TheWashCycle: Veirs Mill Corridor Plan includes improved Henson Trail Crossing and bicycle corridor

Montgomery County has been working on the Veirs Mill Corridor plan for over a year and presented the working draft earlier this month. It aims for a more bike and pedestrian friendly corridor with an improved (though not grade separated) Matthew Henson trail crossing, a continuous separated bikeway on Veirs Mill and a combination of bike facilities on intersecting streets. A public hearing on the plan is scheduled for April 26th.

Matthew Henson Trail Crossing

Frequent readers here know that this trail intersection with Veirs Mill was where two cyclists died in two separate crashes within a year. Since then, the state added a HAWK signal at the crossing. The plan calls for making the crossing safer by adding a full traffic signal, relocating the existing high-visibility crosswalk to provide a direct connection across Veirs Mill Road that will reduce crossing distance and install additional lighting. I've seen it elsewhere, but I can't think of any other place in the DC area where a trail crossing gets its own traffic signal. I'd rather have a bridge - which is listed as a long term solution - but this is an improvement.

Corridor bicycle route

The plan also calls for creating a safe route for cyclists traversing the corridor. In the short term this means creating an interim continuous bicycle network along Veirs Mill Road that provides a combination of facilities, including new sidepaths, neighborhood greenways on parallel streets, contra-flow bike lanes on residential access roads and connections to existing trails.

In some cases cyclists would be on a separated bikeway along Veirs Mill and other on parallel streets using shared roads. The plan also recommends rebuilding the pedestrian and bicycle bridge over Joseph’s Branch Creek between Valleywood Drive and Moline Road.

In the long term, as they add in BRT, the plan calls for building a sidepath on the north side of Veirs Mill Road that transitions to two-way separated bicycle lanes and a sidewalk at areas with commercial land use; a combination of two-way separated bicycle lanes, sidepaths and sidewalks on the south side of Veirs Mill Road, and bikeways on priority residential streets s (Twinbrook Parkway, Aspen Hill Road, Weiss Street, Parkland Drive, Bayne Street, Havard Street, Colie Drive, Barbara Road, Randolph Road, Bushey Drive, Selfridge Road, Connecticut Avenue, Dalewood Drive, Valleywood Drive, Claridge Road, Parker Avenue, and Newport Mill Road)..

It also recommends that prior to commencing construction of Montrose Parkway East, that planners modify the project to include sidewalks, crosswalks and bikeways; that the county explore new trail connections to the Matthew Henson Trail from the communities to the east, and that the Rock Creek Trail be relocated out of the floodplain for Rock Creek.

Other crossings

In addition to the improvements at Turkey Branch Parkway/Matthew Henson Trail, the plan calls for additional signalized intersections with pedestrian-activated signals at the following locations to provide additional safe crossing opportunities for pedestrians, bicyclists and transit users. These intersections are listed in order of priority, following the signal at the Matthew Henson Trail crossing.

Veirs Mill Road and Valleywood Drive.
Veirs Mill Road and Norris Drive.
Veirs Mill Road and Arbutus Avenue.

Introduce pedestrian hybrid beacons at the following unsignalized pedestrian crossings:

Veirs Mill Road and Pendleton Drive.
Twinbrook Parkway and Halpine Road
Twinbrook Parkway and Vandegrift Avenue

Bicycle and Pedestrian Priority Area expansion

The plan also calls for expanding the Veirs Mill Road and Randolph Road Bicycle and Pedestrian Priority Area boundary to include the area between Robindale Drive and the eastern plan boundary; and updating the 2015 Veirs Mill Road – Randolph Road BiPPA Report to consider the priorities identified through this master plan process, including continuous sidewalks, safe crossings, bikeways, improved connections to community uses and improved maintenance of the right-of-way.

Protected Intersections

The plan recommends that the state incorporate protected intersection treatments into the design and construction of street
improvement projects. Protected intersections improve safety by extending the physical barrier of separated bicycle lanes and pedestrian crossings into intersections, reduce the speed of turning vehicles and improve sightlines, resulting in improved safety for all road users.