New Skills Park! (Fairland Regional Park)

 Ribbon cutting on Oct 29th, see details in the link.  I've been walking through here, watching the build-out and it looks amazing.  Guess I'll need to get my bike out for a spin through the park, or "The Pit" as it is being named.

https://montgomeryparks.org/montgomery-parks-completes-mountain-bike-skills-park-at-fairland-recreational-park/

It is pretty easy to ride from Burtonsville, down Greencastle Rd (watch that US-29 crossing, though) and connect up with Fairland Regional Park.   Looks like they may be building some limited parking right near the skills park which will likely fill up quickly.  

Close to location of new parking area for bike park.  https://www.google.com/maps/dir//39.0791678,-76.92957/@39.0800504,-76.9296472,433m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!4m1!3e0

Powerline Trail Funded!

Great news! On Monday, Montgomery Parks announced additional funding to extend the powerline trail which will connect South Germantown Recreational Park to Cabin John Regional Park. I'm not going to be utilizing it much since I don't live or work that close to it, but I'm hopeful that similar actions will be taken in other parts of the county.  

• A little history: https://www.thewashcycle.com/2015/02/montgomery-county-power-line-trails.html
• Examples of existing powerline trails: http://www.pedestrians.org/topics/row-gallery.htm

As stated, thanks go to "Delegate Korman, the entire Montgomery County Delegation, and the Mid-Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiasts."

Cheers!  Looking forward to seeing parts of the trail getting built in 2022.  

Only Shared Use Path Available -- BLOCKED

The only semi-safe route available along MD-198, and it's blocked!

It's bad enough that this path along MD-198 doesn't connect all the way to Cedar Tree Rd, stopping at Dino Dr.   Now there is construction that appears to be daily now and constantly blocking the only shared use path my kids and I would like to use. 

The path (shown below) west of the construction connects to the Downtown Burtonsville area and considering the basically non-existent shoulder, speeding cars (rarely enforced along this stretch), and groups of motor vehicles jockeying for position as they leave the US-29 intersection by cutting around each other in the right hand merge lanes, I have no place to safely ride along this stretch of road. 

The Lorenzo Construction LLC appears to be doing the construction (410-984-1935) but unfortunately, feels the need to park their vehicles on the path.  The road at this point is essentially 5 lanes, with the merge lane ending.  It would be simple enough to put up cones and block the end of this merge lane without blocking the path.  It would not cause any problems for traffic either.

Additionally, it appears Lorenzo is also doing some construction at the U-turn at Dino drive where they are parking all their trucks and filling the U-Turn extension that I believe was put there to allow larger trucks the ability to make the U-Turn. 

I would love to see a better policy created and adhered to prevent blocking of sidewalks and paths for vulnerable road users.   Those walking and biking have no choice.  Vehicles have 5 lanes of options.  Please keep the sidewalks and paths open whenever possible.

Public Comment for the MD 28, Norbeck Road, and MD 198, Spencerville Road/Sandy Spring Road project AW068_11 (was MO886_11)

Please submit a public comment about MD-198 by July 19th!

Here's my message -- thanks Sebastian for producing a template that made it easier to put these items together.  


To: jbeck@sha.state.md.us
Cc: eric.luedtke@house.state.md.us, Tom.Hucker@montgomerycountymd.gov, craig.zucker@senate.state.md.us

Dear Mr Beck,

As a regular user of MD 198, I am pleased to see progress at making this road safer for bicyclists, pedestrians, and drivers. That being said, there is room for improvement.

I have been a long time resident of Burtonsville and have been a strong supporter of rebuilding this community into a destination via my participation in the design of the Burtonsville Crossroads Neighborhood Plan and continuing work through the Maryland Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (MBPAC) and Montgomery County Bicyclists Advisory Group (MCBAG).   I envision and walkable and bicycle friendly business district with bicycle connections between all surrounding communities and parks.   To make this happen, I urge the State Highway Administration to make the following revisions to the MD 28/198 Corridor Improvement Study.

