The Montgomery County Vision Zero Steering Committee released its Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27) Work Plan detailing the safety projects, campaigns, and initiatives underway this year. Vision Zero is a strategy aimed at eliminating serious injuries and fatalities on County roadways. Each year, the Steering Committee updates its Work Plan to further the Vision Zero 2030 Action Plan in an effort to make roads safer for everyone.
“During my administration, I have focused on funding smaller-scale projects that can be implemented quickly and can secure federal and State grant funding to make our dollars go farther,” said Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich. “County funding for the Pedestrian Safety Program increased 188% from $1.78 million in FY18 to $5.12 million in FY27. The increase has allowed the Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) to build traffic calming infrastructure, sidewalks near schools, and install traffic signals and beacons to create safer crossings. There is much more work to do, but we have laid the groundwork to continue implementing life-saving projects across Montgomery County.”
Annually, the Vision Zero Work Plan advances projects that are listed on the High Injury Network (HIN). These roadways were identified as the areas with the highest risk for serious injuries and fatalities.
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“Our yearly work plans allow County leadership to assess where we are and how to best utilize our available resources to advance our Vision Zero goal,” said the County’s Vision Zero Coordinator Wade Holland. “The County and State’s safety corridor programs are driving down serious and fatal collisions on those high-injury corridors by 29%. As we advance more safety corridor projects each year, we make our roadways safer by design.”
Highlights of this year’s Work Plan include:
- County Safety Corridors: Two safety corridor construction projects will wrap up this fall along Bel Pre Road from Rippling Brook Drive to Layhill Road and on Montgomery Village Avenue from Wightman Road to Mid-County Highway. Additionally, MCDOT will advance the signing, marking, and other short-term safety recommendations along two corridors, Randolph Road from Kemp Mill Road to New Hampshire Avenue (MD 650) and East Gude Drive from Crabbs Branch Way to Southlawn Lane.
- State Safety Corridors: The State Highway Administration (SHA) is advancing safety projects under its Pedestrian Safety Action Plan. This includes ongoing construction along New Hampshire Avenue (MD 650) near the Beltway and starting construction along University Boulevard West (MD 193) between Georgia Avenue (MD 97) and Colesville Road (US 29).
- Sidewalk and Bikeway Connections to Purple Line and Bus Rapid Transit: MCDOT and SHA are improving pedestrian and cyclist connections to future Purple Line and Bus Rapid Transit projects.
- Sidewalk projects around four Purple Line stations in East County.
- Nine bikeway projects including completing construction of the Capital Crescent Trail between Bethesda and Silver Spring. The County continues to work with the Purple Line to determine which parts of the trail can be opened prior to completion of the rail line’s construction.
- Construction of new sidewalks and shared use path starting along Veirs Mill Road as part of the Bus Rapid Transit project.
- Building New Bikeways: Thirteen bikeway projects will be under construction. An additional 11 bikeways are in design.
- New sidewalks: More than five miles of sidewalk will be constructed.
- Safe Routes to School (SRTS): SRTS will advance safety for students walking and biking to school through continued coordination between the County Government and public schools. Fifteen schools will have walkability audits completed and at least 10 bike rodeos (on-bike safety courses) will be held. Student education and outreach efforts will continue through the 2027 Vision Zero Youth Ambassador Cohort program. SRTS will continue to coordinate investigations into crashes involving students walking or biking to and from school.
- “Speed on green” enforcement: Montgomery County Police will activate red-light cameras to double as speed cameras during the green phase of traffic movement where speed cameras are allowed by State law and have excessive speeding in the green phase.
“The upcoming year is all about safe connections,” said MCDOT Director Chris Conklin. “We are working on several major corridors to improve safety through a combination of safety improvements implemented comprehensively with Flash BRT projects and as stand-alone corridor-and-spot-safety projects. We are also continuing to expand our Safe Routes to School improvements and advance sidewalks and bicycle facilities across the County. Additionally, with major construction activities along the state’s Purple Line corridor, the County is actively designing and building new sidewalks, shared use paths, and bikeways to connect to these future stations. We are also always available to work with residents when they identify speed and safety concerns in their own neighborhoods.”
In addition to safety projects, the Montgomery County Department of Police remain focused on curbing the behaviors that lead to serious injuries or death – speeding, distraction, impairment, not wearing a seatbelt, and failing to yield to another vehicle or pedestrian.
“Montgomery County Police officers are committed to educating our residents and commuters about their responsibilities. Our focus is using strategic, data driven enforcement along our high injury networks to enhance roadway safety,” said Montgomery County Police Chief Marc Yamada. “Our officers, along with our local, municipal, and state police partners, are working across the County conducting high-visibility enforcement to hold dangerous drivers accountable. Our officers’ efforts are supported by our automated traffic enforcement system to provide wider coverage. As first responders, we see first-hand the tragic consequences caused by speeding, running red lights, and driving under the influence. Officers are working diligently to make every trip a safe one.”
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Learn more about the County’s roadway safety work and see projects near you on the Vision Zero website.
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Read the original article at mcgov
