Last week, the Montgomery County Planning Board presented it's semi-annual report to the County Council and it included quite a bit about trail expansion and safety.
In total the county has about 245 miles of trail, much of which is unpaved or natural ground, according to the report.
“Trail usage data and surveys continue to tell us that our trails are among our most highly utilized and desired facilities,” said Michael Riley, who serves as Montgomery County Parks Director. “They serve so many different purposes from community building to physical fitness.”
Riley reported that a major project currently in the works is the Upper Paint Branch Trail plan which will create a sustainable multi-use trail network in an area that has fewer trails available.
“There was a low level of service in East County,” Riley said. “The trail will provide links to parks community destinations and a larger countywide trail network.”
It will also provide access to natural areas for people to enjoy. The project is in the implementation phase, Riley said.
The Upper Paint Branch trail system will be a natural surface trail system in eastern Montgomery County, near Burtonsville, Fairland, Cloverly, and White Oak. There are four phases and work on phase 1 started in February. Phase 1 consists of a pair of natural surface loop trails near the source of the Good Hope Branch, a tributary of Upper Paint Branch. Phase 2 builds most of the trail north south along Upper Paint Branch, connecting to the Anacostia Tributary Trail System at Fairland Road, and should be built in the 2-5 year range. Phase 3, to be built more than 5 years from now will create some small pieces as well as extend it north to the Patuxent and west to New Hampshire Avenue. Phase 4 will be built sometime later and will consist of an underpass beneath Briggs Chaney Road.
The report also notes that the next section of the Power Line trail is scheduled to be completed by January 2020. It "will double the distance of the trail to connect Quince Orchard Road to Cabin John Regional Park." And that
To expand potential commuting opportunities for residents, Montgomery Parks will launch a year-long pilot program in spring 2019 to allow e-bikes and e-scooters on all hard surface park trails within the county. Throughout the pilot, Montgomery Parks will solicit public input to consider the possibility of making it a permanent program, which will also accommodate the growth in commercial dockless e-bikes and e-scooters in the county and DC region
The planning board is also focused on improving the safety of at-grade trail crossings
“We’ve identified 121 locations where park trails cross roads. We’re able with our current funding to improve about ten intersections per year,” Riley said.
The goal is to improve all of them by 2030.
According to Riley, the trails have their own Vision Zero project that aims to eliminate deaths and injuries that are preventable by the design and laws of the roadway. Often that means redesigning streets so that pedestrians are more visible or lowering the speed limit for cars.
“I still meet regularly with state highway (officials), DOT and county police about the Henson crossing at a very small road where unfortunately we had experienced fatalities,” Riley said. “It is much improved but there is still more to be done, and I’m not going to quit on that until I believe that we’ve done absolutely everything we can do to make that intersection as safe as possible.”
There was also another fatality on the Little Falls Parkway where the Capital Crescent Trail crosses a major roadway.
In the first quarter of 2019, four projects have been completed and eight additional projects are under construction. Additionally, 15 crossings are scheduled for the design phase this spring.
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