Artie Harris. “This renewed vision lays the groundwork for a corridor that supports thriving communities with more housing opportunities and celebrates and promotes the rich diversity of its surrounding neighborhoods, businesses, and institutions.”

The UBC Plan is the first corridor-focused master plan to be completed since the adoption of Montgomery County’s General Plan, Thrive Montgomery 2050, and it advances the county’s Vision Zero goals using complete streets concepts and enhancing development potential to foster corridor-focused growth.

“This approval of the University Boulevard Corridor Plan is the culmination of years of community collaboration and careful analysis,” said Montgomery Planning Director Jason K. Sartori. “The result is a vision that creates opportunities for University Boulevard to realize its tremendous potential to deliver safer streets and more types of housing in the coming decades through future development and public investment. The plan also honors the diverse character of our neighborhoods, enhances environmental sustainability, and preserves historic resources.”

Advertisement

The County Council’s revisions to the draft plan are being incorporated into the approved plan document, which will be posted to the UBC Plan website when completed. View the resolution for plan approval that County Councilmembers voted on today.

• To promote sustainable growth patterns, provide more housing options, and enhance transportation safety, rezone properties that: abut University Boulevard; are institutional properties, such as properties used for religious assembly; are existing single-use commercial shopping centers. The zoning changes provide property owners with more flexibility for what they can build on their properties if they choose to make changes. The Kemp Mill Shopping Center and the Yeshiva of Greater Washington properties have been removed from the plan area and will not be recommended for rezoning.
• Establish an overlay zone, which the County Council approved today, to promote a diverse range of housing options in a compact, transit-oriented form of growth that supports bus rapid transit (BRT) on University Boulevard and Colesville Road, creates complete communities, and improves safety for all travelers in the plan area. The overlay zone applies to properties the plan recommends for rezoning and considers elements including building placement, site coverage, provision of public open space, and uses to support plan objectives and provide a transition from the corridor to the neighborhoods.
• Locate higher building densities and a mix of uses at locations near BRT stations with existing commercial properties, including the WTOP property and Four Corners, and ensure new development transitions from larger to smaller buildings to adjacent residential properties.
• Implement a connected transportation network, comfortable walkways, and low-stress bicycle facilities, as well as right-size roadways and intersections to create a safer and more comfortable environment for people who are walking, rolling, bicycling, riding transit, and driving.
• Provide safe, accessible, and healthy travel options for people walking, biking, rolling, riding transit, and traveling in cars in the Four Corners area. 
• Improve pavement markings, lighting, and sight distance and explore protected crossings at the interchanges with I-495 at Colesville Road and University Boulevard to improve safety for all modes of transportation.
• Make University Boulevard more resilient to climate change by incorporating tree canopy, shaded bus stops, improved stormwater management, and landscaped buffers.
• Amend the Montgomery County’s Master Plan for Historic Preservation to include the Romeo and Elsie Horad House at 2118 University Boulevard West. The house represents the efforts and achievements of the African American couple and their relatives to improve conditions for African Americans in the Washington, DC region.