The Montgomery County Department of Transportation has begun installing pedestrian refuge islands in the Springfield neighborhood of Bethesda over the last several weeks, on Springfield Drive and Cromwell Drive. Pictured here is the latest that was just constructed on Springfield Drive at Ridgefield Road. They essentially provide a somewhat-protected spot mid-crosswalk where pedestrians can pause. These have become familiar on many urban streets in the county, where trucks and reckless drivers tend to damage or dislodge the "State Law" signage. It will be interesting to see how long these last.
9 comments:
Wait, there’s so much traffic through there that pedestrians actually *need* this [I assume expensive] addition to their neighborhood? Smells like a 40-something, new-money approach. Recently arrived to the community, flush with cash and thinking themselves rulers of the world who are entitled to whatever whims flit across their consciousness. Adjust the Earth’s rotation two degrees, to keep the morning sun from waking Harper or the twins, Olivia and Wren? It shall be done. What about, instead of spending who knows how many tens of thousands of dollars on these “refuge islands,” pedestrians instead might consider not stepping into the path of oncoming traffic or not ambling in the road, might stop meandering lazily down the middle of the street at a passive-aggressive snail’s pace, as if it were a paved private park, or would those solutions infringe on the deluded fantasy of neighborhood residents, that the world is to contort itself to accommodate the self-absorbed hubris of these locals?
The thermometer *says* it’s currently 90 degrees outside, but reading this convinces me there are isolated pockets of blizzard-quality snowflakes.
Oh please. If you were anywhere close to correct on this, there'd be a bank on that refuge.
This!
I thought that the county has a budget shortfall.
Try asking them to fix a pothole or prune a tree.
@10:22 AM ....or maybe cars could slow down when they drive through a neighborhood...or maybe cars could stop following Waze like lemmings when the app tells them to turn down a nice neighborhood street to save 30 seconds...or maybe Montgomery County should have never installed speed humps and closed lanes on Little Falls Parkway.
These look TERRIBLE, but if the folks in these areas want them - go for it.
These neighborhoods were designed (in 50s and 60s) with streets that are way too wide! Makes people feel like they can just open it up!
@6:43, too wide is better than too narrow. For an example of the latter, visit Chevy Chase Section 3, certified narrowest streets in the western hemisphere, where emergency vehicles suck in their vehicular gut to traverse the area —and the place *still* has speed bumps between Connecticut and Brookville, because fiends & freaks never met a speed limit they didn’t want to double. At least those broad roads through the Springfield neighborhood allow first responders quick access without their needing to drive along the grass verge, or do a back-&-forth, three-, four-, or five-point turn to negotiate a corner while getting the squad or a 42’ aerial tower to a scene.
“Hang on, almost there…allllllmost….there….just…about —*got it!*”
So that's why the county is ranked 6th for new families: https://smartasset.com/data-studies/best-places-new-families-2025
Maybe if drivers obeyed crosswalk laws we wouldn't need to enhance crosswalks with pedestrian refuge islands.
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