Montgomery County Marc Elrich, who has made protecting pedestrians and bicyclists a priority, and County Councilmembers Tom Hucker and Hans Riemer, on Oct. 7, in Downtown Silver Spring joined the dedication of the first “protected intersection” in the Mid-Atlantic Region. The intersection connects a new half-mile “cycletrack” completed by the County’s Department of Transportation (MCDOT) with a previously completed section to form a 1.2-mile bikeway that protects cyclists from vehicles. The bikeway will connect directly to the Paul Sarbanes Silver Spring Transit Center.
Cycletracks provide physical separation between motor vehicles and bicycles and a protected intersection continues that protection through the intersection. The project also includes the first bicycle traffic signal in Maryland, where the project crosses at Colesville Road.
The ribbon cutting for the project took place at the intersection at Spring Street and Second Avenue in Silver Spring.
There are about three dozen protected intersections in the U.S., with the nearest ones to the Washington area being in Atlanta and Boston.
More details about the project, including photos and graphics, are available at https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/dot-dte/projects/secondave/index.html.
