Comments for “2050 MDOT Bicycle & Pedestrian Master Plan”
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MDSHA should remove this slip lane/channelized right turn lane and reconfigure the green space/park in the island to maintain driveway access from 38th. This will make it easier for pedestrians to travel along Rhode Island Ave/US 1 and simplify the intersection with 38th St and help slow down car traffic entering 38th St.
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It would be so much better if the trail went *under* route 1, allowing cyclists and motorists to avoid each other entirely.
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ReplyIf we're going to force one mode of travel to change elevations, it should be cars. Put the cars underground. Few people are going to want to walk through a tunnel. There are people that already avoid traveling on our trails at night because they feel isolated and at risk. Making them travel underground will only exacerbate those concerns.
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It would be so much better if the trail went *under* QC road, allowing cyclists and motorists to avoid each other entirely.
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ReplySending people on foot and bike underground (or across a pedestrian bridge) here is a pretty clear sign the street design is a failure. It's a popular route to a major transit station in a major metropolitan area. We want people to walk, bike, and take public transit to access the station - design the street not only to accommodate people traveling outside of cars, but to welcome them. If we're going to force modes of travel into tunnels, send the cars underground. Few people are going to want to walk through a tunnel. There are people that already avoid traveling on our trails at night because they feel isolated and at risk. Making them travel underground will only exacerbate those concerns.
Like Liked 0 timesThe surface trails around here flood in places after insignificant amounts of rain; what will ensure a bike tunnel won't become impassable from flooding? Additional transit-oriented development in this area is going to require substantial storm water and flood mitigation efforts. The county plans to acquire some of the businesses on the northside of Chillum road to demolish the buildings and return to a more natural state; other areas will need to have elevation changes to raise them out of the flood plain.
Like Liked 0 timesThe West Hyattsville-Queens Chapel Sector Plan, which is Prince George's Planning, proposes an elevated crossing over QC. It's not clear if they propose that the county or the state would pay for and construct it.
Like Liked 0 timesCan someone point to where the sector plan describes the pedestrian bridge over Queens Chapel Road? I missed that. I may have been distracted by the renderings showing a new, beautiful pedestrian/cycle bridge over the Northwest Branch Anacostia River south of Queens Chapel Road, that would connect to Queenstown Dr and include a really nice gateway park. Those images made it look like an at-grade crossing would remain at Queens Chapel Rd.
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Add the missing marked crosswalk here. MDSHA should update its policy to add marked crosswalks on all legs of signalized intersections to support neighborhood walkability and access to public transit stops.
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ReplyThis comment appears many places, but I will only reply here. First, there is a crosswalk here, whether it is marked or not. So rights of way are not affected. Second, as a general rule all the crosswalks at an intersection should be marked if any of them are. But in some cases, there is a good reason to only mark some of the crosswalks, e.g. anyone making a diagonal crossing has two choices regarding which road to cross first. The marked crosswalks suggest to the pedestrian which route to take. If one route is clealy safer (e.g. less traffic, fewer left furns or fewer rights on red0, it may be appropriate to channel as much pedstrian traffic as possible to the safer route.
Like Liked 0 timesThe explanation in the prior response makes total sense if you want to continue to prioritize people driving over walking in these communities. Forcing pedestrians go out of their way and cross the street 2-3 times to use a marked crosswalk aligns with the goal of prioritizing driver convenience over the ability of people walking to safely get to where they're going. Drivers definitely do not stop for people trying to cross in unmarked crosswalks along Rhode Island Avenue - not sure if part of the argument is that pedestrians are safer crossing in an unmarked crosswalk where MDSHA chose not to add a marked crosswalk(?), but that seems counterintuitive and not consistent with user experience. MDSHA and the County PGW&T have the bad habit of not installing crosswalks on all legs of an intersection, which needs to change. These should be walkable communities - the practice of only installing 2-3 marked crosswalks is inconsistent with how residents here want to be able to travel in their community.
Like Liked 0 timesThis is a stroad right? MDSHA designs and treats this road with the primary goal of moving lots of cars quickly to/from DC. Communities along Route 1 use it as a place for businesses and residences and places where people aren't traveling by car. We want streets that are walkable and bikeable. The practice of not installing marked crosswalks on all legs of the intersection in these communities is aligned with the former (maintaining car level of service) over the later (a street that also serves other community functions).
Like Liked 0 timesKnowing that several communities like Mount Rainier and Hyattsville have tried unsuccessfully to get MDSHA to install missing crosswalks, maybe MDOT's bike & ped plan can clarify to communities the insanely high numbers of pedestrians that need to cross using the unmarked crosswalk or, more morbidly, the high numbers of pedestrians that need to be seriously injured or killed before MDSHA will install a missing crosswalk.
Like Liked 0 timesOP here: With regard to " Second, as a general rule all the crosswalks at an intersection should be marked if any of them are," I'd stop you right there. Looking at US-1 between the DC line and beltway, fewer than 30% of intersections with a marked crosswalk on US-1 are marked on all sides. Regardless of the general rule, it's not happening. Speaking of channelizing pedestrians, that doesn't count the dozens of intersections along the same stretch where there are no marked crosswalks across US-1. The argument of right of way doesn't carry much water for me either. We're supposed to be taking a safe system approach, and marked crosswalks signal to drivers and pedestrians where pedestrians are going to travel through the system (drivers kill 30+ pedestrians in this county every year, many of them in unmarked crosswalks, which the police and news will readily report as crossing outside of a crosswalk). I get that the response, and MDSHA policy, have developed all kinds of rules and exceptions to make it hard to install crosswalks on all sides of an intersection. I thought part of the bike and ped master plan was to improve the way MDOT and MDSHA do business, to make it easier for people to travel by foot and bike. I'd like to see MDSHA update its policies to see crosswalks installed on all sides of the intersection as a rule, rather than an exception.
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With the large apartment complex being built across the street MDSHA should shift these travel lanes over to line up with Hamilton Street to create a less complicated intersection. It will make it a lot easier for the additional pedestrians traveling to and from this intersection to safely navigate crossing the street.
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Remove this slip lane/channelized turn lane. This could be a quick build project that automatically creates a safer t-intersection with Baltimore Ave/ US-1 and makes it easier for pedestrians and cyclists to travel. Additionally, there is a large apartment complex being built across the street. MDSHA should shift the Baltimore Ave/US Alt 1 overpass lanes to line up with Hamilton Street and create a less complicated, safer intersection for all modes of travel.
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