Transforming Transportation in Silver Spring
There’s a new “protected intersection” in downtown Silver Spring. It’s designed to protect bicyclists and pedestrians and is the first of its kind in the Mid-Atlantic region. This is all part of a larger transportation project to make biking and walking safer in Montgomery County. My MC Media was at the ribbon cutting in Silver Spring.
Picture shows bike in cross walk going in wrong direction. Scooters also do that too often. All the paint and curbs can only help so much if people do not go with flow of traffic.
I attended ribbon cutting ceremony yesterday. I live in the Fenwick. The construction of bike lanes is HORRIFIC! I do not know who the designers were but they are AWFUL at their job and have done nothing back worsened traffic. The design is stupid and literally counter-productive. On one side of the street you’ve eliminated multiple parking spaces on the street which are needed. You have created random parking ON THE STREET for bike parking. Put up obstructive cinder blocks and other apparatus to prevent cars from parking. You added a turning lane signal to the already existing light which creates MORE traffic back up because less than 50 feet after the 1st light you have a second pre-existing light with a turning lane signal and the lights are not synced. So you back up traffic between lights because they are only 50/100 feet apart. Then you remove the turning signal at the BUSIEST intersection. Of Second/Spring so Now all the cars that are lined up can’t turn either way because it’s a short light and folks spend minutes backing up because the bus can’t turn FROM Spring St ONTO Second Ave because if any car is past the “drawn” line on second avenue the bus can’t physically turn sooooo all the cars LITERALLY have to back up so the bus can turn thus, making them miss the light and creating further back up. Plain Stupid. Then the County completed this right before winter and snowstorms where no one will be riding bikes but instead getting into multiple accidents because they can’t turn without sliding or hitting someone. Y’all really need to look at what you’ve done. It’s AWFUL