Thursday, March 29, 2018

Sneak peek at SHA plan for River Rd./Braeburn Pkwy./Pyle Rd. intersection in Bethesda

SHA to unveil plan
at meeting tonight,
community to hold
their own meeting
April 23, 2018

The Maryland State Highway Administration will hold a meeting tonight, March 29, 2018 at 7:00 PM in the cafeteria at Walt Whitman High School, to unveil a new project proposal to address safety concerns at the intersection of River Road and Braeburn Parkway/Pyle Road. A fatal accident that killed 3 members of a Whitman family brought extra urgency to longtime concerns from surrounding residents and students about the safety of vehicle turns by Whitman students, and students crossing at a crosswalk just east of the intersection.

These preview images show the project that is expected to be revealed tonight by SHA; the meeting will be in an open house format, with displays around the room, and SHA staff to answer questions.

In the plan, the temporary bollards that control turns at the intersection now will be replaced by permanent concrete curbs. Left turns will remain permitted in both directions from River Road. SHA will also make safety improvements at the crosswalk, including a traffic signal that will be activated by pedestrians when crossing. This signal will stop traffic when activated. A similar signal works quite well at Westbard Avenue and Westbard Circle in Bethesda.

It sounds like a good solution in that congested traffic will not be repeatedly held up by a constant light cycle turning red, and pedestrians will have a safe crossing. Flashing warning signs will alert drivers coming up the hill in both directions to prepare to stop at the crosswalk.
While questions and one-on-one feedback will be allowed tonight, community members who have led the safety efforts after the tragic 2016 crash want to make a more formal and organized response to the SHA proposal. They will also compare SHA's plan to the full Pyle Road intersection "Cadillac option" favored by residents at two previous meetings. A community meeting to discuss, and likely vote on, such a response will be held on Monday, April 23, 2018 at 7:00 PM in the auditorium at Whitman.

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

IMO, the barrier should prevent any turns off or onto River Road at that intersection. One can easily make a u-turn at Wilson or Whittier. But I love the pedestrian activated crosswalk light. That should be put in many places as well.

Anonymous said...

Using "Cadillac" as a metaphor is outdated. By about four decades.

Also, what makes you believe that someone going over 100 mph would have stopped for a trafficc light?

Anonymous said...

So that's a HAWK (pedestrian-activated traffic light), right? This was proposed right after the crash but apparently HAWKs were not allowed in the MD regulations. Did they change that? There was talk about doing so.

They have one in DC on Connecticut Ave by the Uptown Theater and it works well.

Anonymous said...

With regard to your previous post about Bethesda’s nightlife. Have you ever been to Thailand? When’s the last time you have gone abroad? Does your mom need to grant you leave from the basement? You aren’t exactly a fixture on the Bethesda social scene and don’t appear to have much of a social life from your bizarre YouTube videos...so why do you bother writing about Bethesda nightlife? Funny that a guy stuck in the 80s and pushing 50 years old is commenting on Bethesda’s bar scene. I’m looking forward to posting your rant to Bethesda Bar Buddies Facebook group. You knew it was a stupid post so you turned off comments. Cowardly.

Anonymous said...

It looks like a standard red/yellow/green light in the drawings, not a HAWK.

Anonymous said...

6:56 AM Cowardly is making a lot of false claims on not signing your name.

Anonymous said...

I love EastMoCo! Great source of news in the news deserts of the East county.

Anonymous said...

Robert Dyer seems to believe that children are spontaneously generated by multi-family housing.

He also needs to pay property taxes to support our Montgomery County Public Schools, to help shrink the deficit.

Or else he needs to push for family planning programs.

Boyce Bowles said...

9:24 AM Enough with the ad hominems. Stick to the facts and issues.

Boyce Bowles said...

10:14 AM / 10:13 AM / 10:30 AM is back with his ad hominems.
This is a serious issue that Robert Dyer is reporting on.

Robert Dyer said...

6:43: No, this is a full green-yellow-red signal activated by pedestrian. The HAWK signal only gives a flashing yellow light when activated.

Robert Dyer said...

6:56: You think the bar owners will disagree with my bodyslam of the County liquor monopoly? You are definitely on the drinking side of the bar, not the pouring side!

Robert Dyer said...

9:24: Over 50% of BCC students live in apartments. There were many more kids living in SFHs when I was growing up vs today - that Planning Department claim that kids are coming from existing SFHs is total BS. I can point out the specific houses where people had 4-6 kids just on the street where I grew up alone! Lots of them. Now it's 1-3 kids at most. I realize as a carpetbagger, you wouldn't know this.

