The 2017 Bethesda Downtown Plan included a recommendation in the plan to consider converting one-way streets in downtown Bethesda to accommodate two-way traffic. A new Montgomery County Planning Department report is recommending keeping those road segments for one-way traffic only, and adding separated bike lanes. The report follows completion of a formal study of the proposal, and will be presented to the Planning Board at its September 14, 2023 meeting at 2:00 PM.
The proposal for the conversion of one-way streets was promoted as a way to reduce traffic speeds, and make those streets more pedestrian-and-business-friendly. As such, it had support from not only pedestrian safety advocates, but also from the business community. At the time, Jad Donohoe of The Donohoe Companies and then-Vice-Chair of the Western Montgomery County Citizens Advisory Board said the conversion of one-way streets would be "a good thing for building owners, merchants, and pedestrians." The streets under consideration for conversion were Woodmont Avenue between Old Georgetown Road and Hampden Lane, Montgomery Lane between Woodmont and Wisconsin Avenues, Montgomery Avenue between Wisconsin and East-West Highway, and East-West Highway between Montgomery Avenue and Wisconsin Avenue.
After contracting with Mead & Hunt to conduct a traffic study of the streets in question, planning staff have settled on Alternative 3a, a one-way "couplet road diet" with separated bike lanes. This will maintain the existing one-way configuration for automobile traffic, while allowing completion of the downtown Bethesda bikeway. The Mead & Hunt study found that two-way configurations of these streets with road diet and Complete Streets elements incorporated (no alternative was considered that did not include a road diet for the two-way configuration), or with incorporation of a bus-only lane, failed to accommodate traffic volumes.
Planners found that Alternative 3a would not cause traffic operation failure. Maintaining one-way automobile traffic would also make the timing and operation of pedestrian and cyclist signals and movements safer and easier. Pre-COVID-19 traffic volume numbers were used in the study, as planners allowed for the potential that 2019 traffic levels will be reached again in the future.
ReplyDeleteAs frequent pedestrian, I feel safer on one way roads. Easier to cross. The most hazardous, congested intersections with right on red.
Learning
Of course. As many reported here, returning Old Geo'twn thru to EW Highway to two-way was in the downtown sector plan. No shock here that they won't be doing that now but rather adding even more bike lanes that no one will use certainly not compared to the number of cars negatively impacted and don't tell me cars won't be impacted because they will be. Lanes no doubt will be narrowed or removed completely. Bike lobby must be well funded. Bikes downtown are more than welcome, cars aren't. Great job on re-electing Elrich and rubber stamping everyone else.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that leaving EW Highway and Montgomery Ave east of Wisconsin as one-way roads, but changing the other three segments back to two-way streets would make sense. This would reconnect two-way traffic on Woodmont to allow folks to drive north from Bethesda Row, to the CBD and Woodmont Triangle, without using Wisconsin or Arlington. The bulk of the congestion is getting to and from Wisconsin to or from the east.
ReplyDeleteThis would eliminate the one-way counter-clockwise racecourse west of Wisconsin, and allow safer passenger drop offs and pick ups from the curb side along Old Georgetown, Woodmont and the west side of Montgomery. It would allow lay-by lanes to be used as well if requires. This would greatly benefit the hard to lease retail spaces in the base of the Clark Building, and 2 and 3 Bethesda Metro Center, as well as new buildings being built on Montgomery Lane and Old Georgetown Road.
I don’t think one-way couplets need to be full loops to reduce congestion. Let Wisconsin, EW Highway and the east side of Montgomery Avenue do all the heavy lifting during rush hours, and keep everything two-way west of Wisconsin.
They're keeping the roads one way because that's the option that didn't negatively affect travel times for single-occupancy vehicles. JAC's so quick to whine like a baby he doesn't even realize planners are recommending the car-centric approach he agrees with.
ReplyDelete@ JAC did something happen when you were younger that made you hate bikes so much?
ReplyDeleteMake driving as miserable as possible especially if your a Biden shill
ReplyDeletehttps://www.autoblog.com/2023/09/10/on-an-ev-road-trip-u-s-energy-secretary-couldnt-find-enough-chargers/
11:53 - I love bikes actually and never said I didn't. But spending hundreds of millions of dollars on bike lanes and forever changing commuter routes for maybe two dozen bikes per week is insane. No fuss about it yet we can't get rolling on 495 and 270 improvements and they buck the Hogan plan. See the issue there?
ReplyDelete11:34 - Good. I may have read that wrong.
ReplyDelete@11:53 - As a child his mother was afraid he'd put his eye out with a bike, and it traumatized him for life. Now he's left to pick on all bike riders to compensate for his inadequacy.
ReplyDeleteI don't see how one-way streets with bike lanes is the "car-centric" option. Most walkable urban cities use one-way streets. It makes for much safer pedestrian crossings.
ReplyDeleteI would think drivers want the flexibility of two-way streets. Obviously four one-way lanes on Woodmont Ave is an unnecessary waste of space so the conversion of some of the ROW is a win-win.
DC has also added protected bike lanes to overbuilt one-way streets, in addition to super-wide two-way traffic sewers like Penn Ave and VA Ave.
I live to the East of Bethesda so my only way out of the downtown is Montgomery to East-West Highway.
ReplyDeleteMontgomery is now a mess thanks to the bike lanes. The block of Montgomery just west of Wisconsin, where the bike lane construction seems never-ending, has become a mess. Traffic backs up on East lane and Hampden all the way to Woodmont because there's little opportunity to turn from East Lane onto Montgomery thanks to the bike lanes. Now that they finally opened up the right most lane again, crossing Wisconsin is now a mess because the right lane folks must merge over to the left because of the useless bike lane just East of Wisconsin that only lasts a block and gives the hotel one space of unloading and off-loading. Who designed this stuff???
12:12 - Right on! Be prepared to be electronically slapped for daring to go against the group speak.
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