WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Montgomery County Council members might add nearly $1.5 million to the county’s upcoming capital budget to increase funding for sidewalk construction along the east side of U.S. 29 in Silver Spring. The project would link segments of sidewalk along U.S. 29 (Colesville Road) between University Boulevard and Prelude Drive, as well as sidewalk on the east side of Lockwood Drive between U.S. 29 and New Hampshire Avenue.

County Executive Ike Leggett asked council members to appropriate $1,474,000 to connect segments of sidewalk along the east side of the highway, because actual bids exceeded the roughly $4 million the county previously estimated would cover the project when it was approved in 2004.

“This project is vital to the safety of pedestrians along the U.S. 29 corridor,” Leggett said in a memo to County Council President Marilyn Praisner.

Praisner said council members have received a lot of correspondence asking them to ensure the complications with the bid process did not result in the elimination of the project.

'Within two miles of this area there is Blair High School, Pinecrest Elementary School, Northwest Branch Park and Trail, Four Corners Commercial and Business Center, a number of places of worship and Burnt Mills Shopping Center,” county spokeswoman Esther Bowring said. “The sidewalk is not continuous in this area and clearly it is a high-traffic area.”

A public hearing will be held on the funding on Oct. 9.

kmiller@dcexaminer.com