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Your comment about Maryland bike access is very true in all directions except Rockville (that way is not too bad). Towards Columbia is also big problem area for long-distance commuters. If you look at the Strava maps you can see there aren't many roads that are safe to bike on during rich hour in that direction. Rt. 29 is designated the major bike connection Washington and Baltimore.

Great post! I fully concur with this assessment of PG County roads, especially the numbered roads managed by the SHA. I am not too familiar with the Suitland area, but I spend a lot of time cycling in Northern PG County and can attest to the terrible environment for cyclists and walkers in many parts of the County. PG County has the foundation of a solid trail network with the Anacostia Trails, the W B & A, etc., but the connections to these networks to/from the population and employment centers are generally awful. Effectively, the trails seem to start/stop in the middle of nowhere with poor connections to the road network. For the saner resident, I can understand the desire to drive to these trails/parks, rather than traverse major arterials. As the authors mention, the roads have very little pedestrian infrastructure, other than the occasional “share the road” sign. However, placing share the road signs next to 3-5 lanes of high speed traffic (such as on 193/Greenbelt Rd., which seems to have nearly as much capacity as the Beltway) is totally inadequate. While I sympathize with the County’s budget challenges, I believe more could be done with striping, strategic placement of cycle tracks, and greater advocacy by citizens and County leadership to encourage the redesign of major arterials with pedestrians in mind.

I've always been baffled that Maryland isn't more bike friendly in general, for all its seeming progressive attitude in other areas.

If you live along a trail it seems pretty good, but if not you're SOL. I used to try to bike commute to Lanham, but it was pretty terrifying once you crossed the Anacostia, despite the bike map saying certain streets were bike routes. My girl used to bike commute to Bethesda, which was fine, but when her office moved to upper Rockville, we looked at the maps and she decided it was going to have to be a driving commute.

Maryland should change its name to something more accurate and descriptive: "Angry Carland."

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