Developers got a second round of approval for a new Battery Lane District plan last week. The plan includes a two-way separated bicycle facility along the south side of Battery Lane, replacing the current bike lanes, and an improved Bethesda Trolley Trail (a.k.a. North Bethesda Trail). The improved trail would be in a linear park with nearly an acre of extra land, have separate paths for cyclists and pedestrian and have an addition pedestrian connection to Woodmont Avenue.
The Bethesda Trolley Trail is a multi-use trail between Battery Lane Park and the Twinbrook Metro built primarily on the right-of-way of the old Tennallytown and Rockville Railroad. This new plan includes a few hundred feet of the trail to the NIH property.
Previous plans called for a two-way separated bike lane on the south side of Battery Lane from Old Georgetown Road to the Trail and on the north side from the Trail to Woodmont Avenue. However, MCDOT has determined d that the south side of the street was the preferred alignment to facilitate safe and efficient travel across the Battery Lane / Woodmont Avenue intersection and Wisconsin Avenue/ Battery Lane/Rosedale Intersection, and coordinate with previously approved bicycle lanes east of the project along the 8280
Wisconsin Avenue frontage. [Note the image at top has the bike way on the north side] The applicants will also build a protected intersection at Battery Lane and Woodmont Avenue.
Plans also call for a pedestrian connection going east from Woodmont Avenue, through the rear of the properties on the north side of Battery Lane, to the Bethesda Trolley Trail. Furthermore
On Site D (below) of the Preliminary Plan, the Sector Plan recommends an expansion of Battery Lane Urban Park, referred to as the North Bethesda Trail Urban Greenway (Page 82 of the Sector Plan) and calls for this to be a green and active linear park connection between the National Institutes of Health and Woodmont Triangle. The Sector Plan recommends the expansion to be approximately 0.9 acres in size and wide enough to allow stream improvements, including daylighting of the existing piped stream, environmental interpretation and play elements. The proposed configuration of Site D will allow for an expansion of a neighborhood green as recommended in the Sector Plan, with the details of size and design to be reviewed at the time of Site Plan, as conditioned.
The Applicant proposes to enhance the existing Bethesda Trolley Trail which will separate the pedestrian and bicyclists on two separate paths.
Because the project is being phased in, the applicant will have to implement the two-way separated bicycle facility along the south side of Battery Lane as both an interim and ultimate condition. They'll need approval of the Interim Separated Bike Lane Facility between Old Georgetown Road and Woodmont Avenue before getting a building permit. They need to build the protected intersection before getting the first occupancy permit. Approval of site plans is dependent on the design of the ultimate bike lane, and final occupancy of the sites is dependent on the construction of - or financial contribution toward - the separated bike lane.
A new separated bike lane, a protected intersection, a trail through a wider park with a daylighted stream and a new pedestrian connection to the trail makes for a nice set of improvements in this area.
im sorry: this type of bicycle stuff is irrelevant. i ride through here all the time. why dont you ask mikal colville andersen what he thinks of this kind of "improvement"...
Posted by: mike | May 07, 2020 at 11:09 PM
Because I don't give a fudge what MCA thinks.
Posted by: washcycle | May 08, 2020 at 04:10 PM
Sadly, there is no intuitive, clear way to get to the Capital Crescent Trail from the Trolley trail. We need a protected bike lane to connect the two.
Posted by: Malcom Johnstone | May 10, 2020 at 11:41 AM