For all All of MD198/MD28

• I support bike-friendly facilities, in particular, the off- road shared-use path on one side of MD 198 in areas with few driveways or curb cuts.  Areas that currently have a high density of access points should be reconfigured to reduce curb cuts/access.   The path and roadway should be separated by a green space buffer wide enough for tree planting to provide shade. 
• The shared-use path should be wide enough for two directions of bicycles and pedestrian traffic and designed to be as straight as possible and for a reasonable bicycle cruising speed of up to 15-20 miles per hour. 
• Crosswalks should be announced with markings and signage to warn drivers about crossing bicyclists and additional markings should be made where driveways cross the trail, possibly with raised crosswalks to slow drivers and raise awareness to trail users. 
• High-speed, right- turn slip lanes that turn across the trail should be reconfigured to slow down turning vehicles and improve visibility of cyclists and pedestrians.

Critical recommendations for SHA Project Management Division, Segment D (Burtonsville):

• Comply with the Burtonsville Crossroads Neighborhood Plan by providing a landscaped median with breaks to establish a grid of local streets, enhance safety, and improve access to businesses.  This would look more like the Alt-3 Access Management Profile.  
• Lanes should be narrowed from 11 ft to 10 feet to discourage speeding and bring a more residential/commercial quality to the business district.
• In addition to lane with reductions, speed limit through Burtonsville Business District should be set to a maximum of 25 mph.
• Overhead utilities should be cleaned up and buried.
• Widen grass buffers between sidewalks and road to 6 ft to allow streetscaping.
• Widen bike lanes to 5 ft and add 2 ft buffer from travel lanes to improve safety.
• Add traffic circles at Old US-29 and MD-198 and at Old Columbia Pike (diagonal intersection) and MD-198.  This will facilitate those who need to make U-Turns since left turns will be essentially eliminated through the Business District with the exception of a traffic light at the Burtonsville Town Square intersection.

Critical recommendations for SHA Project Management Division, Segment E (West Laurel):

• Add second turn lane from McKnew Road to MD 198 or add a signalized intersection at Cedar Tree to relieve the aggressive behavior people exhibit when attempting to leave the community.  
• Drivers leaving McKnew Rd to MD-198 should not have any turns while MD-198 through traffic is green.  The limited visibility and speed of traffic in this segment makes even right-on-red dangerous.   Additionally, a bicyclist on the shoulder has no bailout area due to the volume and speed of traffic which is a problem when vehicles routinely make continuous right-hand-turns on red (without a stop). Even with a stop, the vehicles are pulling well into the bicyclists useable shoulder area. 
• The MD-198/McKnew intersection should be completely controlled, including left turns with red-arrows from MD-198 to McKnew to prevent the frequent collisions that occur today.   

Critical recommendations for the SHA District 3 office include:

• Allocate funding for intersection improvements at MD 198 and Peach Orchard Rd.
• Install traffic signal at Burtonsville Town Square.
• Install speed activated signs in 25 and 30 mph speed zones.
• Provide crosswalks for people to safely cross MD 198 (see Coalition to Fix 198 document for locations).

Critical recommendations for Montgomery County include:

• Install gateway landscaping and signage at entrance to Burtonsville retail district.
• Accelerate funding for Burtonsville Access Road.
• Draft amendment to state legislation to clarify applicability of speed cameras.
• Construct sidewalk on McKnew Road to connect to MD 198.
• Extend Sidewalk on North side of MD-198 from 4140 Sandy Spring Rd to McKnew Rd to allow pedestrians a place to walk while not forcing crossings midway.  Also allows safer access to bus stop.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the study. I encourage you to review the full report developed by the Coalition to Fix MD 198 (download at: https://goo.gl/LUCzep) for more recommendations.

Sincerely,

Stephen Ashurst




 

Maryland Legislation 2017

I've recently sent an a record amount of letters to my legislators about both worthwhile and horrendous bills.  Here are some of my top subjects:

I supported these bills:

