Alex Herman is an avid cyclist who would love to ride his bike daily along U.S. Route 29 and up Lockwood Drive to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in White Oak where he works.
But narrow and debris-filled sidewalks, speeding traffic, protruding utility poles and limited pedestrian crossings make it much too difficult, he told officials from the county planning, transportation and parks departments, Councilmember Kristin Mink and Delegates David Moon and Lorig Charkoudian Monday night.
The one time he decided to cycle recently was on Take Your Bike to Work Day, and he ended up with a flat tire from all the gravel on the sidewalk.
“Overall, this is not a safe stretch of road. We want a safe and separated side path,” he told the officials who participated in a one-hour safety walk in the Burnt Mills area of Silver Spring that was organized by the Washington Area Bicyclists Association (WABA).
“We want a sidewalk from Four Corners all the way up to White Oak and Cherry Hill,” said Peter Gray of WABA. “We would like there to be safe crossings.”
The Montgomery County Department of Transportation is in the preliminary planning stages to add a Bus Rapid Transit lane in the middle of Route 29, which also is known as Colesville Road. Construction is not expected to begin for several years.
Meanwhile, the community bikers, pedestrians and wheelchair users are striving to make the area safer. “We really see this as the start of a conversation,” said Alison Gillespie of WABA.
The area is a popular one, with beautiful hiking trails, huge boulders and small waterfalls on either side of the road. Conservationist Rachel Carson lived nearby. President Teddy Roosevelt frequented the area when he was in office.
Between May of 2021 and February of 2022, 25,000 people used the trails, Gillespie said. “This is one of the few transit accessible trails.”
Crossing Route 29 from one side of the trails to the other can be dangerous and cumbersome. “We need a two-way bridge for pedestrians and bike traffic. That’s our big ask here,” Gillespie said.
Councilmember Kristin Mink, whose District covers this area, called planning for the Bus Rapid Transit lane a “real opportunity. We have a huge opportunity here to make this whole area safer and more accessible.”
Bikers and pedestrians met with county and state officials along Route 29 near the Northwest Branch trail Monday to ask that road and sidewalk improvements be included in plans for the bus rapid transit lane that is being planned there. @mymcmedia @KristinMink_ pic.twitter.com/TWJzJuLhlF
— suzanne pollak (@SuzannePollak) June 13, 2023
