As of June, nearly 60 crashes involving cyclists have happened this year in Montgomery County. County Councilmember Evan Glass will introduce a bill with the goal of making bike lanes safer.
Glass gathered with bike safety advocates in North Bethesda on Monday to share the legislation he will introduce during council sessions Tuesday.
The bill prohibits the standing, stopping, and parking of vehicles in bike lanes — “in other words, the legislation bans the blocking of bike lanes here on county roads in Montgomery County.” Glass said bans on parking in bike lanes are already in force in the City of Rockville, Howard County, and Washington, D.C.
“What this legislation will do is allow everybody who sees an obstruction to call 311 to contact the Department of Transportation immediately… the department and agencies can then deploy individuals to make sure that that blockage is fixed,” Glass said. The transportation department may impose a fine.
“We want to make sure that our bike lanes remain clear,” Glass said. “It is unclear right now to too many people as to whether or not they can park there and what the penalty is, and we want to make sure that delivery trucks and others who park and obstruct our bike lanes know that they can’t do that, and if they do, there will be a penalty.”
He clarified parking requirements and penalties already apply when drivers park in bike lanes. “This is adding extra emphasis, to make sure that in certain areas where there might not be such signage, that we are enforcing it.”
“So we want to make sure there’s continuity throughout our entire bike network so that everybody feels safe regardless of the lane that they’re in,” Glass added.