• HB0578 - Vehicle Laws - Pedestrian Hybrid Beacons (cross-filed: SB0338)
• Amendments have jointly been made by Bike Maryland, State Highway Administration and other sponsors to conform to the Federal Highway Administration standards. 
• Almost all motorists (99%) of drivers adhere to these Beacons and 76% of cyclists and pedestrians understand and use them. Pedestrian Hybrid Beacons save lives.
• HB0332 - Montgomery County - Maximum Speed Limits Outside Urban Districts MC 23-17
• This would give Montgomery County the authority to set speed limits as low as 20mph on certain roads outside urban districts.  This will give local engineers another option in their tool bag so they can make certain streets safer.
• HB0997 - Vehicle Laws - Bicycles, Play Vehicles, and Unicycles - Operation on Sidewalks and in Crosswalks
• This would allow bicycles to operate lawfully on sidewalks and in crosswalks.     This bill adds legal protections for bicycles that are at the same level as pedestrians when using sidewalks and crosswalks.
• HB0011 - Vehicle Laws - Causing Diesel Emissions to Discharge Onto Another - Prohibition
• Intentional emissions of diesel exhaust is a menace to cyclists, runners, and drivers. I've personally had a truck do this while driving in Montgomery County.  This dangerous practice should be prohibited.
• Video of this action happening to a cyclist: https://youtu.be/h8k8bhGrXIo

I do not support these bills:

• HB1451 - Left Lane Use for Passing
• This bill only seems to enable and legalize speeding on our roadways. Maryland roadways are severely congested already and even in normal flowing traffic conditions, all lanes must be used, whether passing or not. In order to move all traffic down the road, all lanes must be used. 
• There are many specifics missing from this bill. We don't know how long is "too long" to say in the left lane. As vehicle speeds vary, even while passing, it may be impossible to always continue passing as someone in the right lane speeds up. Also for left exits, there's no rule about how far in advance of the exit we may enter the left lane. For an area, such as MD-32 and I-95, I generally get in the left lane to go from MD-32 E to I-95 N almost 2 miles in advance knowing that if I wait till I'm only one mile or one-half mile from the exit, it may be backed up and I won't be able to merge into the left lane. On roads like US-29 with stop lights and left turns all along it, there's no reason for people to move out of of the left lane, and doing so would only cause chaos as people are concerned with getting tickets for being caught in the left lane for too long. 
• This is a dangerous bill to people's safety while traveling our roads. It will encourage speeding and aggressive driving and likely enable more road rage incidents.
• HB1456 - Vehicle Laws – Passing to the Right – Use of Shoulder
• This bill makes no mention about the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists using the shoulder in a legal manner.   Even completely focused drivers, not to mention distracted drivers, are rarely verifying the shoulder is clear of these vulnerable users before bolting around a vehicle just to save a second or two of time.   This bill endanger these users of the road and shoulder.   Instead of passing this bill, a future bill to require re-engineering of roadways to allow for proper, safe left-turns while keeping a through lane open and preserving the shoulder and perhaps a protected bike lane would be more appropriate.

I encourage you to contact your legislators and get involved with your community and state level issues.

A Comparison of Substance Abuse and Bicycling/Pedestrian Mortality Rates and Prevention Investment

While listening to a lecture about alcoholism, a slide presenting the annual mortality rate by substances struck me when I saw just how many people die each year.   Furthermore, I wanted to know how many people are injured or killed just by being pedestrians or bicyclists.   While the injury rate was about 4% of the total (combined substance and pedestrian/bicyclist injuries) the investment for bicycle and pedestrian safety is only 0.2% of substance abuse prevention.        

I would like to see bicycle and pedestrian safety investment increased to include programs and infrastructure build-out to match that of the current injury rate.    Enormous amounts of investment were made available when the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act was enacted in 1966.  The same needs to be done in 2016 to build out proper infrastructure for people who are moving around today's cities and towns by walking or biking.  

Burtonsville/Fairland Community Bicycle Ride with Del. Luedtke, Planning Board Chair Anderson, Councilmember Hucker (invited)

Come ride and/or discuss the bicycling conditions around the Burtonsville/East County area.  

The ride starts at the Burtonsville Elementary School Parking lot (15516 Old Columbia Pike, Burtonsville, MD) at 11:30am sharp.   Please arrive early to get setup.   

The ride will end at Seibel's Restaurant (15540 Old Columbia Pike, Burtonsville, MD) where you can discuss more about the Montgomery County Bicycle Master Plan with Delegate Eric Luedtke and Planning Board Chair Casey Anderson (Councilmember Tom Hucker is invited) from 1pm - 2pm.

