Montgomery County, Maryland, has a detailed road map with one goal: making the county’s streets safer for pedestrians. Now, the comprehensive plan to improve pedestrian safety has gotten a stamp of approval from the county’s council.
The Pedestrian Master Plan was passed unanimously by the 11-member county council on Tuesday.
According to county officials, 12 pedestrians have been killed and 450 have been injured so far this year.
Last year, 19 pedestrians were killed and 541 were seriously injured in Montgomery County.
Dan Langenkamp, whose wife Sarah was killed by a driver as the couple rode their bikes in a bike lane along River Road in Bethesda in August 2022, calls the adoption of the master plan “a good, incremental step” that, he said, “will help save lives, I’m sure of it.”
Features of the plan call for increasing “pedestrian satisfaction,” creating a sense of comfort within a “convenient pedestrian network” and improving access to a safe pedestrian experience for all.
Langenkamp told WTOP in an interview, “We need more sidewalks, we need more protected spaces for pedestrians.”
“We need clearer markings for pedestrians — and cars — so that both can coexist on our roads,” he added.
The actions recommended in the plan include building more sidewalks faster, requiring new public buildings to construct bikeways and walkways in front of the building, and updating the sequencing at walk signals so that crossing busy streets is more “pedestrian friendly,” intend to help create a better experience for pedestrians.
Along Wisconsin Avenue in Friendship Heights, Dorothy Park and Gretchen Bowers were asked about their sense of safety as pedestrians. Park told WTOP, “I don’t have any large issues with the current situation” explaining that they both work and walk in the area frequently.
Park added that she also thinks about safety from the point of view of drivers as well.
“I feel like I understand when I’m a pedestrian that I should be abiding by the lights,” she said. “If I don’t have a walk [sign], I’m not going to go, because that’s annoying to a car.”
Last month, the county council passed the Safe Streets Act, which will also eliminate right turns on red lights at certain intersections.
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