In downtown Silver Spring, the county built a 1.5-mile loop of protected bike lanes that also serves as a buffer between sidewalks and traffic. It also constructed the East Coast’s first “protected intersection” at Second Avenue and Spring Street. The intersection, which cost $1 million, features narrowed lanes and curved islands at the corners designed to slow turning vehicles. Construction on a protected bike loop in downtown Bethesda, which will include the planned Capital Crescent Surface Trail along the northern side of Bethesda Avenue between Woodmont and Wisconsin avenues, is scheduled to begin this spring.
Lane widths have shrunk on sections of major thoroughfares, including Connecticut and Georgia avenues, East West Highway and University Boulevard. Parking spaces were added along Georgia Avenue in Wheaton’s urban district to help slow traffic. Along East West Highway in Chevy Chase, higher visibility crosswalks were installed and lane widths were reduced to 10 feet from Connecticut Avenue to east of Montgomery Lane to promote lower speeds, shorter crossing distances for pedestrians at crosswalk locations, and enhanced cyclist safety, according to SHA.
In 2018, all crossing signal times in the county were reset from the notion of people moving at 4 feet per second to the national standard of 3.5 feet per second, a goal of the Vision Zero action plan. A five-year capital improvement project is underway to replace every street light in the county with brighter LED lights to help increase visibility, according to Holland.
Planners and engineers are also looking into adding high visibility crosswalks, relocating bus stops from the middle of a block, and building median “refuges” on multilane roadways so people have a safe place to stand while crossing. Creating higher visibility crosswalks can result in a 40% reduction in the number of pedestrians who are struck, according to SHA.
Officials say installing more HAWK beacons can help create safer crossings midblock and at intersections without traffic signals. In addition to the one installed on Tuckerman Lane, there are beacons on Aspen Hill Road between Georgia and Connecticut avenues in Aspen Hill, on Gude Drive in Rockville, and on Muddy Branch Road at the intersection of Harmony Hall Road and King James Way in Gaithersburg. Others are planned for Democracy Boulevard in Bethesda, Willard Avenue and Hills Plaza in Chevy Chase, Summit Avenue in Kensington, and Bel Pre Road between Georgia Avenue and Layhill Road in Silver Spring, according to county transportation officials.
Reducing speed limits can be one of the most effective ways to curb the number of pedestrian collisions resulting in severe injuries or death, state and county officials say. According to county planning officials, a pedestrian has a 95% chance of surviving a collision with a vehicle traveling 20 mph and just a 15% chance if that vehicle is traveling at 40 mph. Speed limits have been reduced recently along several state roads, according to SHA. In Bethesda, the speed limit on River Road was lowered from 45 mph to 35 mph between Ridgefield Road and the Beltway, and from 40 mph to 35 mph on Old Georgetown Road between Glenwood Road and the Beltway.
In April 2019, the council approved the Veirs Mill Corridor Master Plan, the first such plan to be advanced with Vision Zero in mind. Covering 4 miles between the city of Rockville and the Wheaton central business district, the plan includes road design changes to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists. In January, SHA installed a new traffic signal and pedestrian crossing on Georgia Avenue at the intersection of May Street and Rippling Brook Drive in Silver Spring—a section of the state highway between Hewitt Avenue and Hathaway Drive where roughly 10 pedestrian collisions occurred since 2015.
Meanwhile, county lawmakers also are pushing for legislative solutions. Friedson has asked the county’s Department of Environmental Protection to evaluate policies concerning trash and recycling collections and amend collection contracts with private vendors to prohibit the placement of trash and recycling bins in any part of a public right-of-way. The request followed the death of 17-year-old Winston Churchill High School student Jake Cassell, who was hit and fatally injured on July 31 after falling off his bike while riding on the sidewalk along Old Georgetown Road in Bethesda. [See profile of Jake on page 104.] His parents say they believe he fell after swerving to avoid a trash can and a signpost, according to a published report. The county also is working on a campaign to let residents know about the proper placement of trash and recycling receptacles as well as where users should park electric riding scooters, officials say.
Friedson has also introduced a bill co-sponsored by Glass and At-Large Councilmember Will Jawando concerning rules governing the issuance of county permits to temporarily close a public sidewalk or walkway in connection with repair work or construction. And council Vice President Tom Hucker, who represents Silver Spring and Takoma Park-based District 5, is proposing that the county use automated cameras—which would function in a manner similar to red light or speed cameras—to catch distracted drivers.
