Press Releases - Department of Transportation
Residents Can Offer Opinions to State on May 13 on Pilot Project to Install Bike Lanes on University Boulevard in Wheaton
For Immediate Release: Thursday, May 13, 2021
The Maryland Department of Transportation’s State Highway Administration (SHA) has initiated a Multi-Modal Shared Streets Pilot Project to be implemented on University Boulevard (MD 193) in Wheaton between Amherst Avenue and Arcola Avenue. The project will temporarily repurpose one travel lane in each direction as bike lanes to enhance safety and mobility for all roadway users. Residents can learn more about the project and offer their opinions on the plan in a virtual meeting on Thursday, May 13.
Residents can attend the virtual preconstruction informational meeting via MS Teams. The meeting on May 13 will be held from 6 – 8 p.m. The web link to the MS Teams meeting is bit.ly/3x7BamB.
During the meeting, MDOT SHA representatives will be available to answer project-related questions. Attendees will also be able to send questions or comments through the “Chat” feature during the meeting.
An SHA newsletter includes more information about the project. Work on the project is scheduled to begin later this spring. The new traffic patterns will be in effect through late fall. The project web page is mdot-sha-md193-amherst-to-arcola-shared-streets-maryland.hub.arcgis.com.
The project seeks to balance mobility and access to and from commercial, residential and recreational centers in Wheaton. Additionally, the demand for and access to outdoor recreational amenities have increased amid COVID-19 restrictions.
In response, State and local transportation agencies have pursued non-traditional means to service increased pedestrian and bicyclist demand. The changes include temporarily repurposing travel lanes into shared streets to enhance safety and mobility for all roadway users.
The pilot project improvements include:
- Reducing the number of vehicular through-lanes from three lanes to two lanes on westbound and eastbound MD 193; and
- Repurposing travel lanes adjacent to the curbs on westbound and eastbound MD 193 for use by bicyclists; and
- Modifying the lane assignments on the Arcola Avenue approach to MD 193 to connect bicyclists to the MD 193 interim bike lanes; and
- Installing vertical delineators (flexible posts) to separate travel lanes from bike lanes; and
- Installing signing and striping within the project limits.
Throughout the pilot program, access to all businesses, driveways and bus stops will be maintained.
For project preconstruction design-related questions, contact Project Manager Urooj Zafar at 301-513-7338 or via email at [email protected]
For project preconstruction traffic-related questions, contact Traffic Engineer Joseph Moges at 301-513-7462 or via email at [email protected].
Media Contact: Hannah Henn 240-777-8389