Northwood News ♦ June 2021

Shared Streets Program to Temporarily Close Lanes in Both Directions on University Boulevard for Bikes

By Sharon Canavan

As part of its Shared Streets initiative over the past year, the Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) has been closing streets temporarily to promote safe and accessible public spaces so that walkers, bicyclists, skateboarders, scooter users, etc., can exercise and enjoy the open air.

In mid-March, the shared streets program came to Loxford Terrace in Forest Knolls — the street was blocked for the weekend from Playford Lane to Malta Lane.  Local residents were still able to drive through, but neighborhood residents were able to enjoy a slower pace for that short while.

Any resident in Montgomery County can apply to bring Shared Streets to their street.  The main applicant must live on the block requesting a permit.  If the application is approved, MCDOT will temporarily limit vehicles to local traffic only for the selected block(s).  The link to the application is https://mont gomerycountymd.gov/DOT/sharedstreets/surveys/block-permit.html.

MCDOT’s Shared Streets program also supports local businesses by temporarily adjusting the use of public spaces, such as roads or sidewalks, for outdoor dining and retail activity in Silver Spring, Wheaton, and Bethesda.

In a similar vein, Montgomery Parks has closed additional sections of Sligo Creek Parkway on the weekends — from University Boulevard to Dennis Avenue and from Dennis Avenue to Forest Glen — to give local residents more safe spaces for jogging, walking, and biking.

The Maryland Department of Transportation’s State Highway Administration (SHA) is also getting in on the act with its own Shared Streets initiative.  On 13 May, SHA hosted a virtual public meeting to discuss a Multi-Modal Shared Streets Pilot Project near our community.  Between summer and fall of 2021, this pilot project will temporarily repurpose one curbside travel lane in each direction on University Boulevard (MD 193) between Amherst Avenue and Arcola Avenue for use as bike lanes.  According to SHA “These changes are part of a county wide initiative to enhance safety and mobility for all roadway users.”

In the pilot project area MDOT SHA has installed counter devices to collect data on usage by both bicyclists and pedestrians until the pilot project ends in Fall 2021, when all travel lanes will be restored for vehicular traffic.  MDOT SHA will conduct a full study to analyze the data and evaluate whether the traffic-restricted lanes affect the mobility of pedestrians and bicyclists in order to understand whether there is sufficient demand for the multi-modal program moving forward.

For details, visit the Shared Streets webpage at https://mdot-sha-md193-amherst-to-arcola-shared-streets-maryland.hub.arcgis.com.   ■