MCDOT Completes New Protected Bike Lanes in Silver Spring

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, October 11, 2017

The Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) has completed construction of the first protected bike lane in Silver Spring, a bicycle and pedestrian priority area. The lanes are part of a plan to create a network of low-stress biking infrastructure throughout the downtown area. The next step in building this network may include protected bike lanes on Wayne Avenue and Cameron Street. The network is intended to connect residents, workers and visitors to jobs, retail, recreation, entertainment and transit.

 

The protected bike lanes are five to six feet wide and stretch eight-tenths of a mile along Spring and Cedar streets, connecting the existing Cedar Street contraflow bike lane at Wayne Avenue to signed bike routes at Second Avenue, Fairview Road and Ellsworth Drive.

 

A striped buffer with flexposts separates the new bike lanes from motor vehicle traffic. The buffer varies in width from two feet to eight feet. Along most of the lane, on-street parking forms a barrier between the buffer and the travel lane. Pedestrian improvements include a shortened Spring Street crossing at Woodland Drive. The project includes bike boxes and two-stage queue boxes. These boxes allow bicyclists to make left turns at multi-lane intersections from the right side separated bike lane.  

 

The bike lane project includes the first floating bus stops in Montgomery County, designed to reduce conflicts between motor vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians. Four floating bus stops provide a bus boarding platform on the opposite side of the bike lane from the sidewalk. This allows bicyclists to travel safely in the protected lane without buses crossing over the bike lane or stopping in the bike lane to pick up or discharge passengers. Transit riders use a crosswalk to get across the bike lane. Floating bus stops have been constructed around the world and across North America.

 

Construction on the protected bike lanes began in May 2017. Work included a complete resurfacing of Spring Street and Cedar Street, with roadway foundation repair, as needed. The project budget was approximately $1.4 million.

 

 

Release ID: 17-209
Media Contact: Esther Bowring 240-777-7155