County Master Plan » CycleMoco

A new Pike District logo

Apr 222015

As I described earlier, developers have chosen the name “Pike District” for the White Flint/Montrose/Twinbrook corridor along Rockville Pike. The name makes me think of traffic congestion, but I realize it’s hard to come up with alternatives. The developers include Federal Realty and JBG, among the most progressive supporters of smart growth and bicycling. So I won’t hold the name against them. They should be applauded for involving the public in the naming process. The developers crafted a logo for the Pike District, shown below. It’s rather clever, really… But for me, the name “Pike District” conjures up an image of bumper-to-bumper traffic, strip malls and car dealerships. Parts of Rockville Pike (beyond the Pike District) will continue to […]

White Flint/Twinbrook area renamed after a congested artery

Feb 052015

Developers looking to rebrand the White Flint area with a memorable new name decided to call it the “Pike District”. Say what? (April 23, 2015 update: The Pike District now has a logo, discussed here). The White Flint area, up to and including the area around Twinbrook Metro, is being transformed into into a walkable, transit-oriented urban center offering a thriving mix of retail and housing. I don’t understand why anyone would want to rename it after a congested six-lane arterial road. To me the “Pike” – Rockville Pike – conjures up visions of endless strip malls, intolerable traffic and anti-pedestrian conditions, an image we should be trying to get away from. Cyclists avoid the road and pedestrians fear it. […]

White Flint plan falls short for bikes

Jun 132013

[Updated June 19th to reflect additional research] Montgomery County is in the process of redeveloping the White Flint area, a 430-acre planning division located a few miles south of Rockville. Under the White Flint Sector Plan, the area will be transformed from a hodge-podge of strip malls, commercial buildings and parking lots into a walkable mixed use community centered around the White Flint Metro station. The plan’s vision is in part: …transforming an auto-oriented suburban development pattern into an urban center of residences and businesses where people walk to work, shops and transit. Offices and plazas are full of workers during the day. At night and on weekends people attend the theater, visit galleries, and eat out… Rockville Pike will […]

Could this work on Arlington Road?

Mar 262013

According to FABB, the road diet on Lawyers Road in Reston was a success for cyclists and made the road slower and safer for everyone. VDOT took a road that had two through-lanes in each direction and converted it to a three lane configuration with bike lanes. The road now has one through-lane in each direction, a two-way left-turn lane (TWLTL) in the middle, and bike lanes. Would this make life better for cyclists on Montgomery County roads like Arlington Road in Bethesda or Redland Road in Rockville? MoBike and WABA have already requested the same 4-to-3 lane conversion with bike lanes on Arlington Road north of Bradley Blvd in Bethesda. It’s an important road for cyclists because it serves […]

Montgomery County Road Code explained

Mar 242013

Nov. 30 2014 update: Modest changes were made to the Road Code by Montgomery County Bill 33-13, passed by the County Council on Nov. 25, 2014. Most of the Road Code is unchanged. The Montgomery County “Road Code” is the set of standards that governs every aspect of road design on county roads, including the widths of things like travel lanes, bike lanes and sidewalk buffers; the design of stormwater management; and less interesting things like curb height. This matters a lot to cyclists. Officially called the Context Sensitive Road Design Standards, the Road Code is actually a set of county regulations. It can be viewed in PDF form (in the relevant County Council resolution) or viewed online (go to […]

SHA discusses Wisconsin Ave. “Green Mile” sidewalk project

Feb 012013

Below is a report from community/bike advocate Steve Friedman on a meeting held Monday to discuss details of the Wisconsin Ave. “Green Mile” sidewalk (sidepath) project in Chevy Chase. The meeting was hosted by the Little Falls Watershed Alliance (LFWA) and attended by project staff from the Maryland State Highway Administration as well as the public. Also check out the article in the Bethesda Patch reporting on the meeting. (The Patch erroneously states that without the new facility, cyclists must ride against the direction of traffic in the roadway. But cyclists certainly can (and must) ride in the same direction as car traffic if using the street, with or without the project). We are referring to the proposed facility as […]

WABA and MoBike’s recommendations to support BikeShare

Oct 182012

WABA and MoBike just presented their list of recommendations of needed bike improvements in Bethesda, Silver Spring, Takoma Park and Friendship Heights to help BikeShare fulfill its tremendous promise in Montgomery County. The improvements are designed to encourage people to use bikes as transportation. They include bike lanes, intersection changes, road diets (lane or parking removal), sharrows (shared lane markings) and off-road paths. Bike lanes may be positioned next to traffic (traditional bike lanes) or separated from traffic (buffered bike lanes or cycle tracks). Sharrows are a way to make existing travel lanes more hospitable to bikes, and are often accompanied by “Bikes May Use Full Lane” signs. The recommendations also include finishing key transportation trails that have been left […]

Montgomery County’s Bikeway Plan

Sep 272012

The quintessential Montgomery County plan for bicyclists is the 2005 Countywide Bikeways Functional Master Plan (CBFMP). This plan says where the county plans to add major bikeways or has already implemented them. Especially useful is the CBFMP’s table of table of existing and planned bikeways. See also this interactive map for a visual companion to the CBFMP document. The map includes updates made to the CBFMP since 2005 except for the most recent, as well as local bikeways (see below) though it’s not guaranteed to be 100% correct. The CBFMP identifies these types of bikeways: On-road bike lanes “Signed shared roadways” (SSRs). These are roads with some feature (like shoulders or wide lanes) that make them more comfortable for cycling. […]

Trail Typology

Sep 012012

Years ago, American planners decided to divide bikeways into three types: Class I: Off-road paths (aka bike paths, shared use paths, or multi-use paths) Class II: On-road bike lanes Class III: Shared roadways This categorization implied that off-road paths were superior to bike lanes, and that bike lanes were superior to roads without bike lanes. Maybe that was the thinking at the time. But it’s well accepted now that shared use paths carry risks of their own and are not suitable for all cyclists at all times. So in Montgomery County planners now use the terms “shared use path”, “bike lanes”, and “signed shared roadway” (SSR), respectively. The terms Class I, II, and III aren’t inaccurate, just out of common […]

Bethesda Trolley Trail assessment – north section

Jun 122012

The Bethesda Trolley Trail promises to be a great route from the Twinbrook Metro station in Rockville to downtown Bethesda. The existing part of the trail is excellent thanks to the two trail bridges over I-495 and I-270. But it has its problems: 1. The trail fizzles out north of Edson Lane in North Bethesda. This portion is labeled “future trail” on trail maps, although the small green trail signs continue all the way to Twinbrook Metro. Much of it is sidewalks on busy roads lined with shopping center driveways, although there are decent alternatives for those who don’t mind riding in the road. 2. The trail fizzles out south of Charles St. in Bethesda. Much of it is sidewalk […]

Older Entries