Ride Details ** :

• Sunday, July 24
• Arrive: 11:15 A.M.
• Depart: 11:30 A.M. (Sharp)
• Return: 1:00 P.M.
• Where:

• Starting at the Burtonsville Elementary School Parking Lot
• 15516 Old Columbia Pike Burtonsville, Maryland

• Please RSVP to david.anspacher@montgomeryplanning.org

Burtonsville Community Ride - Official Announcement

Below is a preliminary map of the scheduled ride.
**Please note that this ride is open for everyone, however it will take place on roads that have traffic and may be uncomfortable for some.

Proposed MD 198 Bike Facilities will help citizens living in McKnew Neighborhoods

Using the GIS maps provided by M-NCPPC I found information showing a proposed shared use path along MD 198 from Dino Dr (where the path currently ends) all the way to the MoCo Line.   When this is built, it will ultimately enable multi-modal transportation for the people living within the McKnew Rd and Cedar Tree Rd communities.   Thanks http://cyclemoco.com/ for writing about how to find this information.

Here are the details:

http://www.montgomeryplanning.org/gis/interactive/bikeways.shtm

The MD 198 Segment:

Classification:  Shared Use Path
Street Name:     Sandy Spring Rd
From:            Dino Dr
To:              Mont County Line
MasterPlan:      Patuxent
Bikeway ID:      SP-20

Display of MD 198 and US 29 Region from MoCo Planning Bikeways Interactive mapping (MD 198 Identified above)

Streetsblog with Ray LaHood

Thank you for posting this Q/A to fastlane.dot.gov courtesy of dc.streetsblog.org.  These important initiatives can only help the current situation where roads have been primarily designed with a car centric mindset.   I believe that the federal government can help, but ultimately the choice lies with the  state and local municipalities.  

Multilane Roundabouts Dangerous for Bicycles

I recently had the opportunity to travel through 5 or so roundabouts on a recent bicycle ride.   Four of those occurred over a small stretch of MD-216 located near US-29 in Howard County.  Although I'm a fairly confident road cyclist, I found these roundabouts difficult to navigate safely.   Due to the multilane nature, it became nearly impossible to control vehicles from passing me in the left lane, and then cutting me off as they went essentially straight through, while I was in the right lane making a 270 degree turn.  Additionally, vehicles entering the roundabout as I was passing their entrance never stopped (nor yielded the right-of-way) and almost took out a fellow cyclist behind me.    There must be a better way to design multilane roundabouts so that vehicles and bicycles can be accommodated safely.    

The Maryland SHA has stated on it's own website that these multi-lane roundabouts are inherently more dangerous than standard single lane roundabouts unless proper facilities have been provided.  
http://www.sha.maryland.gov/Index.aspx?PageId=288

"For multilane roundabouts, bicycle safety at roundabouts has been found to be poorer than at other intersections unless separate bicycle or multi–use paths are provided around the outside of the roundabout."

View Roundabouts on MD-216 in a larger map

This map above shows the location of the four multilane roundabouts discussed.

Worse yet, after exiting Circle 3, I encountered one of the most dangerous exits/merge areas for a bicyclist. 

Google Map - Heading East on MD-216 after exiting Circle 3  

Cars and bikes are forced to share a single curbed lane that narrows.   Cars are traveling at or above the speed limit by this point.  From the right, traffic has exited US-29 and is merging onto MD-216 and these vehicles are traveling at speed when the two lanes meet, leaving bikes stranded between two lanes of fast traffic separated by a dashed white line.   If there is a line of cars exiting from US-29, bikes cannot quickly merge to the right shoulder and must remain in the middle of the left lane.   Again, remember, vehicles in the left lane are traveling at speed and don't understand why bicycles would be out in their lane.

Perhaps a better option would be to create a bike large bike lane that cuts through the medium early giving bicycles a safe place to stop and eventually enter this section of road via the right merge lane.


The Maryland SHA needs to re-examine these particular roundabouts, and it would be prudent to identify a better standard for multilane roundabouts where bicycles can safely navigate.  I believe that roundabouts do make cycling safer, and following the design principles in the following document should allow all users to remain safe.
http://www.apbp.org/resource/resmgr/webinars/roundabout_design_final_slid.pdf