Montgomery Parks has received $12.3 million in funding from the state that will be used for 16 projects over the course of the next couple of years, the department announced this week.

According to the department, the funding includes:

  • $2.5 million for a new sports park at Wheaton Regional Park. It will include a skate park, bicycle pump track, climbing wall, parkour/obstacle course and “bicycle skills” area.
  • $2.5 million for a new 3.5-acre urban park in downtown Bethesda on Parking Lot District lots 10 and 24 as part of the Bethesda Market redevelopment.
  • New playground equipment and accessibility improvements at Greenwood Local Park in Brookeville, ($250,000), Laytonsville Local Park ($150,000), McKnew Local Park in Burtonsville ($250,000), Olney Family Neighborhood Park ($125,000), Olney Mill Neighborhood Park ($150,000) and South Germantown Recreational Park ($500,000).
  • New skate parks at Long Branch-Arliss Neighborhood Park in Silver Spring ($362,000) and Newport Mill Local Park in Kensington ($300,000).
  • $500,000 for redevelopment of a playground at South Germantown Recreational Park.
  • $1 million for trail, accessibility and water quality improvements to Long Branch Local Park in Silver Spring.
  • $800,000 for trail, accessibility and water quality improvements to Rosemary Hills-Lyttonsville Local Park.
  • $250,000 for trail, accessibility and water quality improvements to Strathmore Local Park in Aspen Hill.
  • $2.5 million for improvements in the Long Branch area that will include updating infrastructure, playground renovations, court upgrades, new plazas and seating areas.
  • $300,000 for a new bridge on the Long Branch Trail at Clayborne Avenue in Silver Spring.

The state funding typically covers between 25% and 75% of each project, with the rest funded through Montgomery County’s capital improvements budget, according to Susan Stafford, the communications director of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission.

Stafford wrote in an email to Bethesda Beat on Wednesday that the county plans to implement the majority of the projects in fiscal years 2023 and 2024, pending permits and matching funds.

“The money received from the state is only partial funding but does allow us to move forward with design and permitting for these projects,” she wrote.

Dan Schere can be reached at daniel.schere@moco360.media

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