A vehicle passes a floating bus stop and heads toward a bike box at Cedar Street and Ellsworth Drive. Photo by Mike Diegel.
The Montgomery County Department of Transportation has launched an effort to educate pedestrians, cyclists and drivers about the safety changes in roadway infrastructure.
The changes are designed to improve safety by providing dedicated spaces for cyclists, improving visibility for drivers and more clearly designating where pedestrians can safety cross streets and/or bikeways.
The outreach effort features a new interactive website that includes instructions for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians in using the new road markings and traffic patterns, information about signs and signals and general safety tips. The new infrastructure includes, among other improvements:
- Floating bus stops that provide a dedicated island for passengers to wait and board busses
- Green pavement areas exclusively for use by cyclists, and
- Two-stage turn queue boxes that provide a designated space for cyclists to wait when turning left, or in some cases, right, from a bike lane at a multi-lane intersection.
The website includes videos explaining some of the changes and how to navigate them.
The department also offers a printed brochure explaining the changes, which can be picked up at the DOT’s Commuter Stores or ordered by emailing Commuter Services.
The outreach program is being funded with the assistance of a $60,000 grant from the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board Transportation Land-Use Connections program.
The department also is asking for public feedback on the program via an online survey.
Another floating bus stop with a dedicated bike lane on Spring Street. Photo by Mike Diegel.