Letter: Montgomery County FY25-30 CIP should focus on Safety and Connectivity

The County's CIP should address dangerous trail / road intersections, and close gaps in the trail network.

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FY25-30 Capital Improvements Program Public Hearing

Montgomery County Planning Board

September 7, 2023

Chair Harris and Planning Board Members,

The Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA) offers brief comments on the FY25-30 Capital Improvements Program.

WABA is a nonprofit organization with over 700 Montgomery County members. We envision a just and sustainable transportation system where walking, biking, and transit are the best ways to get around.

One of eight areas staff recommends focusing on is “Continue improving safety along our parkways and trail network through traffic calming and Vision Zero strategies.” We support this recommendation and see a particular need to focus on safety improvements where parkways and trails intersect, or a parkway or trail intersects a non-park road.

We are excited to see the plans for Lyttonsville Park, including many amenities that will be a draw for people walking, running, and biking on the Capital Crescent Trail. These plans should ensure that the park amenities maintain the comfort and safety of all users on the Capital Crescent Trail, as well as park visitors.

Another staff recommendation is a focus on “Improving community access and enjoyment of Parks through increased rehabilitation of our hard surface trail network.” Staff notes that that “Parks owns and maintains a 68-mile hard-surface trail system that is one of the most highly valued parks assets, as demonstrated through surveys and trail usage data.” WABA supports this recommendation and also calls for funding maintenance of natural-surface trails and expansion of the trails network with both hard- and natural-surface trails.

Regarding safety and trails network maintenance and expansion, WABA would like to see special attention to East County and to closing the gaps in the Intercounty Connector Trail, an important east-west cycling route.

Finally, Parks staff advocates roads transfer from MCDOT’s budget back into Parks and an increase in annual funding, "Parks staff... believes this transfer will benefit both agencies and allow Parks to provide this service at less overall cost to the taxpayers." WABA endorses this transfer. We understand that the lack of Parks’ control of this funding has been a factor making it harder to implement permanent road diets, open parkways, and create bike/ped accommodations on Park roads, because powers outside Parks have used control to block or slow these projects.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify.

Seth Grimes, Maryland Organizer

Washington Area Bicyclist Association

seth.grimes@waba.org

More about Montgomery County Budget

Montgomery County's budgeting process, both for its annual budget and its 6-year Capital Improvement Program, takes place in the spring. WABA works with grassroots advocates and partner organizations to build support on the County Council for funding individual projects and to ensure that the relevant agencies (usually Parks, Planning, Transportation) have the resources required to grow and maintain the County's active transportation network.

Current priorities include funding the Montgomery County Equitable Bikeways proposal, completion of the Capital Crescent Trail from Bethesda to Silver Spring, and developing an e-bike purchase rebate program.

More about Laws & Policy

WABA works with grassroots advocates at the local, county and state level to support laws and policies that make it easier and safer to walk, bike, and take transit. And we work to changes ones that make biking less safe, make it harder to build bike infrastructure, or that deprioritize the safety and convenience of people walking, biking, or taking transit.

In practice that means advocating for robust and transformative Vision Zero programs, enforceable Complete Streets policies, and funding for new infrastructure that supports biking, walking and transit.

Other regional legislative priorities include:

Reforming Contributory Negligence (passed in DC, in the works in Maryland and Virginia).
Getting rid of the Level of Service engineering standards in transportation decision-making.
Funding E-bike purchase rebates.

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.