Ribbon Cutting Celebration Opens the Needwood Road Bike Path (Phase 1)

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, September 5, 2017

 

Today, County Executive Ike Leggett participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Needwood Road Bike Path, Phase I. The celebration was held near the intersection of Needwood Road and Equestrian Lane. The newly completed path enables commuting bicyclists to access Shady Grove Metro Station. It also provides pedestrian and bicycle access to the Rock Creek Regional Trail from the Intercounty Connector (ICC) Trail, connecting trail users within Maryland and continuing into Washington, D.C.

 

Leggett was joined by Councilmember Hans Riemer, Charles Glass, Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy Analysis and Planning and MDOT Director of Bicycle and Pedestrian Access, Peter Gray, board member, Washington Area Bicyclist Association and Al Roshdieh, director, Montgomery County Department of Transportation.

 

“I am glad to introduce another critical section of our bicycle network in Montgomery County,” said County Executive Ike Leggett. “The Needwood Road Bike Path offers area commuters access to Shady Grove Metro Station and provides bicyclists, joggers and walkers additional connections to nearby bike trails and Rock Creek Park.”

 

The Needwood Road Bike Path project enhances bicycle safety and expands the bicycle network in Montgomery County. This bikeway extension reflects goals outlined in the Upper Rock Creek Area Master Plan (2004), the Shady Grove Sector Plan (2006), and the Countywide Bikeways Functional Master Plan (2005); it also fills a gap identified in the Statewide Trails Plan.

 

“The Hogan Administration is committed to working with stakeholders throughout the Baltimore-Washington region to make cycling and walking safer with more connections to life’s opportunities,” said Charles Glass, assistant secretary for Transportation Policy and Planning at the Maryland Department of Transportation. “The project is a great example of how MDOT partners with local jurisdictions to improve infrastructure that makes cycling a safer option for all Marylanders.”

 

The newly completed Phase I section includes an 8-foot wide shared use path approximately 3,400 feet long on the south side of Needwood Road, running from 55 feet east of the intersection with Equestrian Lane over to the western terminus of the ICC shared use path.

 

Funding for Phase I included an $860,000 grant from the Maryland Department of Transportation Bikeways Program for costs associated with design and construction; the grant accelerated the project timeline. Phase I construction began in May 2016. The total cost for Phase I is approximately $3 million, including $2 million in construction costs.

 

Phase II will provide an eight-foot wide shared use path along the south side of Needwood Road from Deer Lake Road to the beginning of the Nature Trail and will continue from the east terminus of ICC Trail to Muncaster Mill Road (MD 115). In addition, a new six foot wide concrete sidewalk will be constructed over a distance of 800 feet along the east side of Muncaster Mill Road from Needwood Road to the northern entrance of Colonel Zadok Magruder High School. Construction is expected to begin in Spring 2018 and will be completed within ten months. At that point, the Needwood Road Bike Path project will provide a shared use path that is approximately 9,000 feet long.

 

Plans are in place to further extend this section of Montgomery County’s bicycle network, as the Bowie Mill Road Bikeway planning process has begun. When complete, that expansion will provide direct access from the Olney Laytonsville Road (MD 108) bike path to the Needwood Road Bike Path, continuing to Shady Grove Metro Station.

 

Release ID: 17-184
Media Contact: Lorraine Dirscoll 240-777-6507