Letter: MD 201/Kenilworth Avenue project safety alterations

WABA recommended safety improvements to MD 201/Kenilworth Ave as adjustments are conjunction with Purple Line construction.

You can view this document in PDF form here.

Ray Biggs II

Purple Line Senior Project Director

Maryland Transit Administration

RE: MD 201/Kenilworth Avenue project safety alterations

June 18, 2024

Dear Mr. Biggs,

The Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA) strongly urges safety alterations to the MTA’s plans for MD 201/Kenilworth Avenue between the River Road intersection and MD 410/East West Highway in Prince George’s County. This segment is part of the Purple Line route between the Riverdale Park North-UMD and Riverdale Park-Kenilworth stations.

Current plans and conditions

The MTA’s plan drawings show unprotected bike lanes along MD 201/Kenilworth Ave between River Road and MD 410/East-West Highway. The right of way would be significantly widened to accommodate the Purple Line without sacrificing traffic lanes, however traffic lanes are indicated at 11' width. There are slip lanes at the intersection of MD 201 and MD 410.

These conditions are disfavorable for pedestrians and bicyclists. They can and should be altered.

While this is an MTA project linked to Purple Line construction, MD 201/Kenilworth Avenue is a state highway. The State Highway Administration’s Maryland Vulnerable Road User Safety Assessment – November 2023 lists “MD 201, Kenilworth Avenue from Annapolis Road [MD 450] to River Road” as a high-risk area. This stretch includes the East-West Highway-River Road segment of Kenilworth Avenue/MD 201 that is the focus of this letter.

The SHA notes regarding Kenilworth Avenue/MD 201 (emphasis added) “Key points from the consultation process:

Fast traffic with missing crosswalks and people crossing midblock
Limited, if any, bicycle facilities
Substantial improvements will be made in conjunction with the Purple Line; confirm that these will address pedestrian and cyclist safety
Designs should reflect a denser context zone than exists today”

Goals and policy

WABA believes that the “substantial improvements,” as currently planned, will not adequately address pedestrian and cyclist safety. Further, MTA plan elements are not in keeping with former State Highway Administrator Tim Smith’s March, 2023 commitment to “implement context guide design elements in all capital projects,” nor of course, with the recently launched MDOT Complete Streets commitment.

Alterations to the current plan will boost safety and should be doable without major new costs. These alterations will allow MDOT to get a jump on improvements linked to the SHA’s Pedestrian Safety Action Plan that are envisioned for some future date, without a hard commitment.

The MDOT’s new Complete Streets policy would “Require the implementation of planning and design principles from Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) Maryland Transit Administration’s (MTA) Bus Stop Design Guide, and State Highway Administration’s (SHA) Context Driven: Access and Mobility for All Users Guide, or Context Guide, to address safety, access, and mobility for all users on all projects in MDOT right-of-way.” MTA can and should implement this provision on Kenilworth Avenue/MD 201. We will suggest how.

Suggested alterations

The SHA’s context designation for this stretch is Suburban Activity Center/Traditional Town Center, although we recognize the SHA’s point that “designs should reflect a denser context zone than exists today.” Referencing the SHA’s Context Driven guide, regarding the current context:

Traditional Town Center (TTC) indicates barrier separated bike lanes.
All contexts indicate green pavement for bike lanes across intersections, but these are not indicated in the drawings.
The contexts indicate pedestrian-signal Leading Pedestrian Intervals at intersections.
The Suburban Activity Center (SAC) and TTC contexts indicate No Turn on Red.
The inner traffic lane should be narrowed to 10' in these contexts (which of course would help provide space for bike lane separation barriers).

We ask the MTA to modify plans to implement these points. Further:

The plans show a 35 MPH speed limit. The speed limit should be reduced to 30 MPH.
The plans appear to show a wide turning radius at the intersections. Please reduce turning radii.
Please take steps to eliminate or minimize the bike-lane impact of stormwater intakes, man-hole covers, and a narrow gutter distance.

In addition to addressing these points, we ask MTA and SHA engineering staff and contractors to review the plans for additional, forward-looking improvements that are doable now and would boost pedestrian, bicyclist, and motor-vehicle safety in accordance with current and emerging standards. This review should include conformance with the Federal Highway Administration’s Bikeway Selection Guide, with NACTO provisions, and with provisions of the Bicycle Facility Selection Draft Guidance in Appendix D of the Maryland Statewide Bicycle & Pedestrian Master Plan.

Finally, would you please identify any organizational, contractual, funding, or other challenges that would complicate making these safety improvements.

We look forward to continuing to work with you and your Purple Line team colleagues, the State Highway Administration, elected officials, and advocates to advance transportation safety and boost transit ridership.

Thank you very much for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Seth Grimes

WABA Maryland organizer

Copy:

Councilmember Eric Olson, District 3 and chair, Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy and Environment (TIEE)

Senator Alonzo Washington

Delegates Anne Healey, Ashanti Martinez, Nicole Williams

Kathryn Lamb, MDOT MTA

Derek Gunn, Erich Florence, Joseph Moges, MDOT State Highway Administration

Kevin Oberheim, RK&K

John J. Farley, Maryland Transit Partners

Steven Hartig

More about Complete State Roads: Prince George's County

WABA’s Complete State Roads initiative aims to promote remaking 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.

Prince George’s County presents a particularly urgent safety challenge, with 129 road deaths in 2023, including 39 pedestrians and 3 bicyclists, far higher rates than neighboring Montgomery County. WABA has been pursuing safe-streets and bikeways advocacy, including in state-road corridors in the county, for some time. And as part of the Complete State Roads initiative, WABA backed the development of legislation for introduction in the 2024 Maryland legislative session. Follow the link for information on that campaign.

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.