Letter: Carroll Avenue Improvements

The corridor needs slower speeds and protected space for bicyclists and pedestrians.

You can view this document in PDF form here.

MD SHA-MD 195/Carroll Avenue-design requests

Derek Gunn
District Engineer, District 3
MDOT State Highway Administration

RE: MD 195/Carroll Avenue project safety alterations August 2, 2023
Dear Mr. Gunn,

The Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA) strongly urges and requests a number of safety alterations to MDOT SHA’s safety and resurfacing project on MD 195 (Carroll Avenue) between MD 193 (University Boulevard) and the Washington, D.C. line (MO0315177)1. These alterations will boost safety and should be doable without major new costs.

We have reviewed MDOT SHA’s Signing and Pavement Marking Plan for the project. Elements are not in keeping with MDOT SHA’s 2013 commitment to “make accommodations for bicycling and walking a routine and integral element of planning, design, construction, operations and maintenance activities as appropriate” or State Highway Administrator Tim Smith’s March, 2023 commitment to “implement context guide design elements in all capital projects; this includes resurfacing projects.”

The SHA designates MD 195 (Carroll Avenue) as a Suburban Activity Center/Traditional Town Center (Zone C). The SHA's Context Driven guide suggests, among other things, narrower lane widths and buffered bike lanes for the SAC context.

Referring to Signing and Pavement Marking Plan drawings, WABA urges and requests:

Speed limit reduction to 25 MPH for the portion of the project where a 30 MPH speed limit is indicated, between Garland Avenue (SN-2.9) and University Blvd. (SN-2.12). The Design Designation on the front sheet actually states Anticipated Posted Speed (M.P.H.) as 25, but design pages SN-2.9 to SN-2.12 do not implement this.
Lane narrowing to a uniform 10’ for the full extent of the road, with wider shoulders, except where indicated by spot conditions. Narrowing would be particularly prudent in Old Takoma and through Takoma Junction, between Westmoreland Avenue (SN-2.1) and Flower Avenue (SN-2.8), where there are currently bikeable shoulders. 1 https://mdot-sha-md195-md193-to-dc-line-mo0315177-maryland.hub.arcgis.com/
Widening of the shoulder bike lanes indicated from Long Branch Parkway (SN-2.10) past Wildwood Avenue (SN-2.11) and installation of a separation barriers between the bike and motor-vehicle lanes.

Extension of the shoulder bike lanes, with separation barriers, from Wildwood Avenue to Merrimac Drive (SN-2.12) and beyond to University Blvd. We note that Montgomery County is planning to create separated bike lanes from Merrimac Drive heading north across University Blvd.2 Extension to University Blvd. would be in keeping with the MCDOT’s plans. Thank you very much for your consideration.

Sincerely, Seth Grimes
WABA Maryland organizer CC: Lorig Charkoudian, Delegate, District 20

Will Smith, Senator, District 20
Talisha Searcy, Mayor, City of Takoma Park
Cedric Ward, SHA Office of Traffic & Safety
Joseph Moges, SHA Assistant District Engineer, District 3-Montgomery County, Traffic Usman A. Khan, SHA Transportation Engineer V, District 3

2 https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/dot-dte/projects/CarrollAve/index.html

More about Complete State Roads: Montgomery County

WABA’s Complete State Roads initiative aims to remake state highways in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties as complete streets, boosting safety and mobility for people who walk, bike, roll, or use transit as well as for drivers and their passengers.

The Complete State Roads–Montgomery County report is available at waba.org/stateroads and you can watch a presentation delivered about it at WABA’s 4th Great Montgomery County Bike Summit in 2023.

As part of the Complete State Roads initiative, WABA backed the development of legislation for introduction in the 2024 Maryland legislative session.

More about Complete Streets

Complete Streets are streets designed to accommodate all users, and that prioritize historically underinvested modes of transportation like transit, walking, and biking. An incomplete street might lack adequate sidewalks, low-stress bike infrastructure, or safe and comfortable access to transit.

Effective Complete Streets policies change the way a jurisdiction plans and builds transportation infrastructure—sidewalks, low stress bike infrastructure, and transit should be included in any new or rebuilt street by default, rather than as an add-on when there's space or demand.

While most regional jurisdictions have a Complete Streets policy of some sort, they lack teeth and permit transportation departments to continue to build streets that put cars first and squeeze other modes into the margins.

More about Advocacy

WABA fights for a region where biking, walking and transit are the best ways to get around.

We educate policymakers and organize grassroots advocates for to speak up for safer places to bike and walk; and for laws and policies that protect people who are walking and biking, reduce dangerous driving, and facilitate changes to the built environment.