Agenda for Prince Georges Advisory Group

According to Fred Shaffer of M-NCPPC,  the next quarterly meeting of the Prince George’s County Bicycle and Trails Advisory Group (BTAG) will be tomorrow, April 29th from 8:30 until 10:30 AM, at the Department of Parks and Recreation Administration Building located at 6600 Kenilworth Avenue. The agenda includes the following issues:

• Naylor Road Bike and Pedestrian Safety Study
• Anacostia River Trail opening
• Potomac Heritage Trail Signage Plan (scope is being finalized)
• Bike-to-Work Day
• Bicycle safety at Riggs Road between MD 410 and University Avenue
• Bike/ped crossing of Adelphi Road at University Avenue
• Priority low cost upgrades for on-road bike improvements (sharrows/bike lanes)
• Existing or recommended standards for bike lanes, bike lanes at intersections, and rotaries.

The penultimate agenda item was my suggestion.   I doubt that we can make the entire county bike friendly in the next 4 years, and would like to create a map showing the areas where county roads can become bike-friendly.   My initial thoughts would be to focus on:

• The entire county west of US-1, plus some contiguous lends east of US-1
• Al land west of either MD-210 and contigous land west of Livingston Road south of Swan Creek Road
• All roads within a 2-mile radius of the WB&A, Anacostia, or any other trail longer than 5 miles.
• Roads within 3 miles of the 3-4 metro stations where the county intends to seriously push transit oriented development

That is, I would focus on those areas that either have a high cycling density or a large investment in cycling infrastructure.  But this is just a strawman to start a discussion.  Major arteries are state roads, which is a different story.

(Jim Titus attends BTAG meetings.  The opinions expressed above are his opinions alone.)

Comments

[Pseudoprime]

Riggs Road is a good topic. That part of the county is lacking in good east-west bike routes, and that area is a major impediment. If you're, say, in University Hills, you *should* be able to cut across from the NW Branch Trail to the Sligo Creek Trail on neighborhood streets, but for safety reasons, it makes more sense to bike all the way south on the NW Branch Trail and then back north on the Sligo Creek Trail.

[Richard Layman]

bike lanes and sharrows are cheap, but aren't likely to significantly increase biking takeup.

That being said, the areas that you think should be bicycle priority areas make sense to me.

Putting a cycletrack on a major arterial, that would change things considerably... but as you say, most of the major arterials are state roads.

[Greenbelt]

A Greenbelt city council member suggested a cycletrack along or in the median of 201, presumbably from Cherrywood Lane through the beltway interchange to Pontiac Street in Berwyn Heights. I hadn't even thought of that, but an interesting idea. Would get a lot of visibility, that's for sure. I've been suggesting re-painting/re-laning Cherrywood lane for a cycletrack, at least from Breezewood to Greenbelt metro drive, which I think would be a good signal for expanded bike commuting. Ideally all the way over the beltway to 201. We'll see. Lots of issues with development and the Cherrywood/Greenbelt metro (dangerous) intersection would have to be redone with stop signs or a roundabout.

[Purple Eagle.]

A cycletrack on the 201 median would be a great improvement. I have discovered that I can shave 5-10 minutes off the trip towards downtown if I ride along 201 instead of taking Cherrywood to Lake Artemsia. But it's not a route for the faint of heart. South of Pontiac steet there is a nice wide shoulder, but the exit/entrance ramps for the Beltway and Greenbelt Rd make riding the aforementioned stretch difficult.

[Jim Titus]

Has this Greenbelt City Council member introduced a bill to get the entire city behind the proposal? I had not heard about that idea before.

Speaking of cycletracks, at the previous BTAG meeting there was extensive discussion of the possible cycle track along US-1 from College Park northward, which the City of College Park actively supports. SHA is dubious, planning instead to add bike lanes when the highway is rebuilt. I think that M-NCPPC has adopted the cycle tracks into the master plan, but also favors bike lanes as an interim solution until enough driveways are eliminated.

I'll hopefully have a post in the next several days on last Friday's BTAG meeting. There will be a subcommittee meeting to explore the last two agenda items above. I think it will be at about 4:30 in Mt. Ranier on 5/9 If interested let me know.

[Richard Layman]

A cycletrack on US-1 would be awesome... I am pretty sure I was grazed once by a car on the section south of E-W Hwy in Hyattsville (but now I don't remember). Another time a cop car rolled up on me and suggested I ride on the sidewalk because the road is so narrow there.

Greenbelt has a lot of opportunity for a town specific bicycle plan, including programming, along the lines I recommended in the w. baltimore county plan I did, and in my discussion on neighborhood bike programming in my presentation on best practice suburban bicycle planning.

[Greenbelt]

Jim -- don't know about whether Mr. Jordan's comment to me (in an email) was just a speculative thought or something further along in the planning or consensus building. It's an interesting idea I think.

[Jen BL]

As many of PG's residents work and/or play in DC, how about we get some safe and convenient routes into the city? IMO, if we could figure out a way to make Queens Chapel, Route 1, and Rhode Island, and other roads a little friendlier, perhaps more people would ride.

Speaking of working, what's with all of the meetings during most people's working hours?

[Jim Titus]

@Jen BL,

At least one citizens association is regularly nagging SHA to improve MD-450, which has no shoulder.

If there is a road where you want to be the champion please let me know and we can at least keep eachother apprised of what is working. SHA is rethinking a number of their policies on lane striping and signs. These efforts are not usually a major focus of BTAG, which advises the county government. But as the only forum in PG on biking, it tends to be a gathering place of people trying to move SHA.

Regarding meeting times: BTAG meetings a good share of public officials that probably would not come to a night meeting. Feds that have every other Friday off can make half the meetings without taking leave. I tend to push for 4:30 start times which several can make without taking leave by coming in early, yet the public officials can attend at the end of their business day.