Pike District separated bike lanes plan refined for Planning Board (Photos)

A revised draft of a separated bike lane network plan for the Pike District will be presented to the Montgomery County Planning Board on December 3. These are bike lanes physically separated from automobile lanes to promote safety, and to make the environment more comfortable for novice cyclists. An example of this already exists within the Pike District, along Woodglen Drive. 

Proposed network of
separated bike lanes
(dotted orange lines)

The updated plan includes a prioritization of the individual routes, as requested by the County Council for funding purposes.

Nicholson Lane (from Old Georgetown Road to the CSX tracks) and Old Georgetown Road (from Rockville Pike to Nebel Street) sit atop the Tier 1 routes, as they are required before Stage 2 of the 2010 White Flint Sector Plan can be opened by developers. Two Marinelli Road segments are also in the top priority field, to provide a connection for cyclists to the White Flint Metro station.

Tier 2 includes segments along Nebel Street, Edson Lane, and Woodglen Drive Extended. These are considered as important as those in Tier 1, but aren't mandated prior to Stage 2 construction.

Routes along Rockville Pike (Edson Lane to Montrose Parkway) and Security Lane (Woodglen Drive to Rockville Pike) are in Tier 3, as they relate to the future construction of a Bus Rapid Transit route along MD 355.

Because some of the new roads in the Pike District have already been designed and are nearing the construction phase, the Montgomery County Department of Transportation has asked planners to change the language in the previous draft to reflect that bike lanes will have to be added to those streets at a later date. In a memo to planners, acting MCDOT Director Al Roshdieh writes that having to add those bike facilities now would cause "significant delays and greatly increased costs," as well as requiring changes in State Highway Administration policy.