Montgomery County Bicycle and Pedestrian Priority Areas - Silver Spring

In April, 2015 a new Maryland law was passed that required the State Highway Administration to act within one year on local designations of Bicycle-Pedestrian Priority Areas (BiPPA). BiPPAs had existed prior to 2015, but not much progress had been made on them, though Montgomery County had identified 28 areas to be BiPPAs.  After the 2015 law passed, Montgomery County began working on 5 of those areas. The first 5 BiPPA areas considered for evaluation and construction are::

1. Silver Spring
2. Grosvenor
3. Glenmont
4. Wheaton
5. Viers Mill/Randolph

The objective of the BiPPA program is to improve safe bicyclist and pedestrian access to support cohesive neighborhoods and vibrant communities. Thirty BiPPAs have been identified in the county.

The county has completed reports for each of these areas, and the report for the Silver Spring CBD is a good example of the kinds of changes they recommend. That report considers recommendations from prior reports such as the Countywide Bicycle Plan or the WMATA CIP, public input and field investigations to come up with some prioritization and proposed changes.

The high priority recommended improvements include

• It is recommended that 2nd Avenue From Spring Street to Fenwick Lane be improved by installing “Bicycle Route” signing. Bike lanes should be placed on both sides of the roadway and sharrow markings should be placed at the approach to the intersection with Fenwick Lane. The typical section of this roadway will become a two lane road with two bike lanes and two parking lanes.
• From Fenwick Lane to Colesville Road, sharrow markings, “Bicycle May Use Full Lane” signing, and “Bicycle Route” signing should be installed.
• Decorative bike racks should be installed at key locations near restaurants, shopping, parking garages, transit, employment, and churches.
• Bike lanes should be placed on both sides of Cameron Street from 2nd Avenue to Spring Street of the roadway and bike boxes should be installed at intersections where there are bikeways on the crossing road.
• It is recommended that “Bicycle Route” signing and sharrow markings are installed on Cedar Street from Ellsworth Drive to Wayne Avenue.
• Construct the Fenton Street Connector, spanning from Spring Street to Cameron Street. The connector will consist of a shared-use path, cycle track, and sharrow.  
• Bike lanes, curb extensions, bike boxes, and signing are recommended on Spring Street From 16th Street to Georgia Avenue
• On Spring Street from Georgia Avenue to Ellsworth Drive, it is recommended that sharrow markings are placed on both sides of the roadway. Bike boxes should be installed at the intersection with Georgia Avenue, Colesville Road, and Cameron Street. 
• On Wayne Avenue from Colesville Road to Ramsey Avenue, a one-way cycle track should be constructed on the westbound side and a sharrow should be placed on the eastbound side. From Ramsey Avenue to Dixon Avenue, one-way cycle tracks should be constructed on both sides of the roadway. From Dixon Avenue to Georgia Avenue, a one-way cycle track should be constructed on the westbound side and sharrow markings should be placed on the eastbound side. Bike boxes should be placed at the intersection of Wayne Avenue with Georgia Avenue and with Colesville Road. 

I don't know if PG Count has any BiPPAs.

Comments

[SJE]

OT, but I saw MCPD pull over and lecture someone who did not stop for a person waiting at the crosswalk.

[Greenbelt]

I know they were working on a BPPA for the Langley Park area of University Blvd, but not sure if that was Montgomery or Prince Geo's.

Route 1 in College Park certainly should be on, if it isn't.

But since SHA just ignores this sort of law anyway, since it knows better than the public and the lawmakers about how Marylanders want their streets to be laid out and operated, I suspect the local attitude is "why bother?"

SHA is all about Walmart-scale development and high-speed car-only transport through neighborhoods in Prince George's. They'll fight against any attempts to create streets with human scale and economic development potential that isn't a drive through or parking strip.