I actually pay all taxes I'm required to, unlike you. That's why you're an ex-con working for the MoCo cartel for pizza money and a free dingy apartment. #goals

Anonymous said...

"I actually pay all taxes I'm required to, unlike you."

Sales taxes and excise taxes on malt liquor and bumwines. LOL

"Over 50% of BCC students live in apartments. There were many more kids living in SFHs when I was growing up vs today - that Planning Department claim that kids are coming from existing SFHs is total BS."

"I can point out the specific houses where people had 4-6 kids just on the street where I grew up alone! Lots of them. Now it's 1-3 kids at most."

That's because the birth rate was much higher for all families back then, regardless of their type of dwelling. Are you really too stupid to realize this? Do you really think that all the families with 3-6 children are living in apartments instead of SFHs now?

"I realize as a carpetbagger, you wouldn't know this."

I realize that you need to make the most of "lifelong resident" of your parents' house, because you have no other accomplishments to your name. I also realize that you're clueless to the ethnic/racial overtones of your repeated use of the term "carpetbagger".

Anyway, it's nice to see you wide awake during normal business hours, for a change. :)

Robert Dyer said...

2:37: You claim I don't know birthrates were higher when that was exactly what I pointed out, dumbass. You've always been frustrated about my lifelong residency status, understandable, as you are a carpetbagger like most on the County Council.

In fact, there are less kids generated from SFH neighborhoods today than from the apartment and townhouse communities, which is why schools are so crowded. Time to pull up the ladders.

Anonymous said...

1) "There are less kids generated from SFH neighborhoods today..."

2) "...than from the apartment and townhouse communities..."

3) "...which is why schools are so crowded."

Do you have any actual numbers to back up your claims?

Robert Dyer said...

8:10: You seem to have missed the actual number that more than 50% of BCC students are from apartment buildings. Source: BCC HS Student Directory. Just wait outside of any apartment building for the school bus in the morning. There were already 10 kids when the Flats at 8300 just opened. Most likely MPDUs.

Anonymous said...

Rather than considering the possibility that many young couples having children can no longer afford to live in single-family neighborhoods in Montgomery County, and thus now tend to live in townhouse and apartment communities, Dyer continues to imagine that apartment buildings somehow spontaneously generate children.

Or else he is just using multi-family housing as a racial dog-whistle.

Robert Dyer said...

8:30: Do you realize how dumb you sound? You just supported my argument by admitting that apartments and townhomes are generating more kids than single-family homes!

How would pointing out the facts that multi-family housing generates more kids be a "racial dog whistle?" You're struggling, man. Struggling!

Anna said...

So, you don't have any actual numbers to back up your claims? You were asked for it and you deflected. Disappointing. Normal for Dyer, but disappointing in someone with political aspirations.


So, where are the actual links to outside sites; sites not linking to more of your opinion?

Robert Dyer said...

5:16: It's not an opinion, but a fact, that more than 50% of BCC HS students live in apartment buildings. It's also a fact that the new families in the Whitman school district neighborhood where I grew up are smaller, not larger - LESS kids than decades ago. Facts are not opinions.

Anna said...

If you continually refuse to support your words, they are no more than opinion.

"more than 50% of BCC HS students live in apartment buildings"
Link to official statistics?

"new families in the Whitman school district neighborhood where I grew up are smaller, not larger - LESS kids than decades ago"
Link to official statistics?

Of course your inference that if you have kids and you live in downtown Bethesda, you MUST be in a MPDU unit? What's that about?

Anonymous said...

Am I the only one that think it’s ironic that a 50 year old that lives with his mother makes fun of others and calls them a hobo and a carpetbagger?

Robert Dyer said...

5:59: Source: BCC Student Directory. Do people always have to tell you something multiple times for you to comprehend something?

Go knock on doors in 20816 and ask, if you are so dense you don't know that family sizes have shrunk in that zip code.

Anonymous said...

So the number of children living in single-family homes has gone down, while it has gone up for apartments. Sounds like the two cancel each other out.

Anna said...

So, you still can't post anything official that supports your words. More deflecting.

Where are the actual links to outside sites; sites not linking to more of your opinion?

Of course your inference that if you have kids and you live in downtown Bethesda, you MUST be in a MPDU unit? What's that about? Ah, you must be backtracking on that one!

The moment you think I'm stupid, I've already outsmarted you.

Anna said...

It's always a dodge when it comes to credible proof. Anyone who calls it out is called stupid, lazy, dishonest, girly man....