Life Sciences Center Bicycle Network and Loop Trail

Yesterday, the Montgomery County Planning Board held hearings  on the Draft Life Sciences Center Bicycle Network Proposal and the Life Sciences Center (LSC) Loop Trail

The Life Sciences Center Bicycle Network Proposal would create a low-stress bicycling network that circulates throughout the Life Sciences Center area, connecting to the proposed Corridor Cities Transitway (CCT) stations, major destinations such as Crown Farm and Shady Grove Adventists Hospital, future activity centers such as the proposed Johns Hopkins University Belward Campus and a redeveloped Public Safety Training Academy site (PSTA), and to the surrounding residential neighborhoods. It also proposes two long term bicycle storage facilities at future CCT stations.

This proposal - like the White Flint Sector Plan - is being developed before the new Bicycle Master Plan because of the fast pace of change in this area. That way they don't miss out on opportunities to construct segments of a separated bike lane network. The White Flint Separated Bike Lane Network was discussed by the Planning Board on December 3, 2015. 

I can't say I know that area very well, so I can't critique this but that's a lot of bicycle facilities (see the map above). I especially like the long term bicycle parking stations next to the Corridor Cities transit stations. They show one of the Austin bike shelters, below, in the proposal

The separated bike lane network consists of four major corridors

1. The Northway Separated Bike Lane is an east-west bikeway that would travel along the proposed Belward Campus Drive and Decoverly Drive between Muddy Branch Road and Shady Grove Road.
2. The Southway Separated Bike Lane is an east-west bikeway that would travel along existing and proposed segments of Blackwell Road between Darnestown Road and Shady Grove Road.
3. The Midway Separated Bike Lane is a north-south bikeway that would travel along the proposed Broschart Road and Diamondback Drive between Medical Center Drive and the City of Gaithersburg.
4. The Lower Loop Separated Bike Lane is a crescent-shaped bikeway that would travel along John Hopkins Drive, Medical Center Drive, and Omega Drive between the future Johns Hopkins Belward Campus and the City of Gaithersburg.

These are designed to coordinated with the LSC Loop Trail

The Montgomery County Life Sciences Center (LSC) Loop is a proposed 3.5-mile loop trail that will serve as an organizing element and place making feature for the Life Sciences Center district. Much more than a standard shared use path, the LSC Loop Trail will function as an identifiable public amenity that helps make the Life Sciences Center an attractive place to live, work and visit.

At the hearing they held out the Indianapolis Cultural Trail as a model for this and asked that the 2010 GSSC Urban Design Guidelines be revised by incorporating the 2015 LSC Loop Design Guidelines. A map of the proposed trail is below.

The trail will be 10-12 feet wide, often next to a separated bikeway or separated from one by trees. The design guidelines include information on plantings, pavement, way-finding, gateways, cross-sections, activity areas, intersections, etc...As an example here's what amenity areas might look like.

These are just design guidelines, but it all looks pretty cool. A pilot may be the first construction step.

To generate excitement about the trail and “test” the design, the County and any other implementing entities may wish to consider a pilot (or demonstration) project to construct one initial segment of the trail. One candidate segment to consider for a pilot project is the segment along Medical Center Drive adjacent to the National Cancer Institute. This segment is particularly relevant as a pilot project given its high profile (National Cancer Institute as an anchor), adjacent commercial uses, lack of technical constraints to constructing the trail, existing wide tree panel (which could accommodate amenity spaces within the public right-of-way), existing mature shade trees, and its visibility from Key West Avenue.

In addition to all of this, the network proposal includes some concept images of how the bike facilities, roads and transit could interact - including protected intersections

Comments

[lucifer]

this is at least 20 years away...if they were this comitted to an alternative to car stupidity they would have done somehitng already. silver spring is a shit